Keegan Bradley birdied the 18th hole to take a one stroke advantage over Australia's Adam Scott into Sunday's final round of the PGA Tour's BMW Championship at Castle Pines, Colorado.
Surprise leader Bradley, who sneaked into the top 50 for the second event in the FedEx Cup playoff series thanks to his final round last week, carded a 2-under round of 70 after a challenging round in windy conditions.
The 2025 USA Ryder Cup captain shot six bogeys and seven birdies as he jousted with Scott and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg at the top of the leaderboard.
"It was tough out there today. It was really windy, a lot of elevated tees that were into the wind, which makes it really tough," said Bradley after sinking a nine-foot putt on the final hole to regain the solo lead.
"I played some brilliant golf but I hit also some terrible shots, too. I guess that's the way of the world. But I'm proud of the way I fought there in the end," he said.
Bradley's round was in danger of falling apart on the back nine where he made three straight bogeys between 11 and 13.
But he bounced back with successive birdies and did the same again after a bogey on the 16th.
Bradley's status as Ryder Cup captain, despite being only 38 and an active member of the tour, has meant chants of 'USA, USA' around the course.
and he says he has enjoyed that support.
"It's just incredible. Being the Ryder Cup captain is such an honour, and it comes with such a heavy weight of the world, the United States, the players out here.
"But when you get to feel that energy from the fans, it's really special. I haven't felt that since I played in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, what I felt out there today. That was really cool," he said.
Scott, who made his PGA Tour debut at Castle Pines 24 year ago, shot a 2-over 74, the day after his course record equalling 63.
The Australian made a poor start, with a bogey on the first where he drove out of bounds, double bogey on the par-4 third and another bogey on the fourth.
But he ended with birdies on the 16th and 17th and said his woes had been due to his failure to adjust to the harder greens.
"I kind of felt like I made a meal of that, and I didn't feel like I did that much wrong. A couple of drives were just not quite right, and a three-putt, and all of a sudden I'm kind of chasing," he said.
"I really struggled mostly on the greens today. They were just so different from yesterday's round speed-wise and firmness and look and everything. Felt like I was on a different course almost, and I just battled that most of the round," he added.
The Swedish pair of Aberg and Alex Noren were tied in third place, two strokes behind Bradley.
Aberg said he had to deal with nosebleeds due to the high altitude, getting blood on his shirt at one stage.
"There was a lot of things happening, I think. First hole I was kind of handling a little nosebleed incident on the fairway. But felt like I was being aggressive all day," he said after his 71.
The 42-year-old Noren, who shot 70, is searching for his first PGA Tour win.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler, leader in the FedEx Cup standings, was 13 shots behind Bradley after finishing the round with a 2-over 74.
But Xander Schauffele, second in the standings and with two major titles this year, shot an impressive 67 to move within five shots of the lead.