Rose made a bad start to his third round in Florida

R3 LEADERBOARD:
US unless stated
-19 T Matteson
-18 J Durant
-17 J Rose (GB)
Selected others:
-14 R Johnson (Swe)
-13 G Owen (GB)
-11 V Singh (Fij)
-8 B Davis (GB)

Justin Rose saw his lead of four shots disappear with an even-par 72 in the third round of the Walt Disney Classic in Florida on Saturday.

The Briton began the third round on 17 under par but made bogeys on the second and fifth before fighting back with three birdies.

However, another dropped shot on 17 left Rose back on 17 under, two behind Tour rookie Troy Matteson who shot 65.

Fellow American Joe Durant moved to 18 under with a superb 64.

Davis Love carded 64 to pull within three shots of the lead along with Charles Howell (65), and Mark Calcavecchia shot a nine-under-par 63 to move into the top 10.

Fiji's Vijay Singh, the highest-ranked player in the field, fired a steady 68 but is eight shots off the lead.

Rose's fellow Englishmen Greg Owen and Brian Davis had good days, with Owen shooting 68 to go to 13 under while Davis made 71 to improve to eight under.

"The way the last two holes panned out, it's a little disappointing," said Rose.

"I was back right in the hunt, but Troy had a great finish and I just slipped up a little.

"I just wasn't quite on the boil and didn't create that many birdie chances.

"It was a day where I had to be really patient, hang in there, especially being two over through nine. "It was a day to grind it out. I'm two back. I have a chance to go low on Sunday and put some pressure on the guys."