INZAI CITY, Japan (AP) 鈥� Nico Echavarria shot 5-under 65 on Saturday and finished with a tap-in eagle on the 18th for a two-shot lead over Justin Thomas after the third round of the Zozo Championship.
Echavarria is aiming for his second victory on the PGA Tour after winning last year in Puerto Rico. Thomas has won 15 times on the PGA Tour, but is without a victory in 2 1/2 years since .
Max Greyserman, looking for his first PGA Tour win, carded a 64 and is three back. Three more are six behind and still in the mix: Kevin Yu (66), Rickie Fowler (67) and Nate Lashley (63).
鈥淚 mean, that鈥檚 the way you want to finish a round,鈥� said Echavarria, who hit a 5-wood to 2 feet for the tap-in on the 550-yard hole. 鈥淚 had a good tee shot, hit a really good second shot and finished with an eagle. I prefer that than a birdie obviously.鈥�
The 30-year-old Echavarria, a Colombian who played at the University of Arkansas, saved par on the 12th with a difficult downhill chip from thick rough on his third shot, and then dropped a clutch putt.
It might have saved his round.
"I started getting shaky on the back nine with a bogey on 9 and an incredible save on 12," he said. 鈥淏ut we finished the round as well as we could.鈥�
Echavarria is 17-under 193 at the par-70 Narashino Country Club, located about 50 miles outside central Tokyo.
Ben Silverman, of Thornhill, Ont., shot 68 Saturday and is the top Canadian, tied for 29th at 5 under.
Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., is a stroke bacl after a round of 1-over 71. Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., is tied for 65that 1 over after a solid thrid rounf of 67.
Thomas won his first major in 2017 鈥� again the PGA Championship 鈥� and rose to No. 1 in the world golf rankings in 2018. Now he's trying to recapture the feeling.
鈥淚t鈥檚 obviously tough,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to win at any stage, doesn鈥檛 matter who you are.鈥�
He said early success might have made it look easier than it is.
鈥淭o yourself and everybody else,鈥� he added.
鈥淎t the end of the day it has been a while, but I鈥檝e still won a pretty good amount of golf tournaments. I know how to win. It鈥檚 just a matter of executing and doing it and that鈥檚 really been the biggest difference. There鈥檚 a reason there鈥檚 only one every week.鈥�
Fowler, who tied for the runner-up two years ago and has connections to Japan, suggested he was close to making a run.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of good signs, but over the past few events I just haven鈥檛 really put it all together," he said. "So I鈥檓 looking forward to getting out there and hopefully we can get a good one going.鈥�
The pre-tournament favorites are far out of contention.
Defending champion Collin Morikawa shot 70 and was 13 shots behind, as is Xander Schauffele after a 68.
Japanese favorite Hideki Matsuyama shot 66 鈥� his best round of the tournament 鈥� but is 15 shots off the lead.
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AP golf:
Stephen Wade, The Associated Press
