Already a tour winner, the 23-year-old is eyeing a third top-10 finish in 11 starts this year after posting a two under 68 on Saturday to be tied 10th ahead of the final round.
Vilips was at six under, seven shots behind joint leaders Ben Griffin (68) and Matt Schmid (68).
That pair enjoy a four-shot lead from Rickie Fowler (67) as they prepare to battle in the final group on Sunday, well aware that formidable world No.1 Scottie Scheffler is lurking after charging with a 64 on Saturday.
It's proving hard to separate American Griffin and Germany's Schmid as they have posted the same scores on each of the first three days - 66, 63 and now 68.
Fowler will join the co-leaders in the final group Sunday when Schmid seeks his first PGA Tour victory and Griffin his first individual title after pairing with Andrew Novak to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last month.
The 36-year-old Fowler, who has dropped to 127th in the world after being in the top 25 as recently as early 2024, hasn't won since the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit that was his sixth victory and ended a four-year winless streak.
Australian rookie Karl Vilips is poised to achieve another big pay day on the PGA Tour at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas.ven under and within six strokes.
He would have been closer if not for three bogeys his last seven holes. But, with another big round on Sunday, he still has a chance to become the first player since Dustin Johnson in 2017 to win in three starts in a row.
Robert MacIntyre and Lucas Glover also shot 64. MacIntyre was in a tie for fourth with Nick Hardy and Akshay Bhatia at 8 under.
Scheffler, who teed off more than two hours before the co-leaders, was at 8 under after his eagle at No. 11, where he got on the green in two shots and made the 15-foot putt. That followed consecutive birdies as Nos. 9 and 10, and starting the back nine with an approach to 2 1/2 feet.
But back-to-back bogeys followed after Scheffler hit tee shots into bunkers at Nos. 12 and 13. He got those strokes back with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17, only to miss the fairway at No. 18 to finish with another bogey.
The only player to win the Byron Nelson and Colonial in the same season was Ben Hogan in 1946. Scheffler earlier this month won his beloved hometown CJ Cup Byron Nelson when matching the PGA Tour's 72-hole scoring record at 31-under 253 for an eight-stroke win.
- with AAP
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