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By Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

LEMONT, Ill. -- Tim Clark isn't surprised at all that he's in the hunt at the BMW Championship. He's just surprised that he isn't closer to the leaders with 18 holes remaining.

Tim Clark shot a 67 on Saturday. (Feldman/WireImage)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Tim Clark so far this week

Birdies 12 Pars 39 Bogeys 3 Driving Accuracy 78.6 Driving Distance 279.0 Putts 27 GIR 66.7

"It was a good round of golf. It could have been one of those great rounds," Clark, 31, said with a grin Saturday after shooting a 4-under-par 67 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club.

Clark, who fired his fifth consecutive sub-70 round on the Dubsdread Course, has reason to wonder "what if" after he birdied his first three holes to immediately move up the leaderboard. The run was punctuated by a 50-foot conversion at the par-3 second hole followed by a tap-in 2-footer at the third.

Unfortunately, his round stalled for much of the rest of the day. He enters Sunday's final round tied for fifth with Jonathan Byrd at 9-under 204, six shots behind leaders Steve Stricker and Aaron Baddeley.

"Yeah, it was a great start," said Clark, whose season didn't start until the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship as he sat out nursing a sore neck. "I mean, I put myself right up there one off the lead early on, and just couldn't keep it going. I did make some good par saves in the middle there, but the scoring holes I feel like are 8, 9, 10, 11, and I just didn't make any birdies there, so that kind of hurt. But overall 4 under is still a good round."

Clark entered the week 33rd in the FedExCup points standings and knowing he had to finish in the top 10 to have a chance to advance to next week's TOUR Championship presented by Coca Cola. He was determined to play aggressively and has done just that, making 12 birdies thus far, which ranks 15th in the field.

Clark has an affinity for Cog Hill because it puts a premium on accuracy off the tee and not length. "I like this golf course quite a lot. It fits my game," said the diminutive South African, who isn't a long hitter but uses a long putter. "I really came in here thinking I was going to have a good week."

So far, it has been a good week, but he knows that he must keep his foot on the gas for one more day. He's been following the points standings closely enough throughout the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup to understand what has to be done to stay alive.

"I'm kind of looking at it (the points list), but you can't really tell what's going to happen until the week is over," he said. "I know I need to play well tomorrow. If I can finish staying where I am or finish higher, I know I'll have no problem getting in there. I'd like to play next week, but I'm just going to take it one step at a time. I'm just going to go as low as I can."