Jason Day set about making some amends for his lacklustre US PGA Tour season with a blistering 10-birdie round in Las Vegas.

Day produced the equal best third round score of seven-under-par 64 to soar into a tie for sixth spot in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

The 25-year-old Queenslander has had a lean year by his standards, perhaps distracted to some extent by the birth of his first child, and lies 87th on the money list.

But he showed he's not satisfied to leave it like that by entering to play among the tour stragglers battling to retain their cards in the four-tournament fall series.

Starting his day with a double bogey on his second hole, Day then caught fire with three straight birdies from the 4th, three more at the 8th, 9th and 11th and four straight from the 13th, marred only by a bogey on 13.

The round left him six shots behind joint leaders Brendon de Jonge of Zimbabwe, Sweden's Jonas Blixt and hometown hero Ryan Moore who were five shots clear of Americans Jimmy Walker and Tim Herron.

Blixt birdied six of the last seven holes, including a 28-foot birdie putt at the 18th, to fire a five-under par 66 while de Jonge birdied four of the last five holes to shoot a 66 and Moore matched them with a bogey-free 65.

All three stood on 19-under par 194 for 54 holes in the $US4.5 million ($A4.41 million) event.

Unfortunately, the Australians who most needed good scores with their cards in jeopardy largely failed to produce.

Mat Goggin was next best in a tie for 40th on 207 while Nathan Green and Rod Pampling were tied 62nd.

Stuart Appleby, Nick O'Hern and Gavin Coles missed the cut a day earlier, along with Robert Allenby.