It proved a testing day on the West Course with Scott's wayward form off the tee piling the pressure on him to stay in the hunt on Saturday. (Sunday AEST)
Yet he never stopped battling and a superb birdie-birdie finish, which might have been even better if he'd sunk the six-footer for eagle at the last, left him signing for a one-under 71 that leaves him just two adrift going into what promises to be a brilliant final day.
The 46-year-old is in a five-man group on 11-under, alongside Rory McIlroy, who also finished in style with a majestic eagle at the par-five 18th.
They're two shots adrift of co-leaders, Italian Filippo Celli (69) and Spain's Manuel Elvira (68) on 13-under and one behind Americans Johannes Veerman (64) and JJ Spaun (68), and Spaniard Alejandro Del Rey (64).
"Sure, I'd like to be closer or leading, but I held my ground when not everything was going my way," shrugged Scott, whose mixed round featured six birdies and five bogeys.
"Scrambling, survived, and tomorrow, hopefully, the good stuff comes back and I get a few of those good numbers and somehow run the tables."
The trick for Scott is to put four top rounds together in the same tournament, something he's not managed to his liking for six years while seeking, in vain, to add to his substantial collection of wins around the world.
"I haven't been able to quite put my finger on exactly why it is I haven't been able to put the four rounds together better than anyone else, but tomorrow it's a great opportunity for me.
"And at the moment, it's all upside, these opportunities. So I'll definitely be going out there and playing as aggressive as the course lets me."
He can be encouraged by his finish, which featured him sinking a 29-foot birdie putt at 17.
He then hit a glorious approach to just six feet at the last. "This was nice. A three-quarter five-iron, just kind of holding up against the wind. It's kind of one you dream about hitting in front of the grandstand there," purred Scott.
"Unfortunately I didn't make the putt, but I'm pretty happy to finish four-four here and put myself in the mix tomorrow."
He'll be going around on Sunday in a marquee, crowd-drawing double-act with McIlroy, who, like the Aussie, was rarely at his best on Saturday and admitted to being frustrated but still delivered a masterpiece approach at the last, a four-iron from 230 yards to inside two feet, to quite change the complexion of his round.
That eagle propelled him to a three-under 69 and the Masters champ still looks the man to beat as he seeks to repeat his title win of 2014.
"It's going to be an interesting day," McIlroy said. "There's a lot of people around the lead. I think the conditions the last couple of days, that's the reason it hasn't let anyone get away from the pack just because it has played so tricky and difficult."
