Theegala leads Sanderson Farms Championship

Sahith Theegala is on track for his maiden PGA Tour title after claiming the outright lead following the third round of the Sanderson Farms Championship.

American rookie Theegala carded a five-under-par 67 to be a shot clear atop the leaderboard in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday.

Theegala was tied for the lead after the opening two days, but the 23-year-old emerged as the player to beat thanks to a flawless penultimate round at the Country Club of Jackson, where he holed five birdies without dropping a shot.

Ranked 454th in the world, Theegala is 18 under through 54 holes, ahead of Cameron Tringale (62), Denny McCarthy (65), Sam Burns (67) and Cameron Young (67) – who are all tied for second position.

"I hit some wild drives, I mean, way right, so was really happy to escape with a couple pars," Theegala said afterwards.

"It just felt like a grind those last five, six holes there... definitely a little nerves in there for sure, but I think people have said before, pressure's a privilege and I'm trying to use those nerves to my advantage."

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American Tringale matched his career-low round to take the provisional lead before Theegala soared to the summit.

Eyeing his first win in his 311st start on the PGA Tour, Tringale said: "This was a combination of hitting a lot of good shots and having good breaks just on the same day.

"I did give myself a lot of chances. I was never out of position. I was putting uphill most of the time. And a [55-footer] and a hole-out, you know, if I three-putt that one and don't get up-and-down, that's four shots difference right there."

Masters runner-up Will Zalatoris (72) dropped down to 13 under – five shots off the pace, having started the day tied for the lead.