(Reuters) - Tyrrell Hatton survived brutal conditions to eke out a two-stroke lead over Rory McIlroy and Marc Leishman in the third round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida on Saturday.
Hatton sank an unlikely 30-foot birdie at the final hole to shoot one-over-par 73 and open a handy buffer over his rivals at Bay Hill in Orlando.
The Englishman is at six-under 210, while Northern Irishman McIlroy (73), who bogeyed the last after firing his second shot into rocks, and Australian Leishman (72) are tied for second on four-under.
South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, South Korean Im Sung-jae, New Zealander Danny Lee and American Harris English are three strokes behind.
Sung Kang, who shared the halfway lead with Hatton, triple-bogeyed the final hole after pulling his drive out-of-bounds. He shot 78 and fell five behind.
Kang was not the only player to run up a big number on a day of carnage as strong winds, rock-hard greens and thick rough conspired to prevent anyone from breaking 70 at the event for the first time in 40 years.
