Jason Day insists he can do it but he must defy Tour Championship history if he's to seize his last chance for a first victory in the US PGA Tour season.
After briefly grabbing a share of the third-round lead, world No.6 Day left himself with an uphill battle after stumbling to a two-under-par 68 at East Lake Golf Club on Saturday.
The Australian is tied seventh and six shots behind leader Paul Casey, whose 65 rocketed the Englishman to 12 under and two clear of Kevin Kisner (63) and fellow American Xander Schauffele (65).
US Opener winner Brooks Koepka (68), Patrick Reed (69) and US PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas (70) are tied fourth at seven under.
It means Day needs to improve on his previous best Tour Championship score of 67 at the difficult East Lake and eclipse the record five-shot comeback Camilo Villegas achieved to win the 2008 Tour Championship.
At 15th in the points standings, Day also remains a longshot to win the $US10 millon FedEx Cup series bonus that Casey is projected to take out.
Seeking his first Tour victory since May 2016, a defiant Day said it was time to step up.
"I just have to focus and try to get something done. My main goal is to try and win this thing and nothing else," Day told AAP.
"With how my game is, and how good my irons are, I think I've got a shot."
But with eight bogeys and a double-bogey in 54 holes, Day knows a flawless Sunday performance is required.
The achilles heel has been the back nine, where he is two-over through three rounds.
"Hopefully the plan is to change that and come home strong on the back side in the final round," said Day.
"The front side's been actually pretty decent for me this week."
Meanwhile, fellow Australian Marc Leishman carded a 69 to claw back to one-over and tied for 22nd.
The Victorian native has struggled to capitalise on the top-five seeding he earned with a dominant victory at last week's BMW Championship.
The 33-year-old Leishman entered the Tour Championship guaranteed to claim the $US10 million ($12.5m) FedEx Cup bonus if he won this event.
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