Spain’s Jon Rahm insists his growing maturity has helped him move into a position to win The Players Championship this weekend, something he describes as “career defining”.

The 24-year-old moved to the top of the leaderboard at TPC Sawgrass after a sensational third round which saw him shoot an eight-under 64.

He took full advantage of the softer conditions to move ahead of England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy.

Jason Day moved up to fourth, while Mexico’s Abraham Ancer sits alone in fifth. Rahm has already won five times in his career but he believes winning the PGA Tour’s flagship event will leave a real mark on his legacy.

“This would be absolutely amazing,” Rahm said. ”

The last two years I played okay golf. I was able to post scores but I didn’t see myself – I wouldn’t say that next year I was going to win this event.

“So it would be absolutely amazing to name yourself a Players champion. It’s definitely one of those events that they consider to get you in the Hall of Fame. It’s career defining.

“There’s very few select players that get to win here and only a very few number that have gotten to do it more than once, so it shows that to win out here you need to play really, really good golf, so it would be an incredible win if I get to do it.”

Rahm is now 2.88 to win the event, while McIlroy is 3.30 and Fleetwood is 4.33 to come from behind and lift the trophy.