MEMPHIS, Tenn. – With 18 holes left, too much golf remains for Robert Karlsson to worry about a couple of late bogeys.

Karlsson looked ready to run away from the field Saturday, leading by five strokes on the back nine at the St. Jude Classic. The Swede closed with his only bogeys of the day on the final two holes and finished with a 2-under 68 that dropped him to 11 under, one stroke ahead of Harrison Frazar through three rounds in this final U.S. Open tuneup.

Frazar said he thought Karlsson was in total control of the tournament so he focused only on playing. He got hot and birdied three of his final four holes to finish with a 64 that got him to 10 under. That included rolling in a 42-footer for birdie on No. 18 on a similar line to a putt he had last year. He even waved his caddie off Frazar was so confident he had the right line.

“Went right in the center, jumped in there like a rabbit,” Frazar said.

John Merrick (67) is third, followed by Retief Goosen, who turned in the best 18-hole score this week at TPC Southwind before being matched by Frazar. Fredrik Jacobson (68) and Keegan Bradley (70) are tied for fifth.

The 41-year-old Karlsson is in his first full year on the PGA Tour after earning an exemption by finishing in the top 125 on the money list with 11 events in 2010. That included a second-place finish here a year ago, when he lost a four-hole playoff to Lee Westwood in his best showing yet on the tour.

He is trying to become the seventh first-time winner on tour this year and the first player to win his first title in Memphis since Dicky Pride in 1994.

“I’m in the last group and have a great chance of getting out there tomorrow and play golf,” Karlsson said. “I’m looking forward to that.”

Frazar had seven birdies with a lone bogey in a round where contending wasn’t even a thought.