Martin soars 2 clear in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) - Ben Martin fired a 9-under 62 on Saturday and he moved two strokes clear of the field after three rounds of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Martin finished 54 holes at 17-under-par 196. He won twice on the Web.com Tour in 2013, and will go for his first PGA Tour win on Sunday.

Russell Knox, who shared the second-round lead with Andrew Putnam, shot 5- under 66 and is alone in second place at minus-15 at TPC Summerlin.

Jimmy Walker matched Martin's 62 and Walker vaulted into a share of third place at 13-under-par 200. Walker was joined there by Andrew Svoboda (67).

Defending champion Webb Simpson and Scott Piercy both carded 4-under 67s in round three. They were joined fifth place by Kevin Streelman (63) and Brooks Koepka (64).

Brandt Snedeker (67) and Jim Herman (62) headline a group of eight players tied for ninth at 11-under-par 202.

Martin was two shots back at the start of the round. He birdied the first, but gave that shot back when he bogeyed the third. Martin bounced back with birdies on the fourth and fifth, both from inside 11 feet.

At the seventh, Martin rolled in an 8-footer for birdie to move to 11-under. He poured in a 47-foot birdie putt at the 10th, but still trailed. A birdie on the 13th got him within one of Knox's lead.

Martin joined Knox at 14-under with a 10-foot birdie effort at the 14th. Knox followed with a birdie at 13, but Martin again forged a tie with a 2-putt at the short par-4 15th.

Martin dropped his third shot at the par-5 16th to four feet and he converted that putt for birdie to finally grab the lead by himself at minus-16. He ran home a 15-footer for birdie at 17 for his fifth consecutive birdie. Martin parred the last to lead by two.

"It was just one of those days that you get in the zone. I felt like every single number I had was a perfect number for whatever club I was hitting, whether it was a 7-iron or wedge, it seemed like every time I grabbed a club it was like this is just a perfect number," Martin explained. "Then, you have to make the putts and I made the ones I was supposed to make, and rolled a few more in. Everything went well."

Knox got on the board thanks to a chip-in birdie at the third. After four pars in a row, he converted back-to-back birdie chances at eight and nine en route to making the turn at 13-under, where he was tied for the lead with Walker.

After a pair of pars, Knox made a 21-footer for birdie at 12 and a 9-foot birdie try at 13 to climb to 15-under. However, that is where he ended as he finished his round with five straight pars.

"The putter has been great today and all week. I hope it continues one more day," said Knox, who leads the field in strokes gained putting through three rounds. "I'm delighted with 5-under. It was never going to be easy. I know tomorrow is going to be a tough day. It's tough to win these tournaments. That's why I've never done it before. I look forward to giving it a whack tomorrow, but 5-under bogey-free on a Saturday is a job well done."

Walker, who started on the back nine, ran off three straight birdies from the 11th. He moved to minus-8 with a birdie at the 16th. Around the turn, he flew up the leaderboard with four birdies in the first six holes. Walker closed with a birdie on the ninth to briefly own a piece of the lead.

NOTES: Martin has a piece of the 54-hole lead for the first time in his PGA Tour career ... He finished third at three different events in the 2013-14 PGA Tour season and they were his only top-10 finishes on the season ... Martin, who shot 78-79 last week when missing the cut at the Frys.com Open, and Walker matched their career low scores on the PGA Tour ... There was a secondary cut after round three with eight players being cut, including Padraig Harrington, Camilo Villegas and Stuart Appleby.