Travelers Championship 2020: Dustin Johnson, Brendon Todd Surge in Round 3

Brendon Todd and Dustin Johnson stole the show during the third round of the 2020 Travelers Championship on Saturday.

Todd, who began the day as part of a five-way tie for fourth place, took the outright lead with 18 holes remaining after shooting a 61 to lower his three-round score to 18 under par. 

Johnson skyrocketed up the leaderboard after ending the second round in 20th. The 2016 U.S. Open champion tied Todd for the lowest score of the third round and is alone in second place at 16 under par. 

2020 Travelers Championship Leaderboard - Third Round

1. Brendon Todd (-18)

2. Dustin Johnson (-16)

3. Kevin Streelman (-15)

4. Mackenzie Hughes (-14)

T5. Bryson DeChambeau (-13)

T5. Kevin Na (-13)

T7. Scott Stallings (-12)

T7. Seung-Yul Noh (-12)

T7. Patton Kizzire (-12)

T7. Abraham Ancer (-12)

T7. Phil Mickelson (-12)

Full leaderboard via PGATour.com

Todd has been on point through 54 holes, with no single-round score higher than 66. His success stems in large part from his ability hit the fairway:

In putting the ball on the fairway for every hole in the third round, Todd hit 88.9 percent of greens in regulation and gained 2.8 strokes putting. 

This weekend has been a stark turnaround for Todd, who missed back-to-back cuts at the Charles Schwab Challenge and RBC Heritage over the previous two weeks. The 34-year-old got off to a terrific start this season with wins at the Bermuda Championship and Mayakoba Golf Classic in November. 

As impressive as Todd has been, he's still got a tall task ahead of him with Johnson on his heels and Kevin Streelman doing his best to close the gap. 

Per Justin Ray of the Golf Channel, Johnson's 61 on Saturday was his best score ever on the PGA Tour:

One encouraging sign for Johnson going into the final round is he's improved in a number of crucial categories each day. His driving accuracy has increased from 50 percent Thursday to 85.7 percent Saturday, and his greens in regulation has gone from 72.2 percent Thursday to 88.9 percent Saturday. 

Johnson will have to avoid the final-round woes that have haunted him this season if he wants to win his first PGA Tour event since Feb. 2019. The 36-year-old ranks 173rd in final-round scoring average (71.4) in 2020. 

While Todd and Johnson were celebrating their strong third-round performances, Phil Mickelson had a rough day. Lefty held a one-shot lead after Friday, but he fell six spots after a 71 dropped him to 12 under par. 

Mickelson is part of a five-way tie for seventh place as he pursues his first PGA victory since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February 2019.