Jason Day is just one round away from becoming Australia's youngest ever world No.1 after extending his lead to six shots after the third round of the BMW Championship.
And the 27-year-old has vowed to stay on the attack to reach his ultimate career goal at Conway Farms Golf Club.
"It's a lifelong dream," he said. "There's so many good things and good perks that come with being No.1 but it won't happen if I don't win tomorrow, so I have to focus on the stuff that I've done to get to this point, and I think if I can do that, then I'll be able to pull off a win tomorrow.
"I'll just be trying to push forward, trying to push further. Just trying to extend that lead is the mindset.
"Trying to defend is no good. Extending the lead is much better because if you do falter then you'll have a buffer."
Despite not reaching the heights of his opening two rounds Day continued to dominate the field by reaching 20 under par.
After only carding two bogeys over the opening two rounds he notched up four bogeys in a scratchy third round but countered with six birdies for a two-under-69 to be six clear of Americans Daniel Berger (70) and Scott Piercy (67) who share second at 14-under.
It is the largest 54-hole lead on the US PGA tour this season.
Current world No.1 Rory McIlroy, who can only stay there if Day does not win the tournament, is 13-under and fourth alone after a 67.
Day is just three-of-nine in converting 54-hole leads but importantly he has closed his past two, the PGA Championship and Barclays, and is now pushing for a fourth win in six starts.
After admitting losing from here would 'suck', he believes he got his poor round out of the way after losing his focus on Saturday.
"I felt like I shot 80," Day said.
"So to be able to squeak out with a 69 and really feel like I got everything that I possibly could out of today's round, I think that was the best score I could have shot.
"It was a little clouded today, so I'm hoping that it's a lot more free tomorrow and I can just kind of think to myself and really kind of just push forward and not really worry about who's around me like I did today."
Only two Australians in Greg Norman and Adam Scott have reached the height of golf with Norman holding the youth mark at 31 years, seven months and five days.
Norman held No.1 for a total of 331 weeks over 11 different stints in his career while Scott held top spot for 11 consecutive weeks in 2014.
Day is already guaranteed passage through to the final FedEx Cup playoff event next week where another win at East Lake Golf Club would claim the $US10million ($A14 million) bonus.
Fellow Australian Matt Jones will need something extra special on Sunday if he is to survive to the 30-man Tour Championship next week after a round of 72 left him at three-under and back in a tie for 41st.
Steven Bowditch struggled to a 75 to be two-under but is still currently projected to move on next week.
