His round of 65 Saturday was the lowest of the third round and moved Scott from a tie for seventh into sole possession of second, gaining two strokes on Woods in the process. He didn’t make a bogey for the second round this week and he capitalized with just 27 putts.

“A very good day, pretty testing conditions, really, for most of the day, and a good day to not drop any shots, so I'm very pleased with that,” the softspoken Scott said. “I felt pretty comfortable out there today. I think the more you play the course, the more you know some lines off the tees.

“I think that's one of the tricky things about the course is the tee shots with a pretty strong breeze playing out there. You know, there are a few angles off the tees that you really have to work the ball to get it in the fairway. That's what made this course a challenge so far for me.”

The biggest challenge now, though, is Scott’s playing partner on Sunday. The two used to share the same teacher and had strikingly similar swings. The enormously talented young Aussie continues to work hard to narrow the gap between him and Woods.

“I'm not even close to winning six times a year every year,” Scott said. “I think it's just experience, and obviously the guy is extremely talented, works extremely hard, and I've got some ground to make up over the next few years obviously if I want to get anywhere near that level.

“That said, I've pushed myself this year and I've played consistently well, and that's a good sign for me. It's just a matter of closing it out on Sundays a little better than I have and getting the wins up. I think when you win on that amount of times, the confidence is just that much better.”

Scott got a boost from that playoff win over Els, a man he’s looked up to for many years. To beat Woods on the rarified stage of a World Golf Championships, though, would be a huge confidence-builder -- not to mention “anyone who bests Tiger coming from behind is obviously a bit of a legend,” Scott said, grinning.

“I'm sure he'd love someone to give him a challenge because at the moment -- he slips it into fifth gear and no one even gets close to him. You know, I don't know if that's going to be me. I hope it is. But realistically, maybe I can do it in one day, tomorrow, but I don't think I can do it all the time right now.”