Leader Jason Day overcame a rocky start to finish at 4-under 67 in the third round of the Wells Fargo Championship here.
At the Quail Hollow, which was more amenable to good scores on Saturday, Peter Uihlein (62), Phil Mickelson (64) and Rory McIlroy (66) all made headway.
Anirban Lahiri missed the cut earlier and will now feature in the Players Championships next week.
While many players took advantage of a softer course, Tiger Woods failed to do the same on a course that was 228 yards shorter and soft enough that the players actually found pitch marks on the greens.
Woods finally got going on the back nine with three consecutive birdies, but a three-putt bogey on the final hole gave him a 68. He is nine shots behind.
Peter Malnati's 36-hole lead didn't last long. He had a pair of double bogeys, shot 75 and fell seven shots behind.
While Day is looking good as he has four wins in the five times when he has the 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR.
Watney hasn't won in nearly six years and is second. Uihlein wound up three shots behind at 7-under 206 and still hasn't won on the PGA TOUR. Also three shots back are Bryson DeChambeau (66), Paul Casey (69) and Aaron Wise (70).
Day had five birdies over the last 10 holes and he made a dramatic par on the 18th. With his bare feet in the stream and the ball on the bank well above his feet, he hit a full shot to the back of the green for a two-putt par.
Watney overcame a double bogey on the par-5 10th hole with four birdies over his last six holes for a 66. He will be in the final group for the first time in nearly four years as he tries to win for the first time since a back injury two years ago.
Mickelson is among those four shots behind at 10th. Rickie Fowler might have been closer than six shots if not for a four-putt double bogey from 20 feet on No. 17 and he is T-11th. McIlroy is seven behind and T-16th.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)