Harris English carded a second consecutive round of 65 at TPC Southwind and will enter Sunday’s finale of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with a two shot lead.

The 32-year-old Georgia native finished with a bogey-free scorecard featuring five birdies, two of which came on Nos. 16 and 17 to pull ahead of the pack.

“Yeah, I mean, 16’s really — it’s really the only hole on the back nine where it’s a must birdie,” said English, whose 18-under par tied Tiger Woods for the lowest 54-hole mark in tournament history.

“Definitely the easiest hole on the back nine. 17 is one of the hardest holes and that’s one that is a bonus getting a birdie there.

“I’m playing it 20 feet right of the hole and pull it a little bit and end up getting rewarded with a good shot. It’s one of those where you just say, all right, that’s just a bonus and I’m going to take it.

“It was a great spot to putt from right behind the hole, I felt like I had a pretty good line on it. It’s nice I guess taking any birdies you can get because I know it’s going to be similar tomorrow and going to need all the birdies I can get.”

Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith were two off the pace at 16-under par.

Smith (65) made birdies on two of his final three holes to sit T2 alongside DeChambeau, who shot a low-round 7-under 63, highlighted by a four-birdie burst over his final seven holes.

The 27-year old DeChambeau credited his weight loss from COVID for his ball striking improvement.

“It’s [COVID weight loss] honestly kind of helped me this week hit it in the fairway, I don’t know why,” said DeChambeau, who would move to the top of the MVP race with a third win of 2020-21 season.

“It was awesome being able to strike it that close to the hole all day. Didn’t feel as comfortable as I would have liked with the swing, but the results were there so I was very pleased with the results.

“And honestly, if I can do that again tomorrow, I give myself a great chance to win.”

After a Saturday round of 67, Abraham Ancer was two further back on 13 under, one clear of Scottie Scheffler and Ian Poulter who carded matching 67s.

Rounding out the top 10 were Dustin Johnson (65), Paul Casey (65), Will Zalatoris (67) and Louis Oosthuizen (68) who sat T7 on 11-under par.

2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

Leaderboard: Top 10

Pos-Player-To Par-(Rd 3)
1. Harris English -18 (-5)
2. Bryson DeChambeau -16 (-7)
2. Cameron Smith -16 (-5)
4. Abraham Ancer -14 (-3)
5. Scottie Scheffler -13 (-3)
5. Ian Poulter -13 (-3)
7. Dustin Johnson -11 (-5)
7. Paul Casey -11 (-5)
7. Will Zalatoris -11 (-3)
7. Louis Oosthuizen -11 (-2)

Notables

Pos-Player-To Par-(Rd 3)
11. Sam Burns -10 (E)
11. Daniel Berger -10 (-3)
11. Tyrrell Hatton -10 (-5)
14. Hideki Matsuyama -9 (-6)
17. Justin Thomas -7 (-1)
17. Tony Finau -7 (-1)
17. Jordan Spieth -7 (-7)
17. Sergio Garcia -7 (-5)
22. Shane Lowry -6 (-3)
22. Rory McIlroy -6 (-4)
25. Phil Mickelson -5 (E)
25. Marc Leishman -5 (-1)
25. Lee Westwood -5 (-1)
32. Matthew Wolff -4 (+2)
32. Patrick Reed -4 (-1)
32. Collin Morikawa -4 (-2)
32. Joaquin Niemann -4 (-2)
32. Brooks Koepka -4 (-3)
39. Viktor Hovland -3 (-1)
39. Justin Rose -3 (-1)
39. Patrick Cantlay -3 (-1)
44. Webb Simpson -2 (+2)
44. Tommy Fleetwood -2 (-1)
53. Matt Fitzpatrick -1 (-3)
55. Adam Scott E (E)
61. Xander Schauffele +2 (E)

Material from PGA Tour Media & Communications was used to compile report.