Scott’s birdie putt from 31 feet, three inches at the par-3 penultimate hole moved Scott to within four of the lead, a bogey at the last putting him five behind with one round to play at Quail Hollow Club.

Clark (63) delivered the round of the week to move two clear of Olympic gold medalist Xander Schaueffle (64), Scott (67) in a share of third alongside 36-hole leader Tyrrell Hatton (68).

Chasing his first win since the Genesis Invitational in February 2020, Scott expects that 16-under will be the minimum score he must set to be a chance on Sunday as he eyes his best result of the year.

“This is the best performance for three days of a tournament so far, so I’m looking for a really good back half of this season,” said Scott.

“It’s been hard not to be frustrated because there isn’t one thing that I can really put my finger on why I’m not getting better results.

“I play OK every week and OK kind of sucks on the PGA TOUR, so I’m nowhere with anything.

“This business is all about results, so that’s what I’m looking for tomorrow.”

A birdie from 10 feet on two was offset by a bogey on four before a stiffed wedge on wedge sparked a run of three birdies in four holes.

The 42-year-old hit it inside two feet from 103 yards to set up a birdie on five, following it with a birdie from eight feet on seven and a two-putt birdie from the fringe after almost driving the green at the par-4 eighth.

He drove it into the greenside bunker at the par-4 14th to create another birdie opportunity and then moved to five-under on his round with his birdie on 17.

A double-cross tee shot that struck a tree just 35 yards from the tee led to a bogey on 18 on what was an otherwise good day with the driver.

“I think it’s the best I’ve played this week all around, to be honest,” said Scott.

“I hit some fairways today and that was nice because I hadn’t seen them yet.

“I thought I played really solid, the kind of round you’d want. But when the guy’s leading and he lights it up, left searching a little bit like, What do I need to do?

“Good front nine and hopefully get within striking distance tomorrow.”

Countrymen Harrison Endycott and Cam Davis both lost ground in Round 3, Endycott falling to a share of 45th with a round of even par 71 while Davis dropped six spots to a tie for 61st with a two-over 73.