Brilliant 63 sees Shane Lowry tie for the lead at Cognizant Classic

The Irishman signed for a superlative eight under 63 around the Champion Course in South Florida, enough to move him to 13 under for the tournament, tied with Smotherman.

Lowry's bogey-free round was highlighted by five birdies on the front nine on a course that had perfect conditions.

"There wasn't much wind out there, so there's certain things that aligned today to make it play easy enough, wind direction being one of them," the 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year told ESPN.

"But you still need to go out there and hit the shots. The greens are firm. It can get away from you if you're not hitting the ball well. I felt like I did everything pretty good today."

Meanwhile, Smotherman started the day with a three-shot cushion over the chasing pack but struggled on Saturday. Back-to-back bogeys nearly derailed his round, but he finished birdie-birdie to snatch back some momentum as he carded 69.

But with more low-scoring conditions predicted for Sunday, Lowry isn't resting on his laurels.

"If the conditions are like this tomorrow, there [are] low scores out there, so someone could come from the pack," he continued.

"It's not necessarily easy to lead around this golf course. There's a lot of very difficult shots. But I'm up there where I want to be. I've had a few chances to win this tournament, and hopefully I can convert it tomorrow."

That pack consists of Nico Echavarria (66) and Taylor Moore (67) who are a shot back at 12 under, while Jimmy Stanger is alone in fifth at 11 under after shooting 65.