Tied for the lead with Joe Durant, Scott was in the first cut of rough on the left side of the par-5 15th fairway when he caught his 3-iron thin and slumped his shoulders as it ran up the steep slope. But it kept rolling, and rolling, until it climbed onto the green and stopped 2 feet away for an unlikely eagle.

"I thought it would be short," Scott said. "But it was going where I was aiming. I hit a lot of other great shots that didn't turn out as well. It's unexplainable."

The eagle gave the Australian star the lead, and it got even bigger when Durant bogeyed the next two holes.

Scott was at 7-under 203 and will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the final PGA Tour event of the year. He will play in the last group with Vijay Singh, who shot 30 on the back nine on his way to a 65 and was at 206. Durant wound up with a 70 and also was three shots behind.