Golf:Jason Dufner kept his composure after a slow start to move one stroke clear of a congested leaderboard at the wind-buffeted third round of the Byron Nelson Championship in Texas. Overnight leader Dufner carded a 69 at the TPC Las Colinas for an eight under total.

Padraig Harrington, the only Irish golfer in the field, will start the final round five shots back after a level par round of 70.

Dufner was one of nine players who held at least a share of the lead in the third round but he made no mistakes in gusting winds after recording a birdie at the 14th while his closest challengers slipped back. Jason Day, champion here in 2010, three-putted the last for a 67 to slide back to seven under, level with JJ Henry (67) and Dicky Pride (69).

Fijian former world number one Vijay Singh was a further stroke back after firing a 66.

"Good ball striking, hit a lot of greens, a lot of balls in play," Dufner said of his round. Playing in the toughest wind conditions on Friday helped him in the third round, he added."That was helpful today and I didn't feel like I was scrambling too much, trying to save pars or being out of position, anything like that.

"It was a stress-free round for me. I was in position a lot off the tee, which enabled me to be aggressive with iron shots, and I didn't have too many 'must-make' par putts."

Dufner began the day with a one-shot lead but squandered that with a bogey at the par-four third where he drove into a bunker. However, the laid-back American with the distinctive pre-shot waggle birdied the sixth to reach the turn in even-par 35.

At one point on the back nine, Dufner shared the lead with Day, Pride, Marc Leishman and Matt Kuchar but his birdie at the 14th was good enough to give him a one-stroke cushion going into the final round.

Elsewhere, Phil Mickelson carded a 69 to lie six strokes off the pace at two under, one better than former world number one Ernie Els of South Africa, after a 70.