World number one Jason Day found only three fairways off the tee but battled to a one-under par 69 to share the lead after Saturday’s third round of the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational.
 The 28-year-old Australian star, who defends his first major title later this month at the PGA Championship, stood on five-under par 205 after 54 holes at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
 “I hit some pretty errant shots out there but my short game saved me,” Day said. “I had to do something to save myself out there. I got into some trouble.”
 Level with Day atop the leaderboard was US Open runner-up Scott Piercy of the United States, who shot a 67. “The putter hasn’t quite shown up yet,” Piercy said. “If I’m putting solid and keep driving well, I’ve got a good chance.”
 Day, seeking his fourth title of the year and 11th US PGA trophy of his career, found plenty of negatives to his round but one very big positive to focus upon.
“I’m still tied for the lead and I haven’t hit the golf ball that well this week,” Day said. “If I hit the ball decently and give myself a chance on the greens, I feel like I’ve got a good shot at winning.”
 Day’s wins this year came at the WGC Match Play, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship. The Aussie opened with a 14-foot birdie and sank another from the same distance at the sixth hole, but gave back the shots with bogeys at the par-3 seventh, missing a six-foot par putt, and eight, leaving his approach shy of the green.
 Day hung on down the stretch and took advantage of not missing a fairway on the par-3 15th, dropping a 35-foot birdie putt.
“I felt like Mr. Havercamp out of Caddyshack, not knowing where my golf ball was going,” Day told CBS television, referring to the comedy golf movie that remains a favourite among Tour players who were not even born when the film was released in 1980.
 “I just had to do something. Obviously, the goal is to win the tournament. I hit some pretty errant shots out there and the short game saved me. There was a section of the round where I was losing everything right and getting myself into trouble in and around the greens. There are a lot of negatives about this round, but I guess the positive is I’m still tied for the lead and I haven’t hit the golf ball that great this week,” Day added.
 Day, who has won seven times in the past 12 months, would like to find his form, and not only to add an eighth title. He also has an eye on the British Open at Royal Troon in two weeks. “I’m pretty exhausted right now. I hope I find something in my sleep,” he said.
 Piercy, seeking his fourth career PGA victory and the first since last July’s Barbasol Championship, found the Firestone fairways easier to find than those at the US Open two weeks ago at Oakmont.
 “Definitely after the Open, hitting these fairways doesn’t seem quite as hard,” said Piercy. “Making those fairways here is part of the confidence you gain. I played clean, solid and didn’t have a lot of stress.”
 Piercy eagled the par-5 second hole, blasting out of a greenside bunker and into the cup from almost 50 feet away. He put his approach inches from the cup at 11 to set up a birdie then made a 35-foot par-saving putt at 14 after finding a fairway bunker off the tee.
 Piercy dropped in a four-foot birdie putt at 17 before closing with his lone bogey of the day, finding the rough twice and a bunker to fall from sole possession of the lead.
 Sweden’s David Lingmerth was third on 206 after shooting 69 on Saturday. “It played tough,” he said. “You’ve got to just hang on out there and give yourself some chances. Tomorrow will hopefully be better.”
 Day and the 37-year-old Piercy are the only two players in the field to have posted three straight sub-70 rounds at Firestone.
Piercy, a three-time PGA Tour winner, took plenty of positives from his tie for second at the US Open at Oakmont two weeks ago.
 “It definitely helped the confidence,” said Piercy, who hit eight of 14 fairways in his third round. “Trying to hit those fairways at the Open, and hitting these fairways doesn’t seem quite as hard, but it’s still difficult out here. Knowing I drove it well there and I need to drive it well here has helped my confidence.”
 US Open champion Dustin Johnson fired the day’s low round of 66 to move up 17 spots and into a tie for fifth with South African Charl Schwartzel (67) and American William McGirt (70), three strokes off the pace.