Scott will start the final round at Wilmington Country Club two shots back of world No.4 Patrick Cantlay (65), one behind world No.6 Xander Schauffele (66) and Scott Stallings (66) and level with world No.1 Scottie Scheffler (68).

The 36-hole leader for the first time since the 2019 Masters, Scott shot 69 on Saturday to fall to a tie for fourth at 10-under and walking the tightrope of Tour Championship qualification.

The 42-year-old’s current position on the leaderboard is projected to squeeze him inside the top 30 cut-off at No.27 but his sole focus remains on securing a win that would thrust him into contention to win the FedEx Cup at East Lake Golf Club next week.

“It’s all for me to gain and nothing to lose,” Scott warned.

“I’ve kind of done a fair amount and I’ve been in these positions a lot.

“All eyes are on the world No.1 (Scheffler) playing with me today and all the young stars, and I’m the old man getting dragged around.

“I feel like it’s all a bonus for me. Playing with that kind of level of comfort is a nice thing.

“I’m still working hard and it’s not easy to do it, but it’s a nice way to be on the golf course.”

Scott hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation in the third round but struggled to convert regular birdie opportunities.

He got up-and-down from 96 feet for birdie at the par-5 third, holed a 32-footer for birdie at five and rounded out the front nine with a birdie from 16 feet to turn two-under.

Scott fired a brilliant approach from 240 yards into eight feet at the par-5 12th but could only walk away with birdie, giving that back at the next after missing the green at the par-3 13th.

He closed out his round with five straight pars but has promised to take an aggressive mindset onto the greens on Sunday.

“There’s no doubt the course is playing tougher later in the day. Very tricky on the greens and around the greens,” Scott offered.

“Overall I was very solid. I guess one takeaway for tomorrow I think would be to win, I’ve just got to hit the putts with a lot of trust and hope it’s my day, hope that hole gets in the way.”

With Cameron Smith safely through to the Tour Championship, Scott is now the most likely to join him, Lucas Herbert (T18, 68), Marc Leishman (T34, 71) and Cam Davis (T38, 75) all in need of an extraordinary final round to push into the top 30.

West Australian Jason Scrivener joined in on the hot scoring at the Albertsons Boise Open to enhance his chances of earning a PGA TOUR card.

Serving as the first event of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, Scrivener shot seven-under 64 on Saturday to move up 30 places and lead the Aussies in a tie for 14th, Harrison Endycott (69) one shot back in a tie for 28th.

Four back-nine bogeys in a round of one-under 70 saw Min Woo Lee fall 28 spots into a tie for 35th, Aaron Baddeley’s even-par 71 resulting in a 36-position drop to a share of 51st.

Heavy rainfall in and around Prague has forced the D+D Real Czech Masters to be reduced to 54 holes, Jake McLeod eyeing off his best finish on the DP World Tour.

McLeod’s best finish in Europe to date is a tie for eighth at the 2019 Portugal Masters, the Queenslander to start the final round in a tie for seventh at nine-under, five strokes off the lead.

Travis Smyth (66), Wade Ormsby (67) and Sam Brazel (69) enter the final round of the Asian Tour’s International Series Korea tournament tied for 24th while Brad Kennedy (T11, 71) will have to come from eight shots back if he is to win a second Sega Sammy Cup in Japan.

A final round of 68 saw Karis Davidson finish tied for eighth at the Simone Asia Pacific Cup in Jakarta while Stephanie Kyriacou’s tie for 39th was the best of the Aussies at the Aramco Team Series – Sotogrande on the Ladies European Tour.