Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley are all over par heading into the final round of the Insperity Invitational.
Harrington leads the depleted Irish charge on one-over after he shot a two-over 74 which leaves him in a share of 23rd place.
Clarke is two shots further back on plus three after a second round 76 while Paul McGinley shot a 77 to drift back to six-over.
Steven Alker leads Ernie Els and Matt Gogel by three shots on nine-under-par as he looks for his first win of the season.
The reigning Charles Schwab Cup champion followed an opening-round 66 with a 69 in his bid to become the second player to successfully defend an Insperity Invitational title since Bernhard Langer in 2007-08.
After 36 holes last year, Alker shared the lead with Brandt Jobe before a final round 66 resulted in a 4-stroke victory
In 54 holes events on PGA TOUR Champions, Alker is 2-for-4 when attempting to convert a 36-hole lead/co-lead into victory (won: 2022 Rapsican Systems Classic and 2022 Insperity Invitational)
The New Zealander has three top-10 finishes in four starts this season including runner-up finishes at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai and The Galleri Classic.
“Hey, if you’ve got three shots up it’s not like I’m trying to win for the first time. It’s maybe a little different. Three up is great. Chasing, as well, that can go either way. You push too hard or you’re just aggressive and it all works out. It can kind of go both ways.
“Yeah, I like being three up at the moment. That’s fun.”
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