Adam Scott has eagled the last hole for the second day running to snatch the Australian Open third-round lead in spectacular fashion.
But the 2013 Masters champion will not be joined by fellow Australian Cameron Smith in Sunday's final round, with the world number three missing the dual-gender tournament's second cut.
After struggling with his putting on the front nine at Melbourne's Victoria Golf Club, Scott roared to life down the stretch to post a 3-under-par 67, converting his share of the halfway lead into a one-stroke buffer.
At 11-under, Scott will duel with Poland's second-placed Adrian Meronk on Sunday for the Stonehaven Cup after they opened up a gap on the chasing pack.
Meronk bagged nine birdies — including six in the first eight holes — on his way to a course record-equalling 7-under 63 at Victoria to surge to 10-under.
He had led Scott by two shots before the former world number one birdied the 15th hole, then eagled the last after knocking his second shot to less than three metres.
After starting the day tied with Victorian David Micheluzzi atop the leaderboard, Scott spent much of Saturday trailing after recording eight straight pars and making a mess of the par-five ninth hole.
He found the greenside trap with his three-wood second shot, left his next in the bunker and was unable to get up and down to save par.
The bogey dropped Scott to 7-under before he finally collected his first birdie after nailing an approach to tap-in range on the 12th hole to ignite his round.
Western Australian duo Min Woo Lee (65) and Haydn Barron (68) share third place on the men's leaderboard at 7-under.
Micheluzzui had a round to forget, his bogey-filled 73 dropping the Melbourne sandbelt specialist into a five-way tie for seventh at 5-under.
With officials forced to introduce a second cut after Saturday's round to free up the fairways, only the top 30 players and ties in the men's and women's events will feature on Sunday.
British Open champion Smith was the most significant casualty of the contentious double cut after his third-round 69 left him 1-over.
Smith made an early charge in the third round, picking up two birdies on his outward nine to reach the turn at even-par.
But a bogey on the par-four third hole — his 12th of the day after starting on the 10th — proved the beginning of the end.
Despite hearty and vocal support from the large gallery following his every shot, Smith – who won last week's Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane — was unable to buy another birdie down the stretch.
"I thought I had it in me today and hit lots of good golf shots but couldn't really capitalise," Smith said.
"I hit good putts too but they weren't going in. It just wasn't my week."
AAP/ABC
