Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer moved into a tie for the lead with Scott Stallings and Trey Mullinax after the third round of the Zurich Classic in Louisiana.
After a more than seven-hour rain delay on day one, teams got back on track to complete the third round on Saturday, with Rahm and Palmer playing 30 holes and Stallings and Mullinax completing 27 for a share of the lead at 23-under 193.
Graeme McDowell and his partner Henrik Stenson are five shots off the pace meanwhile, following rounds of 65 67 and 66.
In the alternate-shot second round, Rahm and Palmer carded a seven-under 65 followed by a 64 in the best-ball third round, making just one bogey when both players found the water off the 17th tee.
Rahm gave a solid performance in the third round, making eight birdies, with Palmer saying he had learned a lot from the Spaniard.
“He’s just fun to be around,” Palmer told the PGA Tour website.
“He’s actually a great guy. I’ve enjoyed every second with him. When you’re up close and personal and watching it and see the shots he can hit around the green, you know, his short game is phenomenal. You can learn something from that, too, so I learned a lot. Honour to be a part of it.”
Stallings and Mullinax share the lead with the Spanish-American duo after following up their second-round 70 with a blemish-free 62 in the third round, including an eagle from Mullinax on par-five second.
Brandan Grace and Justin Harding sit in third one shot back, while England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Spanish team-mate Sergio Garcia finished in a tie for sixth at 19 under ahead of Sunday’s alternate-shot final round.
Collated third round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Zurich Classic of New Orleans (USA unless stated, par 72):
193 . Stallings/Mullinax 61 70 62, . Rahm (Spa)/Palmer 64 65 64
194 . Grace/Harding (Rsa) 65 68 61
196 . Gay/Sabbatini 60 70 66, . Malnati/Hurley III 63 67 66
197 . Henley/Blaum 65 67 65, . Cook/Landry 65 70 62, . Knox (Sco)/Stuard 62 69 66, . Dahmen/Harkins 63 71 63, . Garcia (Spa)/Fleetwood (Eng) 65 68 64, . Lebioda/Luck (Aus) 67 66 64
198 . Stenson (Swe)/McDowell (NIrl) 65 67 66, . Cejka (Ger)/Prugh 63 71 64, . Watney/Hoffman 65 70 63, . Koepka/Koepka 67 68 63
199 . Lee (Kor)/Every 65 69 65, . Hadwin (Can)/Knous 66 68 65, . Tway/Kraft 63 72 64, . Poston/Jaeger (Ger) 62 70 67, . Kisner/Brown 62 69 68
200 . Laird (Sco)/Taylor (Can) 62 74 64, . Castro/Tringale 65 69 66, . Horschel/Piercy 66 68 66, . Spaun/Jones (Aus) 67 69 64, . Reavie/Glover 62 70 68, . Watson/Holmes 64 70 66, . Merritt/Streb 66 68 66, . Power (Ire)/Hearn (Can) 68 68 64
201 . Etulain/Romero (Arg) 67 69 65, . Hoge/Henry 67 68 66, . Sharma/Lahiri (Ind) 67 69 65
202 . Stefani/Haas 65 69 68, . Stroud/Kokrak 65 69 68, . Poulter/Horsfield (Eng) 67 69 66
203 . Conners/Hughes (Can) 67 68 68
204 . Bradley/Curran 64 71 69
206 . McCarthy/Diaz (Mex) 63 73 70
209 . Kim/Imn (Kor) 64 72 73
212 . Gribble/Garber 61 75 76
