Kiwi Ryan Fox and South African Garrick Higgo have fallen off the pace at the Zurich Classic teams event at New Orleans.
The duo have carded a seven-under-par 65 in their third round to sit at 16 under overall - seven shots behind leaders Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn in a share of 27th place, with a day to play.
Americans Blair and Fishburn shot a 60 in four-ball (best ball) - one shy of a tournament record - and took the lead after 54 holes in Avondale, Louisiana.
The two-man team is at 23-under 193, one shot ahead of Luke List and Sweden's Henrik Norlander.
"It's pretty easy to hit shots, when Zac is always in the fairway, always on the green," said Fishburn. "He's always available.
"That's kind of been our keyword for the week. It's pretty easy for me to swing free, knowing that Zac is always going to be there.
"He had some awesome birdies when we needed them, and we ham-and-egged it really good today."
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and teammate Shane Lowry of Ireland (64) are two strokes back, tied for third with Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard (64).
Each looking for his first PGA Tour victory, Blair and Fishburn carded 29 on the front nine, with an eagle at the par-five No.2, and birdies at 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8. They stayed hot with birdies at 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15.
Three consecutive pars to close the round left them one stroke off the 18-hole tournament record of 59, set by Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in Round One of the 2022 event.
Blair, who has been playing golf with Fishburn since they were children at Ogden, Utah, isn't disappointed that they didn't tie the record.
"I think we would have signed up for a 60 at the start of the day. We hit some good shots, hit some good putt, and we had a good day.
Blair credits Fishburn for the tandem's hot start, saying: "It was pretty textbook out there for him."
Tour rookie Fishburn had made two cuts in nine starts in 2024 entering the week. Blair is making his 185th start on tour and his best finish is a tie for second at the 2023 Travelers Championship.
The team event moves back to foursomes (alternate shot) for the final round at TPC Louisiana.
List is seeking his third PGA title and Norlander his first in his 167th start, after three ties for second place in his career. The residents of Augusta, Georgia, helped their cause with an eagle on No.2 and another on the par-five, No.11. Birdies came at 4, 5, 7, 10, 13 and 16.
McIlroy and Lowry held a share of the lead over the first two days. They stayed in contention with eight birdies, including two of the last three holes, but didn't record any eagles.
In his first time competing at Zurich, McIlroy says he "can't wait" to play Monday.
"I think to make those birdies coming in and to only be two behind, alternate shot is a tough format and you want to be within a couple strokes of the lead," he said.
"I thought it was important to finish the way we did and I'm excited to have a chance to win tomorrow."
Reuters/Newshub
