GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Steve LeBrun vaulted up the leaderboard today firing a 5-under 67 at Greenville Country Club's Chanticleer Course, the most challenging of the three courses, in the third round of the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation. The round puts him at 203, 12-under par for the tournament.

Not to be outdone, Brad Fritsch took advantage of the continued soft conditions at Carolina Country Club, carding a 4-under 68 to grab a share of the lead with LeBrun heading into the final round.

Five players are 11 under, one shot back of the leaders. Those players are James Hahn (69), Alex Prugh (66), 2007 BMW Charity Pro-Am champion Nick Flanagan (67), Robert Streb (70) and Andy Pope (70).

Australian Cameron Percy, the second-round leader, had a roller coaster day on the challenging Chanticleer Course. Percy's 75 dropped him into a tie for eighth with Tyrone Van Aswegan of South Africa, two shots off the pace at 10 under.

In Sunday's final round all participants including the 14 leading Pro-Am teams that made the cut will play the host course, Thornblade Club, one more time.

"Just a solid day," LeBrun said. "I bogeyed my first hole but hung in there like I have all week. I'm not hitting it the best but my short game is keeping me in there."

After his opening bogey the Florida native capitalized on a few missed shots. He didn't like his tee shot on No. 16 (his seventh hole) from the start but a fortunate bounce led to a birdie that jump started his round.

"I knew it was a poor shot," LeBrun said of his tee shot. "But it hit in the rough and started trickling down and finished six inches away for a tap in. It was a bad shot that worked out great, which makes you feel pretty good."

Currently 67th on the Nationwide Tour money list, LeBrun proceeded to card four more birdies in his round. He knows what his miss is and believes he is heading in the right direction to correct it.

"I've been playing good all year," he said. "My miss is a shot to the right. It happened on that par-3 but it's dwindling down, so we're getting there."

Tied with LeBrun at 12-under is Canada's Fritsch. The Alberta native, who now calls North Carolina home, played Carolina Country Club today and knew the importance of taking advantage of the conditions.

"Everyone knows that of the three courses this is the one where you need to score the best," Fritsch said.

The Campbell University alum got off to a slow start with a bogey on No. 12, his third hole of the day. He followed it with a par from the middle of the fairway on No. 13. He then hit three straight approach shots to three feet starting at the 14th, but only converted two of them for birdie.

After birdies on the first and sixth holes, the 34-year-old three putted the 8th hole for bogey but bounced back nicely on the ninth with a very difficult approach into the green.

"Yeah that was pretty big," Fritsch said. "If it was not on that little down slope then it would have been fine. But it was on that down slope in the rough and it was shooting out of there pretty good, I just made sure to get it over the water and go from there."

After his ball safely landed at the back of the green he managed a long up and down for birdie after three putting the previous hole.

"Fortunately I was able to get it up and down," Fritsch said. "It was probably 90-feet on the first putt. So that was good."

In order to get his first win on the Nationwide Tour, Fritsch believes the key tomorrow is finishing strong down the stretch.

"You have two par-5s in 15 and 16, and two really good holes in the par-3 17th and the really difficult par-4 18th, he said. "It's probably going to come down to the last three or four holes."

A few guys that could come from behind and take advantage of those last few holes are former BMW champion Nick Flanagan, who had a bogey-free round that included an eagle at No. 4, and Alex Prugh, who also had a bogey-free round.

Third-Round Notes

• The four players atop the leader board entering the third round (1-Cameron Percy, T2-Aaron Watkins, Reid Edstrom and Darron Stiles) were a collective 10 over on their front nine today. At even par, their back nine play was much improved.

• Among those missing the cut (-4 made it) was leading money winner Luke List. His two-under-par 215 total missed by two.

• Andy Matthews battled a case of food poisoning and shot a 4-over 76 in round three to miss the cut by four.

• Andy Pope, who played with Andy Matthews, got off to a great start with birdies on his first three holes of the round. He ran into some trouble on eight with a three-putt bogey followed by a double-bogey on the par-5 9th. He finished the round at 2-under 70, good for T3. The Xavier University Musketeer currently has conditional status and is looking to make enough money to improve on that before the reshuffle following the conclusion of The Rex Hospital Open in two weeks.

• Fabian Gomez, who finished runner-up in a playoff at this event in 2009 and sixth in 2010, charged back up the leaderboard with a 7-under 64 at Thornblade Club today. Gomez' round included 10 birdies. He jumped up from T91 after 36 holes to T22 heading into Sunday's final round.

• Justin Hicks made a costly triple-bogey on his 18th hole (No. 9). He was 10-under par playing his last hole and wound up T22.

• Martin Piller had a pair of eagles during his round at Greenville CC. Piller eagled the par-5 7th and 17th holes. He wound up shooting an even-par 72 for a 3-under 212 total, but missed the cut by one stroke.

