GOLD COAST, 13 Dec 2014 (AFP) - The world number three (68-69-69) sits at 10-under-par 206 for the tournament along with fellow Australians Wade Ormsby and Scott Strange after shooting a three-under 69 in windy conditions.
It is a bunched leaderboard with Ormsby (68-67-71) and Strange (69-66-71) alongside Scott with American Boo Weekley (66-72-69) and Australian Jason Scrivener (73-66-68) one further shot back.
"For me tomorrow, I need to get out and get off to a good start," Scott said.
"It's the best thing I can do for so many reasons to give myself the advantage. Whether it's a crowd cheering perspective or just a rhythm of the tournament perspective.
"Any of these guys can get off to a good start and there's no reason why not."
Scott could have built an advantage of his own in the third round but could only make four birdies with one bogey as several attempted birdie putts failed to drop.
The 2013 US Masters champion said that his luck will need to change in Sunday's final 18 holes.
"It was tough conditions so on a day like today it's less frustrating to see a few slide by because most people are struggling, scoring wasn't great today... I kinda got away with that," he said.
"If that's the case tomorrow then I'll probably not win. The winner ends up making putts so I need to make a few tomorrow."
Leading scores after the third round of the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Pines (par-72) on the Gold Coast on Saturday (Australia unless stated):
206 - Adam Scott 68-69-69, Scott Strange 69-66-71, Wade Ormsby 68-67-71
207 - Jason Scrivener 73-66-68, Boo Weekley (USA) 66-72-69
208 - Michael Hendry (NZL) 70-71-67
210 - Scott Stallings (USA) 72-70-68, David Smail (NZL) 68-71-71
211 - Rory Hie (INA) 71-71-69, David Bransdon 73-70-68, Jarrod Lyle 69-72-70
212 - Brendon De Jonge (ZIM) 71-71-70, Matthew Giles 73-69-70
213 - Peter Cooke 70-72-71, Greg Chalmers 71-71-71, Brett Rumford 72-71-70, Cameron Smith 74-68-71, Geoff Drakeford 73-68-72, Michael Wright 71-73-69, Jun Seok Lee 73-68-72, Robert Allenby 72-69-72, Kristopher Mueck 71-68-74, Ryan Fox (NZL) 70-74-69
Selected scores:
215 - Ryan C Carter (USA) 73-71-71
216 - Jin Jeong (KOR) 65-74-77
217 - Ratchapol Jantavara (THA) 69-72-76
218 - Garrett Sapp (USA) 75-68-75, Conrad Shindler (USA) 72-72-74
219 - John Young Kim (USA) 72-71-76