Hard-charging Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord is ideally placed to become the first woman to successfully defend the Victorian Open golf title.
A brilliant pitch-in for eagle on the par-five 5th was the highlight of Skarpnord's third round of four-under 69.
It moved her to outright second on seven-under 212, two shots behind ice-cool teenager Georgia Hall from England.
Hall birdied the final hole at 13th Beach on Saturday for a two-under 71, ensuring she kept the outright lead for a third straight day.
France's Justine Dreher (71) and Denmark's Nanna Madsen (73) were tied for third at 213.
Su Oh was the leading Australian in outright seventh at 216 after shooting a second straight 70.
Skarpnord and her Australian fiance Richard Green claimed drama-charged double Victorian Open triumphs at 13th Beach last year and then celebrated in the house they had recently purchased at the 13th Beach complex.
Green missed the cut in the men's event this year as he battled a painful back injury.
But Skarpnord is right in contention to successfully defend a title for the first time in her career.
"I can't even describe what it would be like to go back-to-back - it would be awesome," she said.
I'm going to go out tomorrow and give it my absolute best.
In the final round there's a bit more pressure, hopefully there's a bit of wind and you never know what happens.
"The eagle was a good break for me today.
"Having that made it a good day instead of an average day."
Tournament drawcard Karrie Webb recovered from a sluggish start to make the third-round cut.
The seven-time major winner bogeyed her first two holes, but hit back hard with five birdies.
She signed for a three-under 70 to be in a tie for 27th at 221.
"It was a bit of a slow start and an early tee time at 7.20 so a couple of bogeys to start the round didn't really get the adrenaline flowing too much," said Webb.
"But I managed to make the turn at one-under and with another couple of birdies on the front nine that brings us here."
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