Tyrrell Hatton opened up a two-stroke lead after the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational as players struggled in difficult conditions on Saturday.

The Englishman is on track for his first PGA Tour win, sitting at six under despite his one-over 73.

Hatton is two shots clear of Marc Leishman (72) and Rory McIlroy (73) after a tough third round at Bay Hill.

Having held a share of the overnight lead, Hatton mixed four birdies with three bogeys and a double bogey, but it was enough to sit top of the leaderboard.

Leishman and McIlroy were solid, making 14 and 15 pars respectively during their rounds, and are in contention.

Such were the challenging conditions, Max Homa was the only player to shoot a round under par with his 70, although he is back in a tie for 16th at one over.

South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout (73), South Korean Im Sung-jae (74), New Zealander Danny Lee (75) and American Harris English (74) are tied for fourth at three under.

Sung Kang, who shared the overnight lead with Hatton, battled to a six-over 78 that left him outright eighth at one under.

The South Korean was even through 10 before producing two triple bogeys – at 11 and 18 – including finding the water twice at the former.

Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka carded a nine-over 81 that included eight bogeys and a double as he dropped to a tie for 64th at 10 over.