Rickie Fowler is looking to jump-start his season at a course where he first won on the PGA Tour.
Fowler shot a 4-under-par 68 on Saturday to take the third-round lead at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C.
Fowler, who broke through at Quail Hollow Club in 2012 for his first tour title, had a one-stroke lead over Roberto Castro, with Justin Rose and James Hahn two shots back.
Fowler won The Players Championship and Deutsche Bank Championship last year and took the European Tour event in Abu Dhabi early this year. Though he blew a late lead and lost the Phoenix Open in a playoff this season, he has the confidence to handle pressure situations in the final round. That’s something he admitted he didn’t have five years ago.
‘‘It’s completely different,’’ Fowler said. ‘‘I would say before [it was] maybe not the complete belief or knowledge of knowing what to do and how to win to get the job done. But now it’s fun to go out there and go take care of business.’’
Castro was atop the leaderboard most of the day, but bogeyed the 18th hole for a 71.
Castro, who is winless on the tour, said he’s looking forward to playing with Fowler in the final group Sunday.
‘‘If you want to win a tournament out here and really win a marquee event like this one, you’re going to have to grab your hat and play with one of the top five players in the world, probably in the final round,’’ Castro said. ‘‘So that’s what I've got tomorrow so I'm excited about it.’’
Fowler parred the first seven holes Saturday before heating up with three straight birdies on Nos. 8-10. It appeared things were starting to crumble after bogeys on 10 and 12, but Fowler came back strong with three straight birdies starting on No. 14 to pull into a tie for the lead.
He had a little luck along the way.
Fowler avoided potential trouble on the 18th hole when his ball held up in the high grass instead of rolling into the creek along left side of the fairway. Playing with the ball well above his feet, Fowler ripped an iron onto the green and saved par.
Phil Mickelson and defending champion Rory McIlroy struggled, dropping eight shots behind Fowler.
Mickelson, looking for his first win at the Quail Hollow Club in 13 starts, was in contention until a quadruple-bogey 8 on his old nemesis, the 18th hole. He finished with a 76.
He found the creek on his approach shot and, after taking a drop, needed three chips before finding the green and two-putting for an 8.
Mickelson’s struggles on the final hole at Quail Hollow have been well documented. In the 51 career rounds, he is 21 over on No. 18 — a hole he said earlier this week simply doesn’t set up well for the lefthander.
McIlroy, the tournament’s only two-time winner, had two bogeys in the first four holes and shot 73. He shot 11-under 61 last year in the third round on his way to a runaway victory, but couldn’t muster that same magic Saturday.
He struggled throughout his round with his accuracy off the tee and putting. A double bogey on the ninth hole and bogey on the 11th seemed to zap him of any momentum.
McIlroy said the course is ‘‘tricky,’’ especially on the back nine but said his game still isn’t where it needs to be.
‘‘There’s been spells where it’s been good and I've had a couple of chances to win this year, but it’s a work in progress,’’ said McIlroy, who has not won on the PGA Tour this season. ‘‘I'm trying to stay patient, as patient as possible, but there are definitely times out on the course where I get quite frustrated.’’
Rose has quietly put himself in contention after rounds of 70, 70, and 69.
He said the course, which will host the PGA Championship next year, is playing extremely hard especially given the gusty wind this week.
‘‘This type of scoring would definitely hold up in a PGA Championship,’’ Rose said. ‘‘They’re not looking for us to shoot even par like a US Open. Single digits under par is really good golf and it’s a sign of a great golf course.’’
Champions — Local favorite Jeff Maggert and Jesper Parnevik shared the Insperity Invitational lead at 7 under, leaving John Daly six strokes back in his Champions debut.
Maggert birdied the par-4 18th for a 3-under 69, and playing partner Parnevik had a bogey on the par-4 17th in a 68 at The Woodlands (Texas) Country Club.
Daly followed his opening 70 with a 73 to drop into a tie for 21st at 1 under.
‘‘I just have to get some confidence with the putter. That’s the thing,’’ Daly said. ‘‘My chipping wasn’t very good today, but I'm under par . . . you never know what can happen tomorrow. Maybe try to get maybe a little more aggressive with the driver, hit it a little bit more, get some more wedges in the holes, and give myself a chance.’’
The two-time major champion, who turned 50 on April 28, made four straight bogeys in the middle of the round and rebounded with birdies on 15 and 18.
‘‘Just bad execution, bad chips, bad putts,’’ Daly said about the bogey run on Nos. 8-11. ‘‘I actually thought I had a good shot on 9. I hit a 9-iron and it went over the back and you’re dead. But all in all, I hung in there . . . I didn’t hit it real close today. The wind was a little tricky on the back nine.’’
Maggert had four birdies and a bogey.
‘‘Up and down today,’’ Maggert said. ‘‘I think the golf course played a couple shots harder today. I hit the ball great. I didn’t even struggle with the ball-striking . . . I was trying to press a little bit on the back nine, trying to make up a little ground. But it was good. Gusty wind, and also the direction was shifting quite a bit, so that made shot selection harder.’’
