GOLD COAST, November 9, 2013 (AFP) - Scott dropped his first shots of the tournament on the front nine of Saturday's third round with back-to-back bogeys, but recovered to shoot an even-par 71 to be 10-under 203 at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.
Australia's world number two came unstuck with bogeys on the par-four seventh and eighth to allow rivals Rickie Fowler and David McKenzie to overhaul his two-shot overnight lead.
But Scott regrouped on the back nine as Fowler and McKenzie faltered, making birdie on the par-five 12th and par-five 15th to again pull clear.
"Great spot to be in obviously," said Scott, who is looking to add the PGA title to last year's Australian Masters and his 2009 Australian Open successes.
"If you saw any of the round today you knew things weren't going my way on the greens.
"I was a little out of position on the front-nine and it was hard to get it close, the couple of times I did I lipped out.
"I did well on the back nine to bring it back and shoot even.
"I'm just going to have to play good to win. You don't often play poorly and win a tournament."
Crosswinds made it tough for any player to post low scores, with local professional Michael Wright (68) claiming the highlight of the afternoon with an eagle on the 15th.
Young American Fowler (71) was in a tie for second on seven-under with Australia's McKenzie (72) after a mixed day.
The 24-year-old American made three birdies in his round but also tripped up, with bogeys on the ninth, 12th and 14th proving costly.
Fowler, the world number 43, will play alongside Scott in Sunday's final round.
McKenzie, who at one stage briefly held the outright lead, drifted when he three-putted the par-three 16th to bogey the hole.
The 46-year-old journeyman ended his round with five bogeys and four birdies.
Wright and Gold Coast-based Steven Jeffress (71) were a further shot back in a share of fourth while several players, including US PGA Tour player Marc Leishman (68), are hovering at five-under overall.
Leading scores after the third round of the OneAsia-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship at Royal Pines (par-71) on the Gold Coast on Saturday (Australia unless stated):
203 - Adam Scott 65-67-71
206 - Rickie Fowler (USA) 63-72-71, David McKenzie 65-69-72
207 - Michael Wright 69-70-68, Steven Jeffress 68-68-71
208 - Marc Leishman 69-71-68, Jack Wilson 68-71-69, Ashley Hall 68-69-71, Nathan Green 66-69-73, Gareth Paddison (NZL) 68-67-73
209 - Cameron Percy 69-73-67
210 - Nick Flanagan 75-68-67, Stephen Leaney 68-73-69, Brett Drewitt 73-68-69, Nathan Holman 69-71-70, Ji-man Kang (KOR) 72-68-70, Matthew Guyatt 69-69-72
211 - Peter Cooke 70-74-67, Nick Cullen 71-72-68, Scott Hend 72-68-71, Sven Puymbroeck (NZL) 67-72-72, Richard Green 69-70-72, Matthew Griffin 69-69-73
212 - Aron Price 72-71-69, Mathew Goggin 73-70-69, Jason Norris 67-74-71, Terry Pilkadaris 72-69-71, Adam Bland 69-70-73, Josh Geary 68-68-76
Selected scores:
213 - Richard T. Lee (CAN) 68-72-73
215 - Geon-ha Kim (KOR) 72-72-71
216 - Eric Mina (USA) 71-73-72, Rory Hie (INA) 69-70-77
217 - Garrett Sapp (USA) 71-73-73, Jun-Seok Lee (KOR) 69-74-74