Brandt Snedeker fired a round of 66 to take a one stroke lead in the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale.
American fires five-under-par 66 to lead in Phoenix
Brandt Snedeker fired a 66 to take a one stroke lead after the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale.
The American will take a narrow advantage over Scott Piercy into Sunday's final round after his five-under-par effort took him to 14-under for the tournament.
Snedeker dropped his only shot on the day at the 14th, but he hit back with birdies at 15 and 17 to deny Piercy a share of the lead.
Piercy went one better with a round of 65 that contained eagles at the third and the 10th, where he almost aced the par-four that left him with a simple tap-in.
Piercy is a shot ahead of fellow Americans Matt Every (68) and Rickie Fowler (69), while Columbia's Camilo Villegas leads the international contingent a shot further back on 11-under following a level-par 71.
Villegas and fellow overnight leader Mark Wilson failed to make any inroads on Saturday with Wilson returning a 72 to slip four off the pace.
Wilson sits in a group of nine players at 10-under-par which also includes veteran former winner Mark Calcavecchia who is looking to claim a win in a fourth different decade on the PGA Tour.
But it is Snedeker who leads the way as he looks to secure a second career Tour title following his triumph at the 2007 Wyndham Championship.
"I played really good. I'm swinging it really good right now," the 29-year-old stated.
"I made one mistake on 14 and was able to make a long putt to save bogey. Besides that, I'm rolling it great.
"I've been hitting a lot of really quality shots, so it was a lot of fun out there."
Ian Poulter, who had put himself in contention to add to his WGC-Accenture Match Play success last week with a stunning 63 on Friday, could only muster a 70, but remained the best-placed Englishman on eight-under.
Anthony Kim, who had started the day in a tie for second and in the final group,
crashed out of contention with a disastrous five-over-par 76.
The American's hopes all but evaporated following a nightmare triple-bogey eight at the par-five 15th and he ended the day on five-under alongside two-time winner Phil Mickelson who posted a 72 on Saturday.
