Tiger Woods tumbled down the leaderboard at The Barclays on Saturday, with a one-over 73 third round leaving him nine strokes off the pace.
Woods began the morning in the worst possible fashion, hitting a triple-bogey on the first hole after his three-wood sailed out of bounds at the tee-off.
A bogey on the ninth left the world No.1 four strokes in arrears, but three birdies in the back nine recovered some of the lost ground to leave Woods tied for 28th place at three-under ahead of the final round on Sunday and nine shots behind leader Martin Laird.
"In the end, it probably cost me a chance to win the tournament," Woods said of his first-hole disaster.
"But I'm pleased with how I sucked it up and got it back the rest of the day, when it easily could have gone the other way."
"Hitting a ball like that, it can derail you. And it didn't. I got it right back."
American Dustin Johnson was the big mover on day three, vaulting into a tie for second with Australian Jason Day after an astonishing nine-under 64.
Johnson hit five birdies and an eagle in a faultless 18 holes to finish three strokes behind Laird, who leads the tournament at 12-under par.
Laird birdied four of his first five holes on his way to an eight-under 65 to take an outright lead with a round to play, while Day dropped to equal second with a round of mixed fortunes.
The Australian recovered from a bogey on the first hole to birdie the next two and eagle the fifth, but four bogeys in an eight-hole stretch either side of the turn saw him finish at one-under for the round.
Day sits one stroke ahead of countryman Adam Scott, who holds outright fourth on the leaderboard after a round of 68.
Englishman Justin Rose made a late push for a spot on Colin Montgomerie's Ryder Cup team with an eight-under 65 to finish tied for fifth.
Of the other hopefuls vying for one of Montgomerie's three wildcards, Padraig Harrington and Paul Casey sit tied for 12th place on five-under while Luke Donald is two strokes behind.