Local boy Webb Simpson retook the lead heading into the final day of the Wells Fargo Championship as Rory McIlroy roared into contention.
Simpson, whose home is less than a mile from the Quail Hollow venue, shot a three-under 69 to lead by one from fellow Americans Ryan Moore and DA Points on 14 under.
But it was Northern Irishman McIlroy who had the day's most eye-catching round, as his six-under 66 took him to 12 under par, two shots off the lead.
The 2010 champion birdied four of the first five holes and was six under through 11, but from there could only manage one more birdie and a second bogey at the 15th and 16th.
"When you get off to a good start like that, you birdie the first three holes, it gives you momentum early, and it's something you can just go with," McIlroy told www.espn.com.
"I think that was the key to the round today, to get off to that kind of start."
McIlroy, who hit a course-record 62 in 2010, also had a stroke of luck when his tee shot on the 18th hit a spectator on the backside and rebounded towards the fairway.
Simpson carded five birdies against two bogies, while overnight leader Nick Watney, Simpson's house guest for the week and playing partner for the day, was level for the day to sit in a share of fourth alongside McIlroy.
"I don't want to get ahead of myself," Simpson told www.pgatour.com. "I look at the leaderboard and there's so many great players within a shot or two. So I know it's going to be a tough day.
"I know I can go out and shoot four under and get beat by two or three.
"This is one of those golf courses where if conditions are right you can get a string of birdies going.
"You saw McIlroy a few years ago shoot 10 under. Knowing that, my expectations aren't too high.
"Obviously I want to go out there and try to win, but all I can do is kind of control what we're doing."
Watney was set to share second with Moore and Points until he found a creek to the left of the fairway on 11 and bogeyed.
A shot behind him and McIlroy were Rickie Fowler, who carded a five-under 67, and Stewart Cink.
After barely making the cut, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood both had better days, going four under to sit in a share of 30th on five under, in a group which also contained Scotland's Martin Laird.
Collated third round scores and totals, Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America
(USA unless stated, par 72):
202 Webb Simpson 65 68 69
203 D.A. Points 66 68 69, Ryan Moore 65 70 68
204 Nick Watney 68 64 72, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 70 68 66
205 Stewart Cink 65 69 71, Rickie Fowler 66 72 67
206 George McNeill 70 68 68, John Senden (Aus) 66 68 72, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 71 70 65
207 Ben Crane 70 64 73
208 Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 68 70 70, Richard H. Lee 70 69 69, Jonas Blixt (Swe) 68 73 67
209 Brian Davis (Eng) 66 74 69, Martin Flores 68 70 71, Jeff Overton 68 71 70, Robert Garrigus 69 72 68, David Toms 74 65 70, Jason Day (Aus) 70 70 69, Patrick Reed 66 74 69, Tommy Gainey 68 72 69
210 Spencer Levin 72 68 70, Sean O'Hair 72 69 69, Ben Curtis 69 70 71, Camilo Villegas (Col) 71 70 69, Tom Gillis 73 68 69, Jonathan Byrd 69 69 72, James Driscoll 71 70 69
211 Billy Mayfair 67 71 73, Heath Slocum 69 67 75, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 67 73, Phil Mickelson 71 72 68, J.B. Holmes 71 71 69, Sung-hoon Kang (Kor) 71 70 70, Kyle Reifers 70 72 69, Martin Laird (Sco) 72 70 69, Hunter Haas 68 68 75, Johnson Wagner 71 66 74, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 69 72 70, Lee Westwood (Eng) 71 72 68
212 Brendon De Jonge 67 73 72, Kevin Stadler 68 74 70, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 68 69 75, John Merrick 70 68 74, Roberto Castro 68 72 72, Rocco Mediate 68 69 75
213 J J Henry 73 69 71, Jim Furyk 71 71 71, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 69 72 72, Brian Harman 67 74 72, Will Claxton 71 72 70, Troy Matteson 74 69 70, Josh Teater 69 73 71, Cameron Tringale 69 74 70
214 Brendan Steele 71 72 71, Andres Romero (Arg) 70 71 73, Dicky Pride 69 72 73, Kevin Chappell 72 71 71
215 Chris Kirk 75 67 73, Chad Campbell 72 71 72, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 69 69 77, Brandt Jobe 72 70 73, Jimmy Walker 69 73 73, Ken Duke 72 71 72
216 Hunter Mahan 73 68 75, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 68 75 73, Marc Leishman (Aus) 75 67 74
217 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 69 73 75, Gary Christian (Eng) 73 70 74
218 Zach Johnson 70 71 77, David Hearn (Can) 70 72 76, Gavin Coles (Aus) 72 71 75
219 Harris English 70 72 77
