CROMWELL, Conn. — Tommy Fleetwood has played this week with the steadiness of a pro with 41 career top-10 finishes, and with the fire of a pro who has been close that many times but never won a PGA event.

“It’s an element of your career that everybody wants,” Fleetwood said, after tapping in for par on the 18th green to finish a round of 63 and take a 3-stroke lead into the final round of the Travelers Championship. “And I, of course, want it. This year, I don’t feel like I’ve been in contention. This is my first real chance, so I’m really exited about it, looking forward to it.”

Once Fleetwood rolled in a 30-foot, 7-inch putt for an eagle on No. 13 Saturday, the Englishman could start thinking about tomorrow, thinking about Sunday, that first win is within his grasp. Following a first-round 66, a second-round 65 and birdies on 3, 5, 6 and 10 in the third round, that eagle put Fleetwood at 15-under. Then he birdied the 15th to maintain his lead over Russell Henley, who also had a superb Saturday, 61, the best round of the tournament, to leap over a crowded leaderboard and stay in Fleetwood’s rearview mirror. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, the 2023 champ. bounced back from a second-round 70 to move in just behind Fleetwood, tied with Henley.

In other words, buckle up for another dramatic finish at TPC River Highlands. The gang, and all the ingredients, are here.

Wind wreaked havoc with scores on Friday, but the morning golfers on Saturday reclaimed the course’s reputation for low 60s, Taylor Pendrith and Adam Scott at 62 for the day, Viktor Hovland, Aaron Rai and Matt Fitzpatrick, 63. So surely, when the big names atop the leaderboard teed off in the afternoon, course records would be in peril.

But when a course plays to low scores, it may look easy, but it makes for a tough tournament to win — very little margin for error. One bad hole, a short bad stretch and you could be left in the dust; play it too safe with a lead and you could be caught from behind.

That humbling game this time got the better of the world’s No.1-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler, the defending Travelers champ, whose 29th birthday round began with triple bogey, his worst hole of the year, to drop from a tie for first down to a tie for 10th. Rory McIlroy came roaring close to the top, then fell back. Justin Thomas started the day in a first-place tie, but fell back quickly and found himself, like U.S. Open winner J.J. Spaun a day earlier, retrieving his ball from the Providence & Worcester Railroad tracks running behind the 13th fairway and quadruple-bogeyed out of contention.

Fleetwood? He hit the fairway 14 out of 14 times.

It was Fleetwood, who sank a 66-foot putt for his birdie on No. 5, and Henley, nine birdies, no bogeys, who attacked the course relentlessly, set the pace that others could not sustain.

“This place is kind of tricky to me,” Henley said, “and I’ve just tried to be really disciplined and trying to hit it to the fat side of the hole all week and I just, even though the conditions were easier than first two days I tried to just be disciplined in my approach.”

Henley, 36, ranked sixth in the world, has won six tour events. Fleetwood, 34, has 11 professional wins, seven in Europe, but though he is ranked ninth in the world, he holds the distinction of having more top-10 finishes without a PGA win than any golfer since they began to keep track in 1983.

“I’m top of the lot of stat-lines for people who haven’t won on the PGA Tour,” he said, laughing. “To be No. 1 at something is nice.”

No, really, it’s a distinction he would dearly love to shed, and who could blame him? With another round of aggressive, but mistake-free golf on Sunday, he can. It’s an interesting, but misleading little factoid. Fleetwood has been successful all over the world, part of successful Ryder Cup teams.

He’s also known as one of the most gracious of golfers, regardless of results. When Nick Taylor hit a miraculous, 72-foot eagle putt to beat him in a playoff at the RBC Canadian Open in 2023, Fleetwood seemed as thrilled for the man who’d beaten him as Taylor was himself.

Maybe now is the time for a nice guy to finally finish first on The Tour.

“It’s easy to put pressure on yourself,” Fleetwood said. “The longer things go on, people talk about it — of course they do. But there are also things I’m very proud of, the consistency, where I stand, FedEx Cup, world rankings, so there’s a lot to be happy about. But I’m not going to be silly and say I don’t care about it. Of course I want to win, and hopefully it happens sooner rather than later. … I’m really looking forward to going out (Sunday) in this position.”

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