Chasing the first PGA Tour victory of his career, Justin Lower shot a 63 in his penultimate round to forge a three-way tie atop the leaderboard at the World Wide Technology Championship in Los Cabos.
With a bogey-free, nine-under-par round, Lower equalled the best score of his career and is joined at 16 under by Carson Young and Colombia's Nico Echavarria after their respective efforts of 67 and 68.
Lower was in 14th place entering Saturday at El Cardonal at Diamante, but posted the round of the day with seven birdies and capped it with an eagle on the par-five 18th hole.
"The big thing about 18 is I think just getting it in play off the tee," said the 35-year-old, making his 94th career start on the PGA Tour.
"If you can avoid both the bunkers, you'll have a chance. I don't know where it landed, but it ended up maybe 10, 11 feet from it. I luckily got a read on the putt from(Kevin) Streelman, so worked out."
Ranked 95th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings entering the event, Lower is projected to rise to 59, which is significant since players ranked 51-60 at the end of the window qualify for the first two signature events of 2025.
"I mean, there are 18 holes tomorrow on a very scoreable golf course," he said. "I think the wind's going to stay down again, so I have to go out and basically shoot probably somewhere between five and nine under again.
Meanwhile, Young is also in pursuit of his first PGA Tour win and moved up two spots with six birdies, including one on 18, to offset a bogey on the seventh.
"It seemed like a whole different golf course today," said the 29-year-old, playing in his 64th PGA Tour event.
"The wind is blowing in a little bit different direction so it was a challenge, but I still played really solid, hit a lot of good iron shots and made some random long putts which helped keep the momentum going for the round. Just happy I had a good finish there."
Echavarria posted another bogey-free round, notching four birdies along the way, to maintain a share of the lead as he eyes his third PGA Tour victory and second in back-to-back starts as he captured the Zozo Championship at the end of October.
"Living the right life," he said. "It's been good golf, it's been solid. Played very smart today. So kept myself in there and, hopefully, we can keep it going one more day."
Max Greyserman, who held a share of the second-round lead, is among a trio of players one shot back at 15 under following a third-round 69. Joe Highsmith (65) and Austin Eckroat (66) are also 15 under.
