Justin Thomas regained a share of the lead at the CJ Cup in South Korea after another day of difficult scoring conditions at a windswept Nine Bridges.
Thomas made his fifth birdie of the third round at the closing hole to card a commendable two-under 70, which earned him a tie at the top with Scott Brown on nine-under par on a day when only 10 players managed to break 72.
The world No 4 birdied the long third and ground out a series of pars before a setback at the eighth, where a wayward tee shot led to a double-bogey six, although he clawed one shot back at the ninth.
Thomas erred again at 10 before responding with immediate back-to-back birdies, and his four at the last completed a clean sweep of birdies at each of the par-fives.
“I know for a fact that I played better today than I did on Thursday when I shot nine under,” said the PGA champion. “It is so hard out here, I’ve never played a place where the wind swirls as much as it does here. It was insane.
“The hardest thing is the putting. We’ll hit some putts that look pretty stupid out there and the viewers at home don’t understand. You have to be out here and close to know why that’s happening.”
Brown dropped shots at 10 and 11 but recovered with birdies at the 15th and 18th to salvage a battling 71, and the leading pair have a two-stroke advantage over Anirban Lahiri and Marc Leishman.
Lahiri was one of only five players to return a sub-70 score as he mixed four birdies with a lone, late bogey, while Leishman offset five birdies with four dropped shots in a colourful 71.
Paul Casey enjoyed a strong back-nine as he birdied 11, 12 and 16 to card a 69 and move to four under, while Jason Day is one further adrift after two bogeys over the last three holes.
