Viktor Hovland leads as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy lurk in TOUR Championship thriller

The Norwegian star carded a five-under 65 around a benign East Lake on Saturday, enough to take him to 15 under for the tournament, one ahead of American Ryan Gerard on 14 under.

Hovland has his putter to thank for his lead. He rolled in six consecutive putts of seven feet or longer coming home. Four of them were for birdies. But Hovland knows that his lead counts for little given how many superstars are within reach.

"It's pretty bunched up around 11 and 12-under par there," he told AP.

"I mean, you've seen some 62s out there. You can take it low. So it was nice to get a little bit of distance, especially from the group of guys that are around that number. They're capable of shooting nothing tomorrow. So that gives me a little bit of a cushion for tomorrow. I'm still going to have to bring a nice, solid round."

A host of contenders - Scottie Scheffler (66), Chris Gotterup (67), Ludvig Aberg (65) and veteran Adam Scott (65) - are locked on 12 under.

"It's a good spot - within striking distance," said Scott.

"It's so congested, though, it's going to need a really great round. I think there's someone lurking who's going to have that."

Three-time FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy is five shots off the pace on ten under after his seven-under 63.