Sepp Straka holds off charging Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy at Pebble Beach

Sepp Straka narrowly reclaimed the lead at the end of the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, holding off the charging Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry.

The Austrian, who had a three-shot halfway lead in his bid to claim a second win of the PGA season, birdied four of his last five holes in a third-round 70 as he moved to 16-under-par.

That left him one shot clear of McIlroy and Lowry, who matched each other for the third straight day with a pair of 65s, as rain, cold and heavy winds hit the famous Californian links.

Justin Rose shot a 68 to give the leaderboard a European feel, sitting in a group one stroke back alongside South Korea’s Tom Kim and Australian Cam Davis.

Straka started strongly with a pair of birdies, but dropped a shot at the fourth and had three successive bogeys from the turn before his strong finish.

Lowry opened with two birdies and an eagle, with four birdies on the back nine making up for two dropped shots before the turn.

The Irishman was quick to downplay the idea that weather back home had equipped him well for the wet and windy conditions.

“I live in Florida for a reason,” he told the PGA website.

“It was like this in Ireland when I was home at Christmas and my golf clubs sat in my hall. I didn’t play golf. When the weather is like that, I don’t play golf anymore.

“There’s a few courses in the world that you would like to win on and this is definitely one of them.

“So you try not to think about stuff like that and hopefully it comes to you someday.”

McIlroy also started with a pair of birdies and picked up three strokes in his last four holes in a bogey-free round, but was proudest of his performance on the seaside stretch between the sixth and 10th holes.

“It was a really good poor-weather performance,” he said. “One thing I’m trying to get better at is trying to play more bogey free-rounds.

“I think just playing a little smarter, playing the right shot at the right time, not hitting destructive shots. It feels a little more boring at times, but it’s definitely more effective.”

Rose mixed an eagle and five birdies with three bogeys as he bids for a second win at Pebble Beach.

World number one Scottie Scheffler was six strokes off the pace on his delayed first outing of the season following injury.