The American is playing the West Coast swing but will take in a trip to Qatar instead of playing the Phoenix Open, where he is a former winner.

And while the Ryder Cup star admits that was a tough decision to make, he knows the sport is now on the global stage.

“It was an opportunity I didn’t want to pass up,” Mahan said. “I wanted to see if I even liked it over there, if I wanted to do it again, maybe an Abu Dhabi-Qatar swing.

“There’s a lot of world ranking points right now. They kind of own all the big tournaments, other than the World Golf Championships and the majors.

“It’s a big trip, but nowadays that’s what you have to do. Golf is worldwide. If you want to play against the best players…if I go over and play well, it’s going to mean a lot more to me than playing well here. It’s just a fact.”

He said that how he performs over the next five weeks will be more about his golf than his travel. After Qatar, he has Pebble Beach, Riviera and the Match Play.

“This is part of the game. This is the lifestyle. You’ve got to travel,” Mahan added. “When you fly over there, it’s not an excuse. When you fly back, it’s not an excuse. It’s about playing well.”

Maggert, 47, signed for a six-under score of 64 to reach 12-under for the tournament and was alone at the summit until Every birdied the 18th to join him.

Maggert won his third and most recent PGA title in May 2006 but is now well placed to end his drought heading into Sunday’s final round.

He picked up his first birdie of the day at the fourth and then kickstarted his round on the par-five ninth with an eagle three.

Three more birdies followed on the back nine, with no dropped shots in the round.

Every, carrying a two-shot overnight lead, started disappointingly with a bogey at the second.

But he soon located his form and birdied at six, seven and nine to take the front nine in two-under.

He did not carry that hot streak on, though, and was level after the turn when he collected a stroke on the 16th and regained it with four shots on 18th.

A group of three lie in wait on 10-under and Johnson Wagner, Brendon de Jonge and Charles Howell III will all be hoping to make their move in the final round.

Wagner and Howell both took 66 shots on the day, with De Jonge five shots shy of Friday’s stunning 62.

DA Points and Duffy Waldorf are tied for sixth on nine-under, with a further 11 players another shot back.

Carl Pettersson and David Hearn, tied for second at the halfway stage, are both in that group after losing ground with level-par 70s.

And the 22-year-old will start his career in the paid ranks as a member of the European Tour, alongside new stablemates Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke.

“The PGA European Tour plays all over the world from the United Kingdom to China, from Korea to South Africa and from the Middle East to Southeast Asia,” he said.

“Those players who have played on the Tour, and who are still members, make for a pretty impressive list.

“I just feel the ISM team is well-positioned to help me achieve my goals.”

Andrew “Chubby” Chandler, managing director of International Sports Management, admitted it was a brave move by the American.

“It is a pioneering move by him – the obvious step would have been to try to establish his career in the United States,” he said.

“But having seen players like Lee Westwood, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and Darren Clarke build careers by playing all over the world, including America, Peter has been encouraged by that.

“I’m sure that he will benefit enormously from the experience.”

Uihlein, who won six of his eight Walker Cup matches, will make his debut at next month’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

The South African shot a third-round six-under-par 66 at Walton Heath – Frost joining his two American rivals at the top of the leaderboard after sinking a seven-foot birdie putt at the final hole.

Calcavecchia, who was the joint leader at halfway, opened up a three-shot lead with three birdies in his opening 12 holes but slipped back with a triple-bogey seven on the 13th.

The 1989 Open champion dropped another shot at the 16th before regaining his position among the leaders with a birdie on the last to finish level par for the day.

Victory for Calcavecchia would make him only the fourth man to win both the Senior Open and Open Championship itself.

Bob Charles, Gary Player and Tom Watson are the only men who have achieved the feat to date.