(Reuters) - Wyndham Clark birdied five of his first seven holes and hung on for a one-stroke lead as Fiji veteran Vijay Singh stormed into contention in the third round of the Honda Classic on Saturday.
American Clark carded a second consecutive three-under 67 to sit atop the leaderboard at PGA National in south Florida at seven-under 203, one ahead of 56-year-old Singh who will bid to become the U.S. PGA Tour's oldest winner on Sunday.
Sam Snead won the Greater Greensboro Open in 1965 at the age of 52.
"It would be great," Singh, who has not won on the tour in 11 years, said of the record. "I'm physically quite capable of doing it.
"Mentally, I'm going to go out there and see how my mind works. If I just don't let anything interfere, I think I can do it."
Three-times major winner Singh's five-under 65 was the lowest score of the round. He was eventually joined by Keith Mitchell (70) and South Korean Lee Kyoung-hoon (68) on six-under 204.
Rickie Fowler was two shots behind Clark on 205 after shooting a 66, with six players another stroke behind including first round leader Jhonattan Vegas (69).
Second-round co-leader Im Sung-jae all but crashed out of contention with a seven-over 77 that left him eight strokes off the pace.
Clark, seeking his first PGA Tour victory, got off to a sizzling start, but cooled as the 25-year-old suffered bogeys on the ninth, 13th and 15th holes.
"It was a dream start," Clark said.
"To pull it off was great, and just having that cushion makes you feel a little bit relaxed playing to the tough holes on the back side.
"I made some errant shots and swings, but I knew if I just got it in play and got it on the green, I was going to have a chance to make par."
Mitchell, the second round co-leader with Im, shared the lead with Clark for a major portion of the day, but a bogey at the 16th ended his chances of matching Clark.
Adam Schenk, who was among the six players three strokes behind after a 68, was retroactively assessed a two-stroke penalty for a rules violation on Friday.
Schenk violated the new rule designed to prevent players from being aligned by their caddies.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Ian Ransom/Greg Stutchbury)