Nick Faldo takes a one stroke lead into the final round of the Heineken Classic after a sensational seven under par 65 put him on course for his first individual title in almost six years.
The six time Major champion, whose last individual victory came at the Nissan Open in 1997, enjoyed a superb round at Royal Melbourne to lead fellow Englishman Paul Casey, Ryder Cup Swede Niclas Fasth and Australian Peter Lonard going into the final round on 11 under par.
Faldo began the day eight shots off the pace having dropped three strokes in his last four holes of the second round, but he hit the practice ground straight after that disappointing 71. It paid dividends as the 45 year old overhauled halfway leader Casey, who struggled to find the consistency of his first two rounds and dropped back to ten under par.
The English challenge at the top of the leaderboard continued with David Lynn and Steve Webster on nine under par one shot ahead of a rejuvenated Ernie Els.
The pre-tournament favourite had struggled with his rhythm over the opening rounds, but it clicked today and he shot a 66 to finish tied on eight under with New Zealand's David Smail.
The last British winner at Royal Melbourne was Sam Torrance in 1980, but Faldo got his bid on track on the par four first, where his approach rolled to within four feet and he sunk the short putt for an opening birdie.
He followed that up with birdies on the second and third before completing the outward nine with a 40 foot putt to land an eagle that fired his belief that he could hold the inward stretch together.
Faldo said: "The last couple of days I tripped up on the back nine so I was really concentrating hard, hitting the shots where I wanted to and playing smart.
"For me, at my age, that was 11 out of ten. All my intentions were there. My commitment was really good. It was the best I've committed to what I was trying to do for a long time.
"I saw Ernie (Els) making a really good run. I thought, what the hell is he shooting? Then I eagled the ninth and started thinking I had a great round going.
"I came out with good intentions. I worked on things last night and that was key. I made some rules, obeyed them and tried to be really aggressive.
“If I pursued the next 18 holes with the same good thought and good decision-making that would do me for the rest of my career. I couldn't do any better than I did today."
His round was completed with a steady back nine, successfully negotiating the 14th and 15th which he had found tricky and picking up birdies on the tenth and 16th.
Casey finished the day with a two-over-par 74 , but was relieved to have escaped from a shaky round only one shot behind.
"I'm very pleased it's Saturday not Sunday," he said. "It was a frustrating round. I felt the pressure at the beginning, then got it back. But I had a double bogey at the 13th because I chose the wrong club and got burnt.
"I felt the bounces went the wrong way. I made a couple of mistakes but I was unlucky. To have day like this and only be one off lead, I'm quite pleased. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
As Els will be after an impressive third round of 66 as the South African finally found his rhythm to make a charge up the leaderboard.
The World Number Two came into the tournament on the back of two wins and a second place, but had to battle to reach halfway on just two under, ten off the lead. But the South African put that right and was on course for a faultless round including seven birdies. His only blip was a dropped a shot at the last which left him with an eight-under aggregate of 208.
"I went out this morning, played my shots and made some good putts," he said. "The greens are perfect, it forces you to hit solid shots into greens.
"I'm disappointed (with the bogey on 18). I was trying to get it in really close and finish with a birdie. It cost me a shot and it's not nice to finish with a bogey."