The Woodlands resident and former Texas A&M player led the tour with four victories last year, including major wins at the US Senior Open and Regions Tradition. He won three times on the PGA Tour.
‘‘I had a great career, and it’s different now,’’ Maggert said. ‘‘I think the difference is, when you’re younger, we’re all out here trying to prove things to ourselves and now, it’s more like there’s not a lot left to prove. I'd like to play well here tomorrow, but just going to enjoy the day and really looking forward to this week to jump-start my summer.’’
Parnevik eagled the par-5 13th and had four birdies and two bogeys.
‘‘The game didn’t feel good today, but putting felt a little bit better, even though I seemed to miss every short one,’’ Parnevik said. ‘‘Then, I holed two monsters, to sort of kind of even it out.’’
The 51-year-old Swede is winless on the 50-and-over tour. He won five times on the PGA Tour.
‘‘It’s great to feel the butterflies come alive,’’ Parnevik said. ‘‘All of a sudden you go, ‘Oh, I have to focus on these shots.’ It’s different and it’s going to be fun tomorrow, just to be able to have a chance to win.’’
First-round leader Mike Goodes was 6 under after a 72. Glen Day (68), Michael Allen (69), Grant Waite (69), and David Frost (70) were 5 under.
LPGA — Ariya Jutanugarn birdied eight of the final nine holes to match the Yokohama Tire Classic record at 9-under 63 and take a three-stroke lead.
Seeking her first LPGA victory, the 20-year-old Thai player had a 14-under 202 total. She showed little emotion at the end, giving a small wave toward the bleachers after picking up her ball.
‘‘[Sunday's] going to be so much fun,’’ Jutanugarn said. ‘‘I just want to enjoy and have fun.’’
Ryann O'Toole and Minjee Lee were tied for second. They each shot 68 on a day when the winds calmed down after the first two rounds.
Jutanugarn parred No. 15, the only blemish in her back-nine birdie run on the links-style Senator Course at Capitol Hill in Prattville, Ala. She pulled her approach left on No. 17 and still knocked it within a couple of feet of the hole, and closed with a 5-footer for yet another birdie.
Jutanugarn has had two final-round collapses. Last month in the ANA Inspiration, she had a two-stroke lead with three holes left and closed with three bogeys to finish fourth — two strokes behind winner Lydia Ko in the major championship. In the 2013 LPGA Thailand at age 17, Jutanugarn blew a two-stroke lead with a closing triple bogey in a one-stroke loss to Inbee Park.
Asked about the close calls, Jutanugarn stuck to the ‘‘fun’’ theme.
‘‘Final round, so [I] just want to have fun and enjoy and good shots [Sunday],’’ she said.
Jutanugarn is the eighth player to shoot 63 in the tournament, which was moved up from its normal late summer slot because of the Olympics.
‘‘As far as she hits it, on this golf course, she should shoot that number,’’ Stacy Lewis said.
The 19-year-old Lee won last month in Hawaii for her second LPGA Tour title.
Second-round leader So Yeon Ryu was four strokes back after a 71, making two birdies and a bogey.
Lewis, the 2012 winner, didn’t have a bogey until the final hole Saturday for her second straight 68. She and Morgan Pressel, who shot a 70, were 9 under.
‘‘I just got on the wrong side of the holes,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘I had a lot of tough putts, a lot of downhill sliders and just played a lot better than the score, which I guess is a good thing going into the final round.
‘‘I know a low score is still out there.’’
Brittany Altomare was among six players at 8 under after a 66. She birdied seven of the first 11 holes, then had two straight bogeys before regrouping.
Altomare got her first victory as a professional two weeks ago in the Symetra Tour’s Guardian Retirement Championship, beating Nicole Broch Larsen with a birdie on the fifth hole of a playoff.
Altomare expects to be eligible the rest of the year for LPGA Tour events after gaining status on the money-list reshuffle.
Possibly being in LPGA Tour contention going into the final day is another new experience for the 25-year-old, though Jutanugarn’s scorching finish made that less likely. Asked about her approach for Sunday, Altomare laughed and gave a shrug.
‘‘I don’t really know, actually,’’ she said. ‘‘I've never really been in this position on the LPGA. It’s just the same, I think. Just go out there and just be aggressive and hopefully it’s your day.’’
European — Chris Hanson earned a one-shot lead at the Trophee Hassan II in Rabat, Morocco, with a 5-under 67 in the third round to move to 6 under overall.
Hanson, who has never finished higher than 39th on the European Tour, carded five birdies and an eagle against two bogeys at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
Hanson led David Dixon (67) and Clement Berardo (68), who were tied for second.
Overnight leader Francesco Laporta, ranked No. 787, ended the third round in a seven-way tie for sixth place on 2 under after five bogeys and a double bogey.
