Min Woo Lee sunk a clutch putt for birdie on the 18th hole to take a share of the lead into the final round of the Australian Open.
A far cry from his Friday performance, Lee left several strokes on the course through either missed putts or penalties.
He carded a one-under 70 to sit at 13-under in a share of the lead with Rikuya Hoshino – his playing partner the first two days.
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"It was a bit of a grind – it wasn't the easiest of rounds like the last five I've played, but golf is golf," he said after the round.
Lee started strongly by making one of just six birdies recorded on Saturday at the long par-4 opening hole but gave two shots straight back with a double at the third.
After a strong tee shot, Lee dunked his second shot into the water and flew his fourth shot to the back of the green. He couldn't make the return putt.
He made back-to-back birdies on five and six but then didn't make another one until the 18th.
However, he had birdie putts lip out on the eighth and 17th, and a bunker shot on the par-3 15th also lipped out for birdie.
On the 18th, Lee put his tee shot in a similar spot to Friday, but this time put his second shot in the bunker.
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With the green running away from him and a pond lying in wait on the other side, Lee could easily have put his ball in the water, but he managed to keep it on the surface and then nail the putt.
"When I looked at it, I was like 'no, this is so bad' – if I hit an average shot, this is going in the water," he said.
"But my bunker game's pretty good, I needed to get my hands pretty flippy … and if it lands too close, it's probably in the water down that hill.
"Connor's (Syme) caddy came up to me and said 'Yeah, better you than me'.
"It was tough."
Lee said the fact he's still able to keep himself in contention when he's playing far from his best golf is proof of how far his game has come.
"That was a problem a couple of years ago, and last year and this year has been pretty good where my bad game has been still OK to compete," he said.
"I think that's what has got me to this level now and the level that I can win, and that's that's something I've learned from the best players in the world – when they don't have it, they're still around there."
While Lee didn't do a whole lot of moving on the traditional moving day, one player who did was Rikuya Hoshino.
The Japanese gun carded a bogey-free six-under 65 – highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 14th – to rocket himself into contention.
https://twitter.com/AusOpenGolf/status/1730725337498345967
Alex Fitzpatrick also caught fire late in his round. Making the turn at one-over for the day, he made four birdies and an eagle on the back nine to put himself into Sunday's final group.
Elsewhere, Cameron Smith carded a two-under 69 to move to six-under for the tournament, while Adam Scott carded a four-under 67 to move into a tie for 12th at eight-under.
Earlier, Calum Hill hit the tournament's second hole-in-one, draining his tee shot on the par-3 11th.
Lee, Fitzpatrick and Hoshino will tee off in the final group at 12.45 on Sunday.
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