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Viktor Hovland carded six birdies on the back nine and fired a blistering 8-under-par 64 to extend his lead to three strokes at the Hero World Challenge on Saturday in Albany, Bahamas.

Hovland sits at 13-under 203 after 54 holes as he vies to repeat as champion of the event.

Scottie Scheffler is within striking range at 10 under after his 6-under 66. Cameron Young (third-round 68) and Justin Thomas (66) are five shots back at 8 under.

Hovland has led or tied for the lead in all three rounds.

Hovland made 10 birdies in the third round, one more than his career-high in official PGA Tour events, recording the low round of the day. His round included two bogeys, including the par-4 18th.

“I missed probably like a 10-footer on the first hole and lipped out and I kind of thought, ‘Here we go again,’ but after that it was a lot of putts that went in,” Hovland said. “You need that on a day like today when the winds are down and you can be a little bit more aggressive. That’s the only way you can make that many birdies, so that was a lot of fun.”

Hovland would be just the second player to successfully defend a title at the event, joining event host Tiger Woods in 2007.

Scheffler did his best to stay close, posting five birdies and an eagle on the par-5 15th. There are two eagles so far from the 20-player field and Scheffler has both of them.

“I played really solid, kept the ball in front of me, hit a lot of fairways,” Scheffler said. “Felt like I did a good job just keeping the course in front of me and giving myself some changes.”

Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa shot matching 69s to sit six shots back at 7 under in a tie for fifth. Jon Rahm (68) sits solo seventh at 4 under, nine shots back.

–Field Level Media