Sabbatini moves five shots clear of field in Florida

South African Rory Sabbatini will take a five-shot lead going into the final day of the Honda Classic PGA event in Florida.

Overcoming another day of blustery conditions at Palm Beach, Sabbatini carded a four-under par third round 66 on Saturday to move onto nine-under overall after 54 holes.

American Jerry Kelly and YE Yang of South Korea trail Sabbatini on four-under, while overnight leader Kyle Stanley dropped to fifth place on two-under and first-round leader Spencer Levin is now down in 16th on two-over-par after a round 73.

Meanwhile, Lee Westwood's hopes of regaining the world No.1 ranking from Germany's Martin Kaymer look to be over, after the Englishman shot a poor round of 75 which included bogeys at the third, fourth and sixth holes.

The 37-year-old -- who fell to No. 2 in the world after last week's WGC Match Play championship -- is now tied for 30th position on four-over, eight shots off the top-three finish that would see him leapfrog Kaymer.

New world No. 3 and Match Play winner Luke Donald of England also struggled in the Sunshine state and now lies three-over for the tournament after a two-over 72, while U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland joined Ryder Cup teammate Westwood on four-over after a par round of 70.

After hitting a 71 on the opening day and then a course-record 64 in round two, 34-year-old Sabbatini is now in pole position to claim his sixth career PGA Tour title.

"I've been putting well all year. Sometimes just changing the look of things, the feel of things, can kind of just spur something," Sabbatini, whose last victory came at the 2009 Byron Nelson Championship, told the official PGA Tour website.

The Texas-resident added that his round had been helped when second-placed Kelly lodged a shot in a palm tree at the sixth hole, resulting in a temporary break in play as a photographer's lense was used to search for the missing ball.

"It allowed me to back off a little bit and kind of refocus again. So I think that was a good thing," he said.

However, Kelly does not believe that Sabbatini's lead will be insurmountable on Sunday -- despite another day of bad weather having been forecast.

"It's catchable in three holes," he said. " You've just got to play solid, get some birdies, and you never know."