Rickie Fowler put himself on course for his first PGA Tour victory in almost 18 months as Tyrrell Hatton stayed in contention in the third round of the Honda Classic.
Fowler will go into the final day at PGA National armed with a commanding four-shot lead after he fired a flawless five-under 65 to hit the front on 13 under par.
The popular American will be paired with Hatton in Sunday’s final group as the Englishman continued to impress in his first PGA Tour start of the year, breaking 70 for the third straight day to claim outright second.
Martin Kaymer was just one off the lead after he turned in 31 before capping a poor back-nine with a scrappy bogey-six at the last to slip to seven under, while overnight leaders Wes Bryan (72) and Ryan Palmer (73) tumbled down the leaderboard.
Fowler picked up his first shot of the day with a two-putt birdie at the long third, and he enjoyed a bonus birdie at the seventh when he rattled in a 35-foot putt for an unlikely two.
The world No 14, whose last victory in his homeland was the Deutsche Bank Championship in September 2015, added another birdie at the ninth before grinding out a series of pars on the inward half.
He broke the run with an aggressive approach to 10 feet at the 16th which set up his fourth gain of the day, and a monster 340-yard drive down the last allowed him to find the putting surface in two, although he narrowly missed the chance for eagle.
Fowler tapped in for a birdie which lifted him four clear of Hatton, who turned in 33 and then charged up the leaderboard with three consecutive birdies from the 12th, but he tugged his tee-shot to the 17th and failed to get up and down from the rough.
Hatton’s drive at the last also found the long grass and forced him to lay up, and he pushed his approach before scrambling a good closing par which kept him two ahead of Kaymer, Bryan, Emiliano Grillo, Sean O’Hair and Gary Woodland.
Kaymer looked likely to post a competitive target in the clubhouse after capping a bogey-free outward half with his fourth birdie at the ninth, but his momentum stalled when he came up short with his approach to the 10th and missed from 10 feet for par.
The German struggled to threaten the flags over the next seven holes, although he missed a good birdie chance from 10 feet at the 16th, and he made a mess of the last to lose ground on the leader.
Major champions Jimmy Walker, Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner are among a group of a dozen players on six under, while Sergio Garcia (66), Paul Casey (67) and Luke Donald (69) are one stroke further adrift.
But defending champion Adam Scott played himself out of contention after he struggled to recover from finding water from the tee at the fifth, labouring to a 71 to close alongside Ian Poulter on two under par.
