Starting the day at 6-under for the tournament, John elevated himself all the way into a tie for third with Jye Pickin at 17-under.

The final grouping of McLeod and Cholcheva Wongras, who were tied at the top to start the day, have separated themselves by one shot, with Wongras in solo second at 18-under.

Queenslander Blake Proverbs sits in solo fifth at 16-under after another stunning round of 63, playing his last 36-holes in 17-under after a 72 to open his Murray River account.

Former Tour winners Michael Hendry and Jason Norris are a further shot back at 15-under, with another Kiwi Tyler Hodge at 14-under, and the only amateur to make the cut Lion Higo the next best woman at 13-under alongside three others.

Wasting no time, John got his third round off to the perfect start with an eagle, the reigning National Tournament champion saying he felt on right from the start.

“The first tee shot was pretty good, and I was just like, ‘oh, that felt good’,” John said with a smile.

 “The only average shot I hit all day was on the eighth hole. These rounds don’t happen often, and you’ve got to capitalise when you play like that.”

And capitalise he did, making a birdie two on the third, before a second eagle on the par-5 sixth, then further birdies at seven and eight had John make the turn in 7-under.

“When I was, I think I was seven through eight, and the boys were laughing, they were like, ‘you’re a million under already!’.

“To be honest, the last two days I’ve done the exact same thing, I just kind of rolled the putts by the edge.

“I hit a few irons off the tees and normally I’m quite aggressive but stuck to the plan and it was nice to get rewarded for that.”

With a sub-60 score on his mind, John kept the foot down and proceeded to make four more birdies on his next eight holes, meaning he needed one more on 18 for the magical 59.

Finding the right edge of the green, a downhill 12-foot slider awaited John, as the healthy crowd from the hospitality tent behind the green watched on in anticipation.

“I’ve never been more nervous on a Saturday,” he said.

The putt slid by low, and although a 59 would have been sweet, John is just happy to have got himself back into contention.

This is the third time John has set a course record in a Tour event, previously in Kalgoorlie at the WA PGA, and on the Legends Course at Moonah Links in the Vic PGA.

McLeod shot a tidy 5-under 66 on Saturday, and apart from a untidy three-putt on the last, he could not have asked for much more as the mercury touched 40 late in the afternoon.

“When it got real still on some of those tee blocks here, it was really hot, but pretty good conditions to play if it was just a few degrees cooler,” said McLeod, pleased to be in an air-conditioned room.

“Did a pretty good job on the back nine I thought from holes 10 to 15 especially, and then sort of just my speed in the last few holes wasn’t great, but holed a couple of nice ones too.

“Unfortunately missed the last one at the end, but yeah, games feeling good.”

Knowing it’s likely someone could have a round similar to John’s tomorrow, McLeod says the gameplan is to stay aggressive and continue giving himself as many chances to make birdie as possible.

“It’ll be a tough test tomorrow, but I think that’s the mindset.”

While accustomed to playing in extreme heat, the 40-degrees Wongras played through today is unlike the humid conditions of Thailand.

“It was nice playing out there, in the heat it was just so crazy,” Wongras said.

“It was just hot and dry, so back home, it’s hot and humid, so it’s a bit different.

“It’s really hard to play golf out there.”

With an eagle on ten, and a birdie on 11, it looked as if Wongras may make a late charge and claim the lead for herself, however a bogey and six pars coming in proved otherwise.

“What I did today was just enjoy the moment, have fun, talk to Jake (McLeod). He was a nice guy to play with, it was a pretty nice round,” said Wongras.

“Tomorrow I’m going to go out and have another round of golf and then just stick to the game plan and then try to birdie as much as I can.”

Victorian Tom Ryan leads the All Abilities at 10-over after round one, while another Victorian in Olive Spitty leads the juniors at 1-under.