Shane Lowry shot a stunning 62 on Saturday to roar into contention in The Northern Trust in New Jersey.
Lowry’s third round included an eagle, eight birdies and just a single dropped shot as he moved to 13 under par for the tournament - three strokes off the leaders.
Australian Cameron Smith went two better than Lowry on Saturday - he signed for a blemish-free round of 60 on a day of outrageous scoring at Liberty National.
Smith missed a 12-foot putt for a dream round of 59 but still took a share of the lead after day three.
Missing his birdie putt on the 18th by 10 inches which would have completed just the 13th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history, Smith had to settle for a new course record at Liberty National with his 11-under 60, which put him level at 16-under with world No 1 Jon Rahm.
Rahm, having gone bogey-free through 36 holes for the first time in his career to be leader at the halfway mark, was still blemish-free after 48 holes before spoiling his card in dramatic fashion with a double-bogey seven on the 13th, en route to a four-under 67.
The field then learnt they would have Sunday off, with the tournament suspended until Monday as Hurricane Henri headed towards the north-eastern US coast.
South African Erik van Rooyen held third place one shot off the pace at 15-under after a superb nine-under 62, while Americans Justin Thomas and Tony Finau were a further shot away after rounds of 67 and 68.
Offaly man Lowry had started his week with a level par round of 71 before shaving four strokes off that with a 67 on Friday.
And his progression continued on Saturday - he tore out of the blocks with an opening birdie on the par four fourth.
A run of pars followed before he burst into life again, a birdie on the fifth preceded an eagle three on the sixth, with that momentum continuing with another birdie on the eighth.
More birdies on 12 and 13 saw Lowry continue to work his way up the leaderboard - he gave one shot back on the 14th but picked up three shots in the closing four holes, including a birdie-birdie finish, to round off a fine day’s work.
Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy shot a 66 on Saturday but remains well out of contention on six under par for the tournament - level with Seamus Power, who could only muster a third round 70.
Collated third round scores and totals in the USPGA Tour The Northern Trust, Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City(USA unless stated, Par 71):
197 Jon Rahm (Spa) 63 67 67, Cameron Smith (Aus) 69 68 60
198 Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) 69 67 62
199 Tony Finau 67 64 68, Justin Thomas 63 69 67
200 Tom Hoge 69 64 67, Viktor Hovland (Nor) 68 67 65, Shane Lowry (Irl) 71 67 62
201 Corey Conners (Can) 70 69 62, Harold Varner III 66 67 68
202 Sam Burns 71 67 64, Brooks Koepka 70 64 68, Keith Mitchell 68 64 70, Xander Schauffele 70 62 70, Hudson Swafford 71 65 66, Cameron Tringale 67 68 67
203 Keegan Bradley 69 67 67, Charley Hoffman 73 65 65, Sung Jae Im (Kor) 71 65 67, Kevin Na 67 66 70, Alexander Noren (Swe) 69 64 70, Pat Perez 71 66 66, Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 65 68
204 Patrick Cantlay 68 67 69, Doug Ghim 71 70 63, Robert Streb 67 68 69, Aaron Wise 69 67 68
205 Cameron Champ 68 70 67, Stewart Cink 71 68 66, Joel Dahmen 70 68 67, Harry Higgs 69 70 66, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 67 69 69, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 68 69 68
206 Talor Gooch 73 67 66, Zach Johnson 70 66 70, Patton Kizzire 70 67 69, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 71 70 65, Adam Schenk 73 64 69, Jordan Spieth 72 62 72
207 Paul Casey (Eng) 70 71 66, Cameron Davis (Aus) 69 70 68, Harris English 69 68 70, Garrick Higgo (Rsa) 69 68 70, Billy Horschel 71 70 66, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 69 68 70, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 71 70 66, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 69 70 68, Seamus Power (Irl) 70 67 70, Scottie Scheffler 70 68 69
208 Abraham Ancer (Mex) 72 69 67, Daniel Berger 71 70 67, Bryson DeChambeau 71 65 72, Kramer Hickok 72 68 68, Chris Kirk 72 68 68, Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor) 71 68 69, Marc Leishman (Aus) 69 70 69, Maverick McNealy 69 70 69, Chez Reavie 71 66 71, Brandt Snedeker 72 68 68
209 Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 69 69 71, Peter Malnati 70 69 70, Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 66 71, Gary Woodland 71 70 68
210 Lanto Griffin 69 68 73, Max Homa 74 66 70, Webb Simpson 72 66 72, Kevin Streelman 69 70 71
211 Russell Henley 69 71 71, Luke List 71 70 70, Andrew Putnam 69 70 72
212 Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 70 71 71, James Hahn 71 70 71
