Darren Clarke is two under for the day and in a share of the NEC Invitational lead with Jonathan Kaye, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh and Chris Riley at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
The Ulsterman shot three birdies and one bogey in an up and down front nine. A bogey on the 10th was then quickly ruled out with a birdie on the next to leave him on seven under through 12.
Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley failed to find their form in their third round and both are currently four over.
Harrington failed to lift himself into the reckoning despite his best round of the tournament so far.
The Dubliner shot four birdies in the opening six holes, marred only by a bogey on the fourth, but then carded three bogies in four holes on the back nine to finish level for the day with a 70.
McGinley endured a similarly mixed round to finish on the same score.
Birdies on the fifth and the sixth were immediately cancelled out in the following two holes and a double bogey followed by a third bogey on the back nine compounded the misery.
Meanwhile European Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer narrowly missed out on his lowest-ever round in America.Langer was seven under for the day and up from 57th place to joint ninth after 14 holes of his third round in the six million-dollar NEC World Championship in Akron.
He needed to par in for a 63, but instead bogeyed the short 15th after missing the green with a five-wood and then took six at the monster 667-yard 16th after driving into sand.
Langer still took the positives, however, out of a 65 which put him on the one under par mark of 209 long before joint halfway leaders David Toms and Chris Riley teed off again.
"I've not been playing all that great lately and I was horrendous on the driving range this morning," he said.
"It was a joke - a couple left, then fat, then thin, then right. I wasn't anywhere near the centre of the club face."
On the course, though, he chipped in at the second for eagle, holed a putt from off the green on the fourth and even with a bogey on the ninth turned in 31.
Three more birdies came in four holes at the start of the back nine, but Langer added: "I wasn't thinking about 60 or even 59. I knew there would be some tough holes coming in."
His lowest US Tour round since he made his debut 22 years ago remains 64, most recently at the 1987 Hawaiian Open.
Langer's 10-year tour exemption from winning the 1993 Masters runs out at the end of this season and at 135th on the money list he needs to climb 10 places to preserve his status.
"I'm not going to play six in a row and kill myself," he said. "I'd like to keep my card, but if I don't hopefully I'll get some invites."