The veteran Australian shot a flawless 67 on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Saturday to shoot from level par to five-under and go into the final day in joint-fourth, four shots behind the leader, British Ryder Cup star Tyrrell Hatton.
Sunday's main feature will be the shootout between Masters champ Rory McIlroy and rookie Eugenio Chacarra, both alongside Scott in fourth place, to decide who'll end the season as the European tour's top golfer of the year.
The Spanish Race to Dubai leader moved back into pole as he shot a 68 while McIlroy slipped back with an error-riddled level-par 72 to leave him with much to do to match Colin Montgomerie's record of eight European tour order of merit titles.
But the evergreen 46-year-old Scott, seeking his first tournament triumph in six years, could have a major say in the shake-up if he can produce something similar to his third round that featured five birdies, including four on each of the par-fives, and no bogeys.
He'll be keen to avoid the sort of final-round let-down he suffered at last week's Abu Dhabi Championship where he was also in contention after 54 holes until slipping to ninth.
McIlroy cut a frustrated figure after following up a magnificent eagle at the par-five seventh, when he hit his approach from 235 yards to 10 feet, with three successive poor drives that resulted in bogeys.
After further bogeys at the 14th and 15th, he had another short eagle putt at the last but was left holding his hands on his head in frustration as he missed the six-footer while playing partner Hatton completed his round of 68 to hold a one-shot lead over Frenchman Victor Perez (67) and three over Swede Mikael Lindberg (69).
Chacarra, 26, seeking to stop McIlroy winning a fifth successive order of merit triumph, recorded nine birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey in his third round, before declaring: "I want to show the world I'm capable to play under pressure, and I think so far I've been doing that.
"I think all of my goals have been done this season. So I'm just playing free. This is an extra bonus to have a chance to win it, and just to enjoy every moment."
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