New Zealand’s Danny Lee fired three consecutive birdies on both the front and back nines Saturday to pull within a stroke of leader Chesson Hadley at the Puerto Rico Open.

Hadley shot a bogey-free 67, five-under par, that left the American on 16-under 200 for 54 holes at the $US3.5 million ($A3.86 million) US PGA Tour event.

But Lee, a South Korean-born Kiwi, charged into contention with a 66 to stand on 201, one stroke ahead of Americans Jonathan Byrd and Jason Gore with Sweden’s Carl Pettersson and Americans David Toms and Jerry Kelly on 203.

“It was another good day,” Lee said. “Everything is going really nicely.”

Lee opened with a birdie, took a bogey at the third and then responded with birdies on the next three holes.

On the back nine, Lee birdied the 13th, took a bogey at the 14th and then again birdied the next three in a row before closing with a par.

Hadley made the most of a strong start, with back-to-back birdies at the par-5 second and par-4 third and again at the par-5 fifth and par-3 sixth.

Hadley finished with 11 pars and a birdie at the par-4 14th.

“It was frustrating,” Hadley said. “I missed quite a few putts, a lot of putts the last 11 holes, but we’re right where we need to be. I’m leading and that’s great.

“Danny and I are great friends and we’re going to have a blast.

“Hopefully we can kind of dual it out.”

American James Driscoll, who led after 36 holes when matching his course record with a 63 on Friday, soared to a 75 to share 20th on 207.

Steven Bowditch is the leading Australian at 10-under 206, six shots off the pace in a share of 15th.