Day and Furyk tied at the top

Jason Day in action on day three

Jason Day in action on day three

Aussie Jason Day and American Jim Furyk are tied for the lead after day three of The Barclays in New Jersey - the opening event of the four-tournament FedEx Cup finale.

Day carded a three-under 68 and Furyk a 69 to post nine-under but a bunched leaderboard means the tournament remains wide open going into the final day.

Hunter Mahan (68) is a shot back while there are seven players a further stroke in arrears on seven-under.

Day's colourful scorecard included seven birdies (at 2, 3, 6, 10, 15, 16 and 18) but also two bogeys and a double bogey seven at the par five 13th.

By contrast, the steady Furyk returned a bogey-free card which featured birdies at 13 and 16 and a superb par save at 18. 

Day, who won the WGC-Accenture Match Play earlier this season, said: "Obviously to have a double bogey and a bogey on the par fives, which are the holes that you want to try and capitalise on, is very disappointing, a little frustrating. But to birdie 16 and 18 was a good confidence booster going into tomorrow's round." 

Rory McIlroy's hopes of securing a fourth straight victory after winning two majors and a WGC event in his last three starts didn't get the boost he had in mind following a one-under 70.

The four-time major winner started well with birdies at the first and fifth but gave the shots back with bogeys at nine and 11. A birdie at 16 was his only other gain of the day and he'll start the final round five shots off the pace.

He tweeted later: "Just couldn't get it going on the greens at all today... New day tomorrow and not as far back as I thought I'd be at the end of the day!"

Threatened

Justin Rose also threatened to surge into the thick of contention after almost holing his tee-shot for albatross on the par four fifth hole.

The Englishman tapped that in for eagle from a foot and also birdied the sixth to get to seven-under. However, he hit a rocky patch with bogeys on 7, 9 and 12 before a birdie at 14 and four closing pars saw him card a second straight 70 and finish at five-under.

Rose said later: "I guess I'm not the only one making mistakes out there. If I get it going low and post a number, anything's possible."

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano is now the leading European on six-under after the Spaniard fired a three-under 68. He will go into the final day in tied 11th, just three shots back.

Adam Scott, the joint overnight leader after a 65 on Friday, shot 10 shots worse on Saturday and fell all the way down to four-under - now five off the pace.

Henrik Stenson, the current FedEx Cup champion, saw his hopes of victory go up in smoke as he recorded a nine on the par four fourth hole and returned a 77.

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