The day’s best round – a 4-under 66 – has given four-time major champion Brooks Koepka a one-stroke lead from Viktor Hovland (70) and Corey Conners (70), Lee seven strokes back and one of six players at 1-over through 54 holes.

Seeking his first top-10 finish in a major championship, Lee (71) entered red figures in spectacular fashion on Saturday.

A day after holing a 77-foot putt at the par-3 fifth, Lee drained a birdie putt from just inside 44 feet at the par-3 11th to move into a share of eighth position.

With momentum at his back, a poor tee shot at the par-5 13th brought Lee’s charge to a screeching halt.

A miss left resulted in a penalty stroke, the 24-year-old forced to play his fourth shot still 253 yards from the hole.

His double bogey 7 would be the worst score on a hole playing under par in Round 3 and pushed the top of the leaderboard further from reach.

Lee missed an eight-footer for birdie at the short par-4 14th, made a 10-footer for par on 15, two-putted for par on 16, made an up-and-down for par on 17 and then narrowly missed a birdie from 19 feet on 18.

A day after speaking about playing “gritty” golf, Lee displayed again his ability to produce his best golf under the most intense pressure.

Adding to Lee’s incentive for a strong finish on Sunday is the knowledge that a solo 27th finish or better would secure Special Temporary Membership of the PGA TOUR for the remainder of the season.

Cam Davis and Kiwi Ryan Fox are both one shot back of Lee in a tie for 16th after matching rounds of 1-over 71.

Paired with Dustin Johnson, Davis was 1-under on his round when he made birdie from six feet at 16 but dropped shots at both 17 and 18 to end the day 2-over for the tournament.

An even-par round of 70 moved Cameron Smith up 21 spots and into a tie for 27th while Lucas Herbert (72) and Adam Scott (74) are in a share of 42nd at 6-over par.

Round 3 scores
T10        Min Woo Lee     73-67-71—211
T16        Ryan Fox (NZ)     68-73-71—212
T16        Cam Davis           71-70-71—212
T27        Cameron Smith  72-72-70—214
T42        Lucas Herbert     75-69-72—216
T42        Adam Scott         68-74-74—216

Final Round tee times AEST
12.10am              Adam Scott, Adam Hadwin
12.30am              Lucas Herbert, Tom Hoge
2am       Cameron Smith, Hayden Buckley
2.50am Cam Davis, Hideki Matsuyama
3am       Ryan Fox (NZ), Kurt Kitayama
3.10am Min Woo Lee, Patrick Reed