Veteran Adam Bland and American Sean Crocker have given