Jordan Spieth goes nuclear and vaults up leaderboard at John Deere Classic

Jordan Spieth produced his best round of the PGA Tour season on Saturday at the John Deere Classic. 

Spieth faced a battle to make the cut on Friday at TPC Deere Run and admitted he was too far away from the leaders to mount a charge.

But Spieth's eight-under 63 saw the American leap more than 40 places on the leaderboard and into the top-10. 

Spieth may drop further given the leaders were yet to tee off when he finished his third round.

But it was a remarkable third round performance for a player whose form has been lacking in recent months. 

He has also been battling a persistent wrist injury

"I thought it was a solid round," Spieth said after reaching 14-under following 18 holes that saw him make nine birdies and one bogey. 

He added: "It felt a lot better than being seven-under through 16, and I feel almost like a weird disappointment at that point. 

"So [it was] nice to hit two beautiful shots into 17 and half a roll from getting an eagle there.

"All in all, those finishing pins were tougher. Fortunately, I don't think the field is going to make four birdies in a row to finish.

"Most of them are out there a little before that. It was a good day. Did a lot of things well. I improved on yesterday and that was my goal."

Two of Spieth's 13 PGA Tour wins have come at the John Deere Classic. 

Spieth won the tournament in a playoff in 2013 and again in extra holes two years later. 

"I've always started a little slow at this tournament, so it wasn't the plan, but once it happened, you know, I remember wanted to kind of shoot one of these rounds yesterday and feel like you're right in it," he said. 

"But then it's a race. It's prime scoring conditions. We had quite a few front pins in bowls that you really needed to make birdie on. 

"Sometimes that's the hardest part, is the shot almost seems too easy because we're not used to it.

"Luckily I capitalized on those and made a couple putts. It was just a good solid round. No chip-ins, nothing spectacular, no crazy ones here or there.

"But tomorrow if I can be as solid as I was today and maybe catch a couple extra breaks, it would take something extremely flawless to have a chance, but I'll try and do what I did today."

• John Deere Classic leaderboard

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