Oh dear Xander Schauffele, the dreaded s-word appears on what looks a rather regulation chip from off the 10th green, as the ball spears off to the right and leaves him 27 feet for par.

He misses to drop another shot further back, and Ludvig Aberg almost extends his advantage further when he just burns the hole with a long-range birdie try.

But without doing too much Aberg is now looking a bit more comfortable at the top - certainly from Schauffele who is going in reverse so far.

Matt Fitzpatrick has played the previous four holes in par but what can he come up with down the par-five 16th?

The left-side of the fairway with his drive, to open up an approach to the green, is a decent start.

Sepp Straka slips up on the 11th as he misses a par save from five feet after a scrappy old hole for the Austrian.

Justin Thomas, though, plays the hole brilliantly, smashing his second shot up near the green then chipping it to five feet and rolling it home for his birdie.

So Thomas is still well in this tournament even after that shocker of a triple bogey earlier - he'd be battling for the lead but for that hole.

After the misery of the 16th, Justin Rose plays the 17th in regulation fashion. An iron to the heart of the green, two putts and a solid par.

Can the Englishman finish with a flourish?

Image source, Getty Images

A disappointing end for Brooks Koepka who made a bogey on 18, but it's still a three-under round of 69 to end the third round on five under.

That's too far back you'd imagine, but a low one tomorrow could bag him a decent finish in his biggest event since returning to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf.

Justin Rose looks incredibly perplexed as he strides off the 16th.

Finding the sand with his second the Englishman splashes out with an aggressive third shot and watches his ball roll off the dance floor into the drink.

It means by the time he has a putter in his hand he is attempting to save his par from 30 feet and he is only a smidgen out. Cruel game golf at times.

Michael Thorbjornsen gets greedy off the tee on the 12th and leaks his drive right and in the end it costs the American a stroke when he is unable to drop in a 12-footer to save his par.

Very much the same story for Tommy Fleetwood, who appears to have lost a little bit of enthusiasm since that triple bogey on the 10th.

Finally Ludvig Aberg picks up a shot as he dinks a shot out of the bunker and rolls in the putt for a birdie on the ninth to end his front nine level par and right back where he started the day.

It's been a tough old front nine for the Swede, but ironically after battling away and only reaching the turn level par for the day, he's actually increased the lead he had overnight from two to three stokes as Xander Schauffele misses his birdie effort.

That's golf for you!

A good scramble from Jacob Bridgeman to rescue his par five at 11 out of the sand - again these guys don't like making pars on the longer holes but it's a good save in the end.

Ludvig Aberg opts to throw the kitchen sink at a fairway wood to approach the par-five ninth in two. It's a brutal hit and a great shot but the ball just rolls off into the bunker.

Xander Schauffele lays up after finding rough off the tee but hits a nice wedge in for his third so they both end up a similar distance away with their birdie putts but via two very different routes.

For once, both Ludvig Aberg and Xander Schauffele play the eighth hole pretty nicely and they both have birdie chances, not great ones and they both miss, but they were both close at least and that's an improvement on what they've both offered up so far.

That's a real kick in the guts for Jacob Bridgeman after a brilliant front nine, with his first bogey of the day starting the back nine.

He has to roll in a nice putt just to drop the one shot as well - that's not the ideal start but there are birdie chances coming up.

Take a bow Michael Thorbjornsen. The 24-year-old American lands his approach into 14 feet on the par-five 11th, which is no mean feat.

And he then sinks his eagle putt to move just one shot off leader Ludvig Aberg.

Remarkably Tommy Fleetwood zips in even closer but his putt for a three slides right from six feet, so it's just a birdie.

The Englishman looks incredibly frustrated as he wanders off the green.

Another good putt holed by Ludvig Aberg but again it's a par save as he still goes in search of his first birdie of the day - with challengers creeping closer to him from the field.

Xander Schauffele is not one of them, as he makes another par and is still one over for his round so far.

How close is that to an eagle from Justin Rose? The 45-year-old is still a class act and zips into a matter of inches with his approach into the 15th from 172 yards.

Sensational shot and it brings his fifth birdie of the day with the par-five 16th to follow.

Sepp Straka picks up two birdies in the closing two holes of his front nine so suddenyl after a bit of a grind he turns one under and just three shots off the lead.

Justin Thomas' head must have been spinning after that triple bogey on the sixth, but he's made two pars and then rounds out his eventful front nine with a birdie - showing a great mindset to keep battling away.

And after all, JT is still only five back after all that drama.

Is this the hole that has done for Tommy Fleetwood? The Englishman pushes his tee shot miles right on the 10th.

He is forced to take a drop from somewhere in the trees and things go from bad to worse when he finds the rough with his next.

After finding the green in five he scribbles down a messy triple-bogey seven on his card to plummet down the leaderboard.

Jacob Bridgeman ends a fine front nine in style with a birdie to move to 10 under and go into solo second just a shot off the lead.

He manages to get a drop out of the rough after his second shot ends up on a sprinkler and takes advantage by hitting his third to 16 feet and then the putter does the rest as he hits the turn four under for his opening nine holes.

And with Ludvig Aberg sturggling a bit he has a great chance to strike for the lead on his back nine.

A fairway and a green found for Ludvig Aberg, but no birdie as he misses from 13 feet despite getting a decent read from Xander Schauffele who missed from a few feet further away.

Still, that was a lot better golf from the leader and maybe he's just settled down a bit now after a rocky start.

Corey Conners gets back to where he started the day with a birdie on the seventh.

The Canadian has not had a top-10 finish this season but ended up sixth at Sawgrass 12 months ago.