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Steady as he goes
Third straight 66 gives Casey three-shot lead after three
By Kevin Paul Dupont
Globe Staff

NORTON — Fair is foul and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.

If forecasts hold true, weather conditions could make for a thick, roiling Shakespearian stew Monday morning when the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship tees off at 7 a.m. A day, perhaps, for high winds, witches­, and wedges.

But in the fading sunlight and cool and susurrant breeze of a classic late-summer New England day, it was another talented Brit who scripted his own dynamic story Sunday at TPC Boston. For the third day in row, Paul Casey, proud son of Cheltenham, England, posted a 5-under-par 66 and pried open a three-stroke lead in the $8.5 million PGA tournament.

Rock steady throughout the afternoon, the 39-year-old Casey closed out his round with a dazzling eagle 3 on No. 18 and finished the day at 15 under (198) through three rounds. It left him three strokes ahead of Brian Harman and four better than a trio of Smylie­ Kaufman, Jimmy Walker, and Kevin Chappell.

If Mother Nature provides, Casey on Monday will have a chance to capture only his second Tour victory when the field of 72 takes to the tees approximately an hour earlier than originally scheduled. There’s bad weather abrew, and though Casey has conjured up a storm of his own the last three days, it could be the remnants of Hurricane Hermine that carry­ the most telling club in this one.

“I haven’t really thought about it yet,’’ mused Casey, asked how he’ll approach the championship round, given what’s been stewing in the Atlantic. “I don’t know. Depends how bad it is.’’

Casey’s round capped a day that once again didn’t have the majority of the game’s higher-profile hitters near the top of the leaderboard. However, a couple of them creeped much closer, the most interesting of whom was Rory McIlroy, the Irish standout, who continued to gain confidence in his putting.

McIlroy, who also eagled No. 18, matched Casey at 5 under for the day. And though he finished the day T7, six strokes behind Casey, the 11-time Tour winner has the kind of game and guile to give the leader a chase to the end.

“I started to roll in a few putts,’’ noted McIlroy, who has gone 71-67-66 over the three days. “And when you do that, your confidence builds and you feel like you can go out and shoot scores like today.’’

The confident McIlroy, with $31 million in career earnings, will begin the final round in a threesome with Louis Oosthuizen and Tony Finau, all of them at 9 under. Oosthuizen, the one-time British Open winner, posted the best round the day, a 7-under 64, that Casey later said served as a motivator.

“I saw some scores that guys like Louis had posted early in the day,’’ said Casey. “I was pretty amazed at his score. And to be sitting here with 66, I’m obviously over the moon.’’

Chappell began the day as the leader at 11 under, followed by the likes of Casey, Walker, Harman, Dustin Johnson, and Kaufman. Other than Johnson, everyone in the group remained in the hunt. Johnson, though, posted a 4-over 75 and plummeted to T33. Only four others, including homeboy Jon Curran (5 over), had worse days on the bucolic track.

Oosthuizen’s 7 under led the way, followed by Scott Brown (minus-6), then Casey, McIlroy, and James Hahn, all of them 5 under.

For the next 18 holes, be they played Monday or later, Casey will have a handful of his brethren trying to erase a three-stroke lead that he built over three near-flawless days and snatch the $1.53 million top prize. It’s almost always the hottest putting hand that wins, which right now, despite his recent troubles, could play into McIlroy’s wheelhouse. He has tinkered with his grip on the flat stick and he was clearly emboldened about the uptick in his putting game as he left the grounds the last two nights.

So if there’s an uh-oh to be uttered out there among the leaders, it’s because McIlroy, ranked No. 5 in the world and still looking for his first Tour victory of 2016, has gained some pluck and strut on the green.

“Yeah, it’s nice, I don’t feel as under pressure with the long game now,’’ said McIlroy. “I don’t feel I have to hit it inside 3 feet the whole time. I feel like I can give myself some chances from 10, 15, 20 feet and have a good chance at holing them. It’s amazing what just one good round does, just that little bit of confidence carried from [Saturday] into [Sunday].

The invisible player with the hottest hand Monday is most likely Hermine, the blustery temptress who has torn along the Atlantic coast now for days. When the gents tee off in their threesomes starting at 7 a.m., winds of 20 miles per hour or better should already be in play. By late morning, gusts could be up to 40 m.p.h. or more.

Oh, what foul and filthy air awaits? In a place where a Tiger­’s­ roar once was the most fearsome force, whatever way the wind blows could be the deciding factor.

“I’ve been a good wind player,’’ said a confident Casey. “Yeah, no issue with the wind.’’

But with winds 35 or 40 miles per hour, if play isn’t suspended, even the best shots go awry, and perfect putts come to perfectly imperfect ends. Against such odds, even the mighty Casey could strike out.

“It’s going to be really tough,’’ said Harman, who’ll be aside Casey in the last trio to hit. “This is a tough golf course when there’s no wind, so it will be interesting [Monday].’’

Eighteen holes to go. When the hurlyburly’s done, when the battle’s lost and won.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.