Fleetwood has recorded six runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour but seeks his first victory.
St Jude Championship – round three leaderboard
-14 T Fleetwood (Eng); -13 J Rose (Eng); -12 S Scheffler (US); -11 A Novak (US), J.J Spaun (US); -9 A Bhatia (US), B Griffin (US), R Fowler (US), C Kirk (US)
Selected others: -5 H Hall (Eng), R MacIntyre (Sco); -3 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), A Rai (Eng)
Tommy Fleetwood will enter the final day of the St Jude Championship in Memphis with a one-stroke lead, despite a rocky start to his third round.
He posted a one-under-par 69 to conclude the day at 14 under par, narrowly ahead of fellow Englishman Justin Rose.
Fleetwood had previously held a three-shot advantage over Rose following the completion of the second round earlier on Saturday, after play was suspended overnight on Friday due to inclement weather.
World number one Scottie Scheffler, who was six shots behind after round two, has narrowed the gap to just two after carding a five-under 65, tying with US Open champion JJ Spaun for the day’s best round.
Fleetwood, a seven-time winner on the European Tour, is still pursuing his inaugural PGA Tour title, with this tournament marking his 162nd start on the US circuit.
Rose, 45, is vying to become the first player in their 40s to secure a Tour victory this season.
“I relish being in contention,” Fleetwood stated. “The more frequently I position myself here, the greater the likelihood of success.
“[Sunday] may or may not be my day, but the crucial aspect is being in the mix.”
The world number 15 relinquished his lead early in the third round, carding a double bogey at the par-five third and a bogey at the seventh.
This briefly allowed Rose to take the outright lead, which he extended with a birdie at the seventh. However, he subsequently found water at the ninth and made bogey, while Fleetwood birdied the ninth to regain a share of the lead.
The 34-year-old then moved ahead again with a 14-foot birdie putt at the 12th and added another birdie on the 16th.
He held a three-shot lead after 17 holes, but a bogey on the last allowed Rose to close the gap to one with a birdie.
Fleetwood has recorded five top-five finishes this season, including a runner-up placing behind Keegan Bradley at the Travelers Championship in June.
Players who finish within the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings following Sunday’s round at TPC Southwind will progress to next week’s BMW Championship, the second of the PGA Tour’s three play-off tournaments.
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