Taylor Pendrith has been here before: holding or sharing a lead after three rounds on the PGA Tour.
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The Canadian is one of six among the top 10 on the leaderboard seeking a first tour victory after moving day at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Pendrith chipped in twice for consecutive eagles to kick-start an eight-under 63 on Saturday for a one-shot advantage over second-round leader Jake Knapp.
Ben Kohles (65) and first-round leader Matt Wallace (67) were two shots off the lead, one stroke ahead of Alex Noren and Kelly Kraft at the TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
Troy Merritt, the only two-time PGA Tour winner among the top 10, shot 70 and was at 14 under with three others, including one-time winner Kevin Tway (64).
Wallace and Knapp, a rookie won won the Mexico Open in February, are the others with PGA Tour victories.
Min Woo Lee leads the charge of five Australians to have made the cut.
Lee (66) is in a tie for 11th at 13 under, two shots ahead of compatriots Aaron Baddeley (67) and Adam Scott (68).
Harrison Endycott (71) trails by another two shots, while former world No.1 Jason Day (71) is in a tie for 58th at six under overall.
Pendrith settled for second from the top of the third-round leaderboard at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2022, and was in the same position at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship earlier that season before a 76 left him in a tie for fifth.
"(I will) just stay patient and play my own game, and not get ahead of myself," Pendrith said.
Knapp, who was working as a security guard three years ago, was coming off consecutive 64s and had his second bogey-free round with a pair of birdies on each nine.
"I do best when I do 'leaderboard watch' and I see what other guys are doing," Knapp said.
"You see what guys are doing in the morning and you get an idea of how the course is playing."
Kris Kim, a 16-year-old amateur making his PGA Tour debut, nearly had a hole-in-one on the 225-yard fourth.
The son of South Korean-born former LPGA golfer Ji-Hyun Suh shot 70 to finish eight under.
At 16 years and seven months old, Kim surpassed Jordan Spieth as the youngest player to make the cut at the Nelson.
Spieth was two months shy of his 17th birthday when made his first PGA Tour start at his hometown event in 2010, and tied for 16th.
Australian Associated Press
