Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ian Poulter made strong starts to their final rounds at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Spain's Jimenez moved to within two shots of the overnight lead held jointly by Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh when he birdied the first and third holes to move to six under par for the tournament.
England's Poulter jumped to four under with a birdie at the third, while Sweden's Daniel Chopra birdied the second to also move to four under, from where Jiminez stared his round alongside Darren Clarke, Chris DiMarco, Rory Sabbatini and DJ Trahan.
Overnight co-leader Lee Westwood went into the final round of the looking to continue the consistency that almost brought him major success at the US Open.
Westwood was playing with Singh in the final pairing of the day at Firestone Country Club.
Rounds of 70, 65 and 67 on Firestone's par-70, 7,400-yard South Course gave the Englishman a chance of breaking a 10-year winless streak in the United States, his only PGA Tour title among his 27 career victories worldwide having come at the 1998 Freeport-McDermott Classic in New Orleans.
The leading trio began their final rounds at eight under par for the tournament, one stroke in front of Stuart Appleby with first-round leader Retief Goosen another two shots back on five under.
Westwood, whose last victory worldwide came at the 2007 British Masters, came close to winning Stateside again in June's US Open Championship at Torrey Pines, finishing one shot out of an 18-hole play-off with Rocco Mediate and eventual champion Tiger Woods.
Victory at this event in Akron, Ohio, would also be very welcome, of course, both for Westwood's career and looking ahead to next week's final major of the year, the US PGA Championship.
All 80 of the golfers who teed off in the first round remain involved in the no-cut event, with Colin Montgomerie among the back markers starting early on a warm and sunny morning.
The Scot did not have an enjoyable time of it, however, shooting a six-over-par 76 to finish the tournament on 15-over-par 295.
England's Nick Dougherty continued his improvement at Firestone following opening rounds of 72 and 76. He posted a one-under-par 69 yesterday and opened with an eagle two at the par-four first, holing out from the fairway with a 129-yard wedge shot.
Dougherty finished the day with a second consecutive 69 to give him encouragement heading to Oakland Hills next week.
Richard Finch had also started well from an overnight five over par, with three birdies on his front nine and came home in par for the back nine and a closing 67 to finish the tournament at one over.
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