RBC Heritage 2018: Ian Poulter Holds 1-Stroke Lead After 3 Rounds

Three rounds down and Ian Poulter holds a one-stroke lead as the 2018 RBC Heritage heads into the final day at the Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Bryson DeChambeau entered Saturday with the lead after a seven-under 64 in the second round put him at 10 under for the tournament. However, a rocky start to the round quickly saw him lose his grasp of the lead—and that was just the start of his struggles. A four-over now has him seven shots back of the lead.

Below is a full leaderboard at the end of Day 3.

2018 RBC Heritage Leaderboard — Round 3

1. Ian Poulter 67 (-13)

T2. Luke List 67 (-12)

T2. Si Woo Kim 68 (-12)

T4. C.T. Pan 67 (-11)

T4. Billy Horschel 67 (-11)

T6. Kevin Kisner 66 (-10)

T6. Chesson Hadley 69 (-10)

8.  Rory Sabbatini 70 (-9)

T9. Ryan Moore 67 (-8)

T9. Matt Kuchar 69 (-8)

T9. Danny Lee 70 (-8)

Full leaderboard can be viewed on PGATour.com

Recap

DeChambeau picked up where he left off on Friday on hole No. 1:

However, he soon found himself looking up at the leaders with an eight on the par-five second. 

Things didn't get much better. Even with four birdies in the round, he shot a 75. He not only had a bogey, but he also had three holes where he managed a double bogey or worse. Thus he fell from the top of the leaderboard to No. 20. 

It quickly became Poulter's day. While he had four birdies in the round, he grabbed the lead and held on to it by avoiding the major mistakes. He shot no worse than par on any hole Saturday. Now, he finds himself in perfect position to win his second tournament in three weeks, having walked away victorious at the Houston Open earlier this month.

After hanging around in contention with a 66 and 69 in the first two rounds, Billy Horschel managed to surge to the top spot behind six Saturday birdies, including four in a span of five holes:

As strong as he played during the middle of the round, he cooled off at the end, shooting a one-over through the final five holes. He shot a 67 on the day to put himself in a tie for fourth.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson dug himself into a deep hole in Round 3 with four bogeys in the first 11 holes. It wasn't until the 12th that he managed to start making up ground, recording three birdies over the final seven holes: 

He sits 10 strokes back of the lead after a one-over 72.

As for the reigning RBC Heritage champ, Wesley Bryan has work to do if he hopes to repeat. While he managed four birdies Saturday, he also had two bogeys and a double bogey. A second consecutive even-par performance has him sitting at two under for the tournament.

Perhaps no golfer, though, had a better finish than to the day than Danny Lee:

A roller-coaster back nine—which included an eagle, a double bogey and the birdie above—put him at one under for the day. As a result, he is in a tie for ninth through three rounds.

Potential inclement weather has the led to a tweak for the final round, per the tournament:

Hopefully Mother Nature will not prevent the event from being concluded Sunday.