Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler have a one-shot lead over Jason Day and others midway through the third round of the PGA Championship.

Day held a share of the lead during the early part of the round before falling two off the pace but a mistake from McIlroy on the eighth hole pulled Day closer once more.

McIlroy and Fowler are 10-under-par with McIlroy through nine holes while Fowler has negotiated 10 holes.

Day sits in a tie for third at nine under as he makes the turn playing in the final group with McIlroy, joined by American Ryan Palmer and Finland’s Mikko Ilonen.

Earlier, Day waded through a creek and played a shot barefoot, with his pants rolled up, to save a miraculous par before making a birdie to join the lead.

After hooking his drive on the second hole way left into dense knee-high cabbage, and needing to wade across a creek to find it, Day wedged out into the right rough, hit his third to 10 feet and buried the putt.

After a par at the third and watching overnight leader McIlroy hook his tee ball into the water on the drivable par-four fourth, Day stepped up and laced his driver to the green, leaving just 14 feet for eagle.

He missed the putt but made a tap-in birdie, joining McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard.

The pair matched birdies on the fifth hole to be the first players to double digits under par before Day bogeyed the sixth and McIlroy birdied the seventh to get two in front.

A bogey from McIlroy on the eighth and a 10th hole birdie from Fowler set up a riveting back nine.

Adam Scott made an early run with three birdies in his opening five holes but cooled off, making a run of nine pars before his fourth birdie of the round on the 16th and another on the final hole.

His five-under 66 left him seven under for the week, currently tied 10th.

“I was happy with a bogey-free round but I left some shots out there and now I am probably going to be too far back,” Scott said.

Geoff Ogilvy shot 71 to remain two under for the championship while Matt Jones is one-under with a hole to play.

Marc Leishman has finished his third round, carding a one-over 72 to be one over for the tournament and currently out of the mix in a tie for 63rd.