Padraig Harrington surged up the leaderboard but Phil Mickelson continued his domination of the Waste Management Phoenix Open as his seven under par 64 gave him a six shot lead heading into the final day.
Mickelson birdied his last four holes and five of the last six to sit 24 under par overall, six clear of fellow American Brandt Snedeker.
It has been a spectacular week for the left-hander, twice a champion here, after narrowly missing out on several notable scoring achievements, including a 59 on Thursday.
Today he was relatively quiet for much of his round, with birdies at one and five all he had to show for his first 12 holes.
But he birdied 13, then picked up further shots on each of the last four holes, including the 16th on which he was tantalisingly close to a hole in one.
Mickelson needs a six under par 65 to match the US PGA Tour 72-hold record total of 254 set by Tommy Armour III at the 2003 Valero Texas Open.
He told the Golf Channel: "The first priority is trying to take care of business this week.
"I want to make sure I take care of business first regarding the tournament, and those other records and so forth...try not to worry about those."
Snedeker produced six birdies in a blemish-free round on 65 to sit 18 under, two ahead of a resurgent Harrington.
The three-time Major winner carded an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey for a best-of-the-day eight under par 63 to sit alongside Ryan Moore in a share of third.
Bill Haas, second overnight, slipped down to a portion of sixth as, on another day of low scoring, he could only manage a one under 70.
Kyle Stanley's defence of his title was sputtering out disappointingly - with a round to go, he was joint last of 74 who made the cut on one under.
