World No.3 Rory McIlroy realised Muirfield Village was playing so tough that he set a goal of just trying to break 70.
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He didn't quite get there, but his two-under 70 still was enough for him to share the third round lead at six under 210 in the PGA Tour's Memorial tournament with South Korea's Si Woo Kim (71) and American world No.160 David Lipsky (72).
It helped that Hideki Matsuyama went from leading to dropping off the leaderboard in a span of six holes. And that Patrick Cantlay went into the water and over the green on his way to a triple bogey.
What remained amid a few rumbles of thunder was an opportunity for just about everyone who has a tee time on Sunday.
Thirteen players are separated by two shots at the top. Nine more are only three shots out of the lead.
Norway's Viktor Hovland (69) is in the group of five players one shot behind the leaders at five-under.
Australia's Adam Scott is five shots off the pace after a 70.
It's the highest 54-hole lead since 1990, when the weather was so atrocious that the final round was canceled and Greg Norman won at even-par 216.
McIlroy is bidding for a 24th career PGA Tour win and second this season.
McIlroy ran into trouble in the right rough on the 10th and had to scramble for a bogey. He pulled his tee shot on the par-5 11th and caught a break when it stopped short of going into the creek. That's when he set his goal for the day to break 70 by avoiding mistakes and making birdie on the few easier holes.
It didn't quite work out that way. He chipped in for birdie on the dangerous par-3 12th. He also hit an approach to a back pin on the 17th that rolled past the cup and set up a birdie.
Just as sweet was the 18th, where his putt from the back of the green to a front pin ran nearly 10 feet by the cup and he holed that for par.
"I was really happy with how I scored out there, and how I just sort of hung in there for most of the day," McIlroy said.
"I've done a good job this week of keeping the ball in play,. What I need to do tomorrow is just stick to that gameplan."
McIlroy will be in the final group with Kim, who one-putted his last seven holes.
All this was made possible largely by Matsuyama, a former Memorial winner, who birdied his first two holes before it quickly fell apart on his way to a 75.
Cantlay, a two-time Memorial winner, had only one big mistake. He went for the green from the rough on the par-4 sixth and came up short and into the water, then went long into the rough and didn't get up-and-down, making a triple bogey.
He and Matsuyama were still two shots behind going into Sunday.
Australian Associated Press
