Casey in contention ahead of manic Monday at The Players

Anirban Lahiri will take a one-shot lead into the fifth day of a weather-affected Players Championship, with Paul Casey just two off the pace as he chases a historic victory.

Indian star Lahiri birdied the par-five 11th in fading light at TPC Sawgrass to move into a narrow lead on nine under with seven holes of his third round remaining, with halfway co-leader Tom Hoge a shot back alongside Harold Varner III.

Hoge and Varner are halfway through their third rounds, which will resume at 8am on Monday (midday GMT), while Casey is just two off the pace with nine holes to complete as he looks to become the first English winner of the PGA Tour's flagship event.

Casey has battled back superbly from triple-bogeying his opening hole of the tournament on Thursday, posting rounds of 70 and 69 before playing the first half of his third round in two under.

The veteran is joined on seven under by Sam Burns - who held the outright advantage until finding water off the seventh tee and making bogey - and Sebastian Munoz, who is six under for his round with four holes to complete.

Former Open champion Francesco Molinari is three back after playing his first 15 holes in five under, while Shane Lowry produced a moment of magic when he fired a superb hole-in-one at the iconic par-three 17th.

Lowry then bounced back from bogeying his next hole to card back-to-back birdies and get within four of the lead, with English pair Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood part of the logjam on four under which also contains defending champion Justin Thomas.

A congested leaderboard sees 31 players separated by just five shots in what is set to be a manic Monday in Florida, where tournament officials are confident of completing the 72 holes before darkness.

R