Collin Morikawa leaves the field far behind

Collin Morikawa carded a brilliant eight-under 64 third round to grab a five-shot lead in the Hero World Challenge at the Albany Golf Course here on Saturday.

Morikawa shot a bogey-free round after having started in grand fashion, chipping in on the par-5 third hole to make eagle.

In a good spot

The 24-year-old American is on the verge of winning his third title of the year, to go with The Open and the DP World Tour Championship.

“I’m just piggybacking off a couple of weeks ago in Dubai (DP championship). I’m dissecting my game and figuring out what I need to do consistently to be a better player, and to be in contention a lot more. Chipping and putting has put me in a good spot. I feel great, and I’ve just got to keep doing that,” Morikawa said.

Brooks Koepka returned a three-under 69 to lie second. Koepka was forced to play catch-up after a double bogey on the par-3 eighth hole.

“I had a few costly misses, a couple of good putts that just didn’t go in, and a few left short. It was a little sloppy here and there, which cost me,” Koepka said.

Overnight leader Bryson DeChambeau shot a one-over 73 to fall to ninth place. Daniel Berger recovered from a lost ball and double bogey on the par-5 third to sit joint third alongside Sam Burns, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Reed and Tony Finau.

Woods hits a few

Tournament host, Tiger Woods, meanwhile, came into the spotlight when he hit some balls on the practice range, suggesting he could soon return to action.

The scores (top three): 198: Collin Morikawa (68, 66, 64); 203: Brooks Koepka (67, 67, 69); 204: Daniel Berger (66, 69, 69), Sam Burns (71, 65, 68), Patrick Reed (68, 69, 67), Viktor Hovland (68, 69, 67), Tony Finau (68, 66, 70).

(The writer is in Nassau at the invitation of Hero MotoCorp).