Henrik Stenson held a one-stroke lead over Bryson DeChambeau with Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler pushing into contention and Tiger Woods five shots back after the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Despite three bogeys Stenson stayed at the top of the leaderboard at 12 under par after shooting a one-under 71 at Bay Hill on a gorgeous Florida afternoon. DeChambeau, the second-round co-leader, hung on for second with a 72.

McIlroy, playing his best golf in the United States this year, was strong on a back nine which featured an eagle at the 12th. The Northern Irishman finished the day outright third at 10-under after a round of 67. Rose, warming up nicely for the Masters where the Englishman was runner-up last year, also made a 67, and with the American Ryan Moore (69) was a stroke back on eight under par in a group including Fowler, who managed a 70 despite dropping three strokes on the last two holes.

Woods, an eight-times winner of the event, birdied the 18th for a 69 and a share of 10th at 209. “That was a nice one,” the former world No 1 said of the birdie. “Maybe a low [score] tomorrow will give me a chance to kind of steal one.”

Woods is fresh from coming second at the Valspar Championship to Paul Casey last Sunday, by far his best performance since his return from injury. Some bookmakers went so far as to install him as favourite for the Masters, which runs from 5-8 April, after his fine start here at Bay Hill, but on Sunday he will need to emulate Casey’s success last weekend in posting an early clubhouse score that the overnight leaders could not match.

McIlroy, meanwhile, has gone 26 tournaments since his last victory at the Tour Championship in 2016 to win the FedEx Cup. He said: “I started the day just outside the top 10 and wanted to at least give myself a chance going into tomorrow, so it was a great day out there. I can’t really ask for much more.”