JEJU ISLAND, South Korea - Brooks Koepka improved his chances of taking over the top spot in the World Golf Ranking for the first time by shooting a 5-under-par 67 Saturday for a four-stroke lead entering the final round of the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges.
Koepka, a 28-year-old American, was at 13-under 203 after 54 holes, with second-round leader Scott Piercy (72) and Ian Poulter (68) tied for second.
Koepka, who trailed by one stroke after two rounds, will become the new No. 1 Monday if he wins the tournament and former No. 1 Justin Thomas, who is trying to repeat as champion, does not finish any better than second.
Thomas shot a 71 on Saturday and was at 1 under, 12 strokes behind Koepka and tied for 43rd.
Dustin Johnson is currently No. 1, Koepka third and Thomas fourth in the world. Johnson and second-ranked Justin Rose are not playing this week.
Six golfers were tied for fourth at Nine Bridges: Rafa Cabrera Bello (65), Jamie Lovemark (68), Pat Perez (68), first-round leader Chez Reavie (70), Cameron Smith (67) and Gary Woodland (68).
Koepka, a three-time major champion and the PGA Tour's player of the year for the 2017-18 season, started with eight straight pars Saturday. His round included back-to-back birdies on the ninth and 10th holes, and then a key par save from a difficult lie in the greenside bunker on the 11th - the only hole where he appeared to be in any kind of trouble.
"It was good on the 11th, just to make sure I didn't have any bogeys, that was kind of the big thing," Koepka said. "I unfortunately three-putted the next (par-5 12th). Just got to work on my wedge game, which wasn't very good today."
Poulter has risen to No. 35 in the world after coming close to losing his tour card in 2016. Piercy is looking for his first individual win on the PGA Tour since the Barbasol Championship in July 2015.
Baylor School graduate Keith Mitchell (67) was tied for 17th and eight strokes out of the lead.
Haas up by two
RICHMOND, Va. - Jay Haas shot a 7-under 65, missing his age by a stroke, to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, the opening tournament of the PGA Tour Champions' Charles Schwab Cup playoffs.
Trying to become the oldest winner in the senior tour's history, the 64-year-old Haas birdied the par-5 16th and 18th holes to get to 11-under 133 at The Country Club of Virginia's James River Course.
Mike Fetchick set the age record of 63 years to the day in a 1985 tournament in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Haas is second on the list, winning the 2016 Toshiba Classic at 62 years, 10 months, 7 days for his 18th senior title.
Stephen Ames (67) and Scott Dunlap (68) were tied for second after the round that started in light rain. Bernhard Langer - the tournament's 2017 champion and a 38-time winner on the 5o-and-older circuit - shot a 66 as the 61-year-old German joined Woody Austin (68) and Billy Mayfair (67) at 9 under.
Garcia in first
SOTOGRANDE, Spain - Sergio Garcia shot a 7-under 64 and had a four-stroke lead going into the final round at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters as he tries to end his winless drought by earning back-to-back titles in the European Tour event he hosts.
The 38-year-old Spaniard, who also won the 2011 edition of this event, was at 10-under 132 overall at Real Club Valderrama, where weather delays each of the first three days have led to the tournament being shortened to 54 holes.
England's Ashley Chesters was second after a 70, with Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (68), Alvaro Quiros (70) and Marc Warren (69) tied for third at 4 under.
Garcia avoided bogeys during his seven-birdie second round, with five of those coming on the back nine. Garcia, who won the Masters in 2017 for his first major victory, is a 14-time winner on the European Tour and has 10 wins on the PGA Tour. His biggest recent success was helping Europe to a Ryder Cup victory last month in France.
Showdown set
SHANGHAI - Spain's Carlota Ciganda shot a 5-under 67 to share the lead with Sei Young Kim after the third round of the Buick LPGA Shanghai.
Ciganda carded her fifth birdie of the day on the par-4 18th to pull even with second-round leader Kim at 11-under 205. Kim shot a 71 with four bogeys and five birdies.
Ciganda is attempting to win her third LPGA Tour title and first since the 2016 season, when she won two tournaments in a one-month span. Kim is chasing her eighth career LPGA win and second title of the 2018 season.
Today's round might not work out as a Ciganda-Kim duel, though, with 10 golfers within four strokes of the co-leaders.
Angel Yin also birdied the final hole for a 68 and was tied for third at 206 with Brittany Altomare (69), Ariya Jutanugarn (71) and Danielle Kang (71).