Scottie Scheffler has produced his best on a tough day at Muirfield Village, opening with 13 straight pars and then pouring it on at the end for a four-under 68 that gave him a one-shot lead over Ben Griffin after three rounds at the Memorial.

Scheffler birdied four of his last five holes and took the lead when Griffin missed a three-foot par putt on the 18th.

At stake for Scheffler is a chance to win for the third time in his last four tournaments and join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners at the Memorial.

"I don't know what the scoring average was today, but I was definitely proud of the way I finished and it was really challenging," Scheffler said.

"Through 13 holes, I felt like I was playing really good and I was only even par. Just a hard course."

Scheffler, the only player to break par all three rounds, is at eight-under 208.

Griffin, who won last week at Colonial, made five birdies and five bogeys over his last 13 holes.

Scheffler was six shots behind his fellow American at one point and then it all changed so quickly.

Griffin, who became the only player this week to reach 10-under par when he ran off three straight birdies, gave it all back with four straight bogeys.

Scheffler was lurking, as always. The world No.1 has an uncanny knack of hanging around and winding up with the low score by the end of the day. This was no exception.

"I did see that Ben got to 10 under, but it's not going to change my play in the middle of a Saturday," Scheffler, who has won the last eight times when holding the 54-hole lead, added.

"This golf course is really challenging and no lead's safe around this place. I knew if I kept going and played a decent round, I would be in somewhat of a position to chase him down tomorrow."

Nick Taylor (74) wound up three shots behind and for that he was thankful at the end. The Canadian went into the water and made double bogey on the diabolical par-3 12th, followed that with a bogey and was sliding out of contention. And then he holed out from fairway for eagle at the 14th, birdied the next hole and played that four-stretch in even par.

The best round belonged to Austrian Sepp Straka, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year. He posted a 66 as the leaders were just getting started and is tied-fourth at three under with Jordan Spieth (72) and Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley (68).

Adam Scott (73) is five over and the leading Australian while compatriot Min Woo Lee (76) is two shots further back.