American Rickie Fowler holed out from 75 yards to complete the front nine in just 29 on his way to a superb 64 to set the early pace Saturday at the Olympic golf tournament.
"That's just how much of a fine line it's been and how close the game has been," said world No. 8 Fowler, who has entered next week's Wyndham Championship to try to qualify for the Ryder Cup.
"Today was great. I did a lot of things well. There were a couple of wind-gust mysteries, but having made the two bogeys on the back nine, finishing with birdies on 17 and 18 definitely gave me a chance going into tomorrow to potentially get myself on the podium.
"If I go out and play well tomorrow I could sneak up there. Normally you don't get rewarded much for second and third, but here you can walk away with some hardware. Getting a gold may be a little bit of a stretch right now, but you never know."
After rounds of 75 and 71, Fowler finished the day tied for 14th, 9 strokes behind 54-hole leader Justin Rose heading in Sunday's final round in Rio de Janeiro. Fowler's 64 was the second-lowest round of the week after Australia's Marcus Fraser shot 63 to open the tournament.
PA Sport contributed to this report.
