Hideki Matsuyama climbed 18 places on the leaderboard Saturday to put himself 10 shots adrift of the lead going into the final round of the Northern Trust.
Matsuyama, who was 44th at the halfway point of the tournament, carded five birdies against a sole bogey at Ridgewood Country Club while American Bryson DeChambeau fired an 8-under 63 to surge to the top after three rounds at 16 under for the tournament.
DeChambeau led the field by four strokes, with compatriot Keegan Bradley alone in second place. Australia's Cameron Smith and American Tony Finau were trailing by five.
"My iron shots weren't bad but it's hard to recover from a bad first tee shot," Matsuyama said.
"Aiming for a win doesn't seem realistic so I'll try to finish in the top 20," he said.
Also out of contention is Tiger Woods, who posted a bogey-free 68 and remained well behind the leaders at 3 under.
The Northern Trust is the first of four events in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The top 125 point-earners on the PGA Tour this season will battle for a grand total of $67 million over the following month.
The original field will be cut to 100 after The Northern Trust, to 70 after the Dell Technologies Championship, and to 30 after the BMW Championship.
The top 30 will then play in the Tour Championship on Sept. 20-23 at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.