Dufner holds lead at Colonial

Jason Dufner continued to set the pace but Zach Johnson also kept tabs on the leader following the third round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Texas.

Dufner and Johnson are set for a virtual match play finish as they both have several strokes on the rest of the field. Dufner shot a third round of four under par 66 to give him a one stroke advantage over Johnson, whose score for the day was 65.

The leader told PGA Radio: "It's a good spot for both of us. We kind of separated ourselves (from the field) so it should be a good match. Zach hit a good round of golf, he's playing some nice golf. I think both of us look forward to playing tomorrow."

With Tom Gillis the next closest player at seven under the winner on Sunday should come from the leading duo.

A victory for Dufner would create history as it would make him the first player in PGA Tour history to win both North Texas events in successive weeks after his win in the Byron Nelson Championship.

Although Dufner led by two strokes at the start of the day, things did not go all his way. At one point he held a three-stroke lead only to see Johnson close the gap in the final stages of the round, including birdies at the 16th and 17th.

The 2010 champion at Colonial, Johnson has now posted 15 consecutive sub-par rounds at the course and needed just eight putts in his first nine holes and a total of 23 for the day.

Dufner said he was pleased with the way his third round had gone.

He said: "I had a nice round. I thought I was going to get a pretty low one there with the start to the back nine. Unfortunately a couple of shots didn't end up distances that I wanted.

"All in all it was a pretty solid day and it was nice to finish with a birdie on 17 and it was a pretty good par on 18 from the position. I've really good control of my golf ball, I feel like I can hit the shots that I need, that the course kind of dictates out there."