Morgan Hoffmann cool under pressure at Arnold Palmer

ORLANDO — We need Morgan Freeman to narrate the tale of Morgan Hoffmann at this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational.

With his deep, distinctive and measured tone, the Oscar-winning actor would surely capture the worthy story that has been Hoffmann at Bay Hill.

The well-built, little-known young gun looking for his first PGA Tour title in 68 starts. An adrenaline junkie who flies to tournaments whenever possible in his own plane. Cooks the food he eats on the course. Hits the ball a mile.

And he's right there heading into Sunday's final round, just two shots out of the lead set by Henrik Stenson, a worldwide star with big wins on his resume and the experience to handle the heat of Orlando and the final group.

A stampede of others is ready to pounce, too, as four are within three shots. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy, after getting within one shot of the lead three holes into the back nine, is seven back. But do you want to count him out?

Few counted Hoffmann among the contenders for this week's title. But Hoffmann, 25, has looked every bit the part of a veteran actor. He led after the first round for the first time in his career. Led after the second round for the first time in his career.

While he began Saturday with a 3-stroke lead after rounds of 66-65, he managed to hold himself together after losing the lead and came home with a 71 to remain firmly in contention.

Now we'll see how he handles a Sunday in the thick of it.

From the looks of things this week — and the sounds of things this week — he has the makings of handling whatever is thrown his way in the final round. He is confident, especially after adding a cut shot to his firepower. He's long enough to handle a course that favors length. His short game has been strong.

And he got through his less-than-stellar play in the third round without crumbling. Win No. 1 is 18 holes away and he's not sweating it.

"I felt great coming into today," Hoffmann said. "Started off the round and was pleased with the first couple of holes. … It was a weird day. I got some squirrelly lies in the fairway. I got some mud balls, and got some lips in the bunkers. My caddy was really good at keeping me under control today on the back nine."

No matter how Hoffmann finishes Sunday, his story this week will not be forgotten any time soon. It started on a tragic note as his 97-year-old grandmother, Dorothy Lionetti, passed away Thursday morning. He raved about the life she had, how she was the best cook — hands down — that he ever knew.

Dedicating the round to her, Hoffmann, who spent 12 hours on the range on both Saturday and Sunday last week looking to fine-tune a cut shot, made his grandmother proud.

"She was awesome, really positive," Hoffmann said. "The best cook ever. Hundred percent Italian, came from Italy when they were I think mid-teens and raised my mom and six other children, and she made homemade pasta for us all the time."

In meeting with the media after his rounds, Hoffmann unveiled so much more. A former hockey player, he said he could still lace up the skates and bang the puck around. In fact, he recently passed on a chance to play with Wayne Gretzky in Las Vegas in a camp the Great One was running because Hoffmann didn't want to chance getting hurt before the Masters.

In 2009 when he played in the Palmer Cup at Cherry Hills in Denver, Hoffman talked for an hour with Palmer about flying. Inspired by the King, Hoffmann got his pilot's license. Six months ago, he bought a Piper Lance, 6-seater prop plane. He cruised into Orlando at 200 mph.

Hoffmann's pretty good in the kitchen, too. The night before each round he whips up the food he'll eat during the next day's play. And we're not talking hot dogs and burgers. In the first round, he had bison steak, broccoli and sweet potatoes. In the second round, he had a turkey breast, sweet potatoes and green beans. He stores the food in Tupperware in a cooler in his bag.

His breakfasts are to die for, too. Friday, for instance, he woke up to five eggs, turkey, oatmeal, raspberries and strawberries.

He said he won't have any trouble sleeping Saturday night.

Or eating Sunday morning.

"Golf is a weird sport," said Hoffmann, who had only two top-25s this season coming into the week. "Anything can happen. Hopefully we get some better breaks tomorrow. I feel good. I'm ready."