• Paul Claxton shot an even-par 71 at Thornblade Club to wind up at 3-under 212 and miss the cut by one stroke. Claxton had been a perfect 8-for-8 this year, matching his career-best stretch for consecutive cuts made.

• Seven of the top-10 Nationwide Tour money winners were entered this week and surprisingly all seven missed the 54-hole cut. That group includes Luke List (No. 1), Andrew Svoboda (No. 4), Alex Aragon (No. 5), Paul Claxton (No. 6), Hudson Swafford (No. 7), Skip Kendall (No. 8) and Brian Stuard (No. 9). The remaining three from the top-10 -- Andres Gonzales (No. 2), Paul Haley (No. 3) and Edward Loar (No. 10) - are competing at this week's PGA TOUR stop at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, where Gonzales and Haley received sponsor exemptions. Gonzales is in the top-20 after 54 holes in Dallas, while Haley and Loar both missed the 36-hole cut on Friday.

• Four past champions are in the field this week:

• There were 10 former Clemson University players in the field this week but only three will play on Sunday:

• Players who were bogey free in the third round:

66 -- Alex Prugh (CC), David May (GV) 67 -- Nick Flanagan (CC) 68 -- Zack Byrd (GV), Nicholas Thompson (CC) 69 -- James Hahn (GV), Scott Parel (CC)

• Scoring averages for the week:

• Fourteen celebrity/amateur teams qualified to play one more round at Thornblade tomorrow to determine a winner in the Pro-Am.

The leaders are: 1 - Fabian Gomez & Brian Todd (-32) 2 - Aaron Watkins & Ken Wood (-28)

The following celebrity teams advanced:

8 - Martin Piller & Andy Buckley (-24) T9 - Derek Fathauer & Kevin Sorbo (-23) T9 - Reid Edstrom & Terry O'Quinn (-23_

• The Nationwide Tour will take next week off before resuming the 2012 schedule at The Rex Hospital Open at TPC Wakefield Plantation in Raleigh, N.C. May 28 -- June 3.

Jason Dufner's ballstriking has been without peer at the HP Byron Nelson.

By Fred Albers, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

IRVING, Texas — Jason Dufner leads the field in greens hit in regulation, with 44 of 54 hit, and is second in fairways, hitting 31 of 42. Ballstriking is the reason Dufner leads the HP Byron Nelson Championship, inconsistent putting is why he does not lead by more. He has had rounds of 32, 26 and 32 putts, ranking 59th in the field. For the year, Dufner is 117th on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained-Putting. If he would improve his putting just a little in the final round, you would expect his ballstriking to take him to victory.

Green speed: Ryan Palmer walked off the course a very frustrated golfer, and that’s understandable. He took 33 putts to shoot 72. The wind blew hard enough where it affected the line of putts and Palmer struggled with speed the entire day, as several putts were left in the heart of the hole but just short of the cup. The low point came on the 10th hole when he missed from 20 inches. To his credit, Palmer birdied the very next hole and, despite the balky putter, is still in contention.

Veterans: What a wonderful mixture on the leaderboard for the final round. There is definitely a veteran presence with players like J.J. Henry in contention, along with Vijay Singh. On a day when players struggled to make putts from three feet away, Singh finessed his way through 18 holes with just 27 putts. That veteran experience that will be needed in the final round, where patience will be required in windy conditions.

Encore: On Friday, Phil Mickelson hit one of the shots of the year when he sliced a 127-yard 5-wood onto the ninth green. He tried the mirror image of that shot on Saturday, hooking a wedge 20 yards around trees from the left side. Unfortunately, this time Mickelson made bogey instead of birdie.

Game plan: After hitting into the water at the 18th on Thursday, Jason Day vowed he would never hit driver there again. He stuck to that game plan in the third round, hitting iron off the tee and yet the hole still bit him when he three-putted for bogey from 8 feet. Day is one shot off the lead but is 3 over par on the 18th hole.

Bunched field: With players going off both 1 and 10 and in threesomes, there was just a two-hour spread in tee times during the third round. Usually, early tee times get some players on the course before the winds begin but that wasn’t the case on Saturday. Everyone played in heavy winds and few low scores were posted. That’s the reason there are 20 players within five shots of the lead going into the final round.

Fred Albers is a course reporter for SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio and inside the ropes this week at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. For more information on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio, click here.

IRVING, Texas (AP) Nine players had or shared the lead during the third round of the Byron Nelson Championship.

Yet when play ended Saturday, Jason Dufner was the one alone at the top of the leaderboard for the second day in a row.

Unfazed by more breezy conditions, Dufner shot a 1-under 69 for an 8-under 202 total. He had a one-stroke lead over Jason Day, J.J. Henry and Dicky Pride.

''Similar conditions as (Friday), so probably helped me a little bit, just being comfortable with the wind and how hard it was blowing,'' Dufner said. ''Good ball striking, hit a lot of greens. ... Didn't feel like I was scrambling too much, trying to save pars or out of position, anything like that.''

Three weeks after getting his first PGA Tour victory at New Orleans, and two weeks after getting married, Dufner is already trying to win again.

Dufner is comfortable in his position with the experience of having won recently, and the forecast for more wind Sunday, though it is not expected to be as stiff as the 20 mph with gusts the last two days.

Matt Kuchar, who won The Players Championship last weekend, was in a group of eight players four shots back after a 72 with an up-and-down back nine.

Kuchar, the fifth-ranked player in the world, still has a chance to become the first PGA Tour player since Tiger Woods in 2009 to win in consecutive weeks.

Dufner's only bogey came at the 528-yard par-4 third hole, when he knew right away that his drive wasn't a good one. He immediately dropped his club to watch as the ball flew into a bunker on the left side of the fairway, opposite the water on the right where he hit his tee shot the previous day.

''A little bit of carryover from (Friday), not trying to let those things happen, but occasionally they creep in your mind,'' he said. ''That bunker is almost as bad as being in the water, so (Sunday) maybe I'll think of that and play more aggressive and try to hit the shot a little better.''

Dufner, who birdied four of his last five holes Friday, got the lost stroke back Saturday with a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 6. He had pars the rest of the way except for the 14-foot birdie at the par-4 14th.

Day's only bogey came when he missed a putt of less than 2 feet at No. 18. The ball rimmed around the cup and rolled back toward him, costing him a share of the lead with a round of 67.

''I just hit it too hard through the break,'' said Day, the 2010 Nelson champ who finished fifth last year in his only other appearance on the TPC at Four Seasons courses. ''One day that hole will pay me back, and hopefully it's (Sunday).''

There were 20 players within five strokes of the lead. And 10th-ranked Phil Mickelson was among of group of seven more players only one more back.

Henry had three birdies on the back nine after two bogeys on the easier front nine in a round of 67. Pride, who has been playing professionally for 20 years, got his only PGA Tour victory in 1994.

''I threw my caddie in the air trying to figure out the wind,'' Pride said jokingly after his round of 69. ''Grass, I couldn't see.''

Vijay Singh, a 34-time PGA Tour winner whose last victory was in 2008, had a 66 Saturday. He was two strokes back after an eagle-birdie-bogey finish. After his 38-foot eagle putt at the par-5 16th, he made a 5-foot birdie at No. 17 but missed a par putt of the same distance on the last hole.

''I've been looking forward to this position,'' he said. ''My game has been coming around, but there wasn't any signs of scoring and this s the first day where I kind of went out there and scored well.''

PGA rookie Jonas Blixt from Sweden (67) and Marc Leishman (71) were tied for sixth at 205.

Ryan Palmer, the 2011 Nelson runner-up after losing in a playoff, shot a 72 in the final group. He was with Kuchar and defending Nelson champion Keegan Bradley (71) in that group of eight at 2006.

Kuchar was 8 under and leading after consecutive birdies to start his back nine, with a 32-foot putt at No. 10 and hitting his approach at No. 11 inside 3 feet.

After hitting his tee shot at No. 12 into a fairway bunker, he had a chance to save par but missed a 6-foot putt. His tee shot at the 180-yard 13th stopped 4 inches from the pin for a tap-in birdie that got him back to 8 under and the lead, but that didn't last long.

An errant drive on No. 14 led to a drop, then he had to punch back into the fairway before his approach to the back fringe of the green and a double bogey. His approach out of the rough at the next hole found a greenside bunker and he missed a 7-footer for par.

Bradley was only one stroke off the lead when his drive at No. 11 was way right. His shot from there went over the green and trickled into the water, leading to a triple bogey that took him to 4 under, where he finished.

Mickelson had five birdies and four bogeys for a round of 69. He failed to make up any ground even after holing a 42-foot chip shot at No. 18, where he finished with double bogey Friday.

''It was a fun way to end the day,'' he said. ''I had a lot of opportunities to get right back in the mix and made four or five mistakes there, sloppy bogeys.''

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

IRVING, Texas — The last time Vijay Singh found himself in the top five on the leaderboard after the third round, he never got the chance to play another shot. That was at The Barclays last year, an event that was shortened to 54 holes because of the threat of Hurricane Irene.

Singh settled for a tie for third that week.

Now he enters the final round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship in solo fifth, thanks to Saturday’s 4-under 66. The only weather issues he’ll have to worry about on Sunday are the tricky cross-winds at the TPC Four Seasons Resort course that will challenge the patience of all those in contention.

Singh

"I haven’t been in this position for a while," said Singh, whose last win came in 2008 when he claimed the FedExCup. "I’ve been looking forward to this position. I’ve worked really hard. I haven’t stopped working."

At age 48, Singh’s opportunities to win another TOUR event would seem to be closing. After battling some injury problems, Singh had five top-10 finishes last year but he failed to produce a top-10 result this season.

The 66 on Saturday, though, is a sign of progress. It’s his lowest round on the weekend this year, and at just two strokes off the lead held by Jason Dufner, Singh is certainly within striking distance.

"My game has been coming around," Singh said, ‘but there wasn’t any signs of scoring. This is the first day where I kind of went out there and scored well."

It helps to drain a couple of lengthy putts, such as the 31-footer he had at the 13th hole for birdie and the 38-footer for eagle at the 16th. He also started the day by rolling in an 11-footer for birdie.

But after making eagle-birdie at 16 and 17, he three-putted the final green as he waited on playing partner Gary Woodland to extract himself from trouble.

"I waited a long time to putt that," Singh said, "so lost my momentum there."

Singh was more fired up about his ball-striking than his putting. He’s hit 76 percent of his greens in regulation and ranks fourth in the field in proximity to the hole.

"I think I hit the ball a lot better than I putted today," Singh said.

And now he’s one good round away from his 35th win on TOUR, and his 23rd since he turned 40.

Watch: Mickelson chips in at 18

Phil Mickelson chipped in for birdie to end Saturday's third round.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

IRVING, Texas — On Thursday, Phil Mickelson ended his first round with a bogey. On Friday, he suffered a double bogey on his final hole.

Saturday, he could walk off the TPC Four Seasons Resort course with a smile, thanks to a chip-in birdie from 41-1/2 feet at the par-4 18th.

"Fun way to end the day," Mickelson said, who was given a standing ovation as he headed toward the scorer’s table.

Mickelson rallied on the back nine Saturday to fashion a 1-under 69 that leaves him at 2 under for the tournament headed into Sunday’s final round.

That will put him in the top 30 after 54 holes, but Mickelson doesn’t think he’ll be close enough to win his second HP Byron Nelson Championship. His first win here was 16 years ago.

"I think I will be too far back to make a run," Mickelson said, "but you never know. Try to get a hot front nine tomorrow."

Unhappy with his play during his second-round 69, Mickelson didn’t feel his Saturday 69 offered any kind of significant improvement. He hit eight of 14 fairways, his best performance off the tee this week, but just 12 of 18 greens, the worst of his three rounds and made four bogeys. "Sloppy bogeys," he noted.

"It wasn’t that much better today," Mickelson said. "I hit a lot of wild shots today. I was able to make some birdies, though, but made too many mistakes.

"I hit it very well the last two weeks but didn’t score well. Today and yesterday, my ball-striking was poor. I ‘ll see if I can get it turned around for tomorrow."

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) Defending champion Tom Watson has withdrawn from next week's Senior PGA Championship.

Watson has been recovering from a pinched nerve in his wrist. He is still expected to be at Harbor Shores before the tournament, and will host the champions' dinner Tuesday night.

Watson beat David Eger in a playoff to win last year's event in Louisville, Ky.

CASARES, Spain (AP) Graeme McDowell held his nerve in a tense playoff against local favorite Sergio Garcia to squeeze into the World Match Play Championship semifinals in Spain on Saturday.

McDowell made his par putt on the first extra hole from 5 feet but Garcia's putt slid by the cup from even closer in.

''We are in Spain and it wasn't exactly 'el clasico' but I got the job done,'' said McDowell, who holed the winning putt for Europe at the Ryder Cup in 2010.

McDowell will play another Spaniard in the semis after Rafael Cabrera-Bello rallied from 3 down to win 3 and 1 against compatriot Alvaro Quiros, who had earlier ended reigning champion Ian Poulter's eight-match unbeaten run in the event.

The other semifinal features Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts against Scotland's Paul Lawrie after both eased to victories.

Colsaerts, a semifinalist here last year and whose big-hitting game appears ideally suited to the long, hilly Finca Cortesin course in southern Spain, beat Brandt Snedeker of the United States 4 and 3.

Lawrie thrashed Retief Goosen 6 and 5 in their quarterfinal as he bids to mark his 500th appearance in a European Tour event with his eighth tournament victory.

McDowell beat Richard Finch - the conqueror of top seed Martin Kaymer in the group stage - 3 and 2 in the last 16 earlier Saturday and lost a great chance to clinch his match against Garcia in regulation.

The Northern Irishman, who won the U.S. Open in 2010, missed a putt from five feet on No. 18 to lose the hole and take the match to a playoff.

Garcia slipped when taking his second shot on the 19th hole, his ball squirming along the fairway and landing beside the same bunker McDowell found himself in from his second.

Garcia was closer with the approach but he managed to 3-putt from 15 feet whereas McDowell needed only two from the length of the green.