A member at Bonnie Doon Golf Club for 15 years after joining on a scholarship as a junior, Zunic will start the final round three shots adrift of Dann but knows better than most how quickly such a lead can evaporate under the heat of championship Sunday.

Now based at nearby The Lakes Golf Club, Zunic took a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Resort in 2017 but lost in a playoff to Cameron Smith after posting a closing 1-under 71.

The 29-year-old has since gone on to post victories at the 2018 New Zealand Open and 2020 Queensland Open but remembers all too well the pressure associated with a 54-hole lead, a pressure Dann is experiencing for the first time.

“I definitely know the feeling,” said Zunic, who moved into outright second on Saturday with a round of 4-under 67.

“That was obviously gut-wrenching at the time but I did learn a lot from that experience.

“Cam Smith is an awesome golfer and top-50 player in the world now. I took a lot from that because I said to myself that if I can go toe-to-toe with a guy who has won on the PGA TOUR, it gave me a lot of belief that I can be there.

“That will make me feel better about going into tomorrow because I know that I’ve played against really world-class players.

“If everything goes my way tomorrow I definitely know I could do it again.

“Charlie has been playing really solid golf even in the weeks leading up to this in a few of the regional events we were all playing.

“I’m not surprised to see him up there but I’m looking forward to going to battle with him tomorrow. It should be good fun.”

Forced to return to the part-time job he held at Drummond Golf Taren Point as a kid during 2020, Zunic has been plotting his return to his competitive best with a view to peaking at the NSW Open at the end of the month.

A shot he described as a “chip 9-iron” to six feet at the par-3 15th was the fifth and final birdie of Zunic’s third round and with the wind predicted to switch from the southerly of the past two days to a nor’easter on Sunday afternoon, Zunic’s Bonnie Doon history could be a critical trump card.

“It always makes it tricky when you’re trying to control your ball into the wind and you’re hitting off side-slopes,” said Zunic, the recent redesign by the team at Ogilvy Clayton Cocking and Mead bringing new undulation to the Bonnie Doon fairways.

“Because the wind’s up the greens are getting a little firmer and when they play firmer it’s harder to get close to the pins. All that combined makes it quite tricky.

“It’s been really tough in the southerly the last couple of days and now that I’ve finished I’m absolutely shattered.

“You’ve got to really concentrate on every shot because the wind’s so strong. If you lose concentration for one shot you can get into some real trouble pretty quickly.

“I’m really happy with how I’ve gone the last couple of days and I’m glad to be thereabouts. Hopefully I can be right in there tomorrow.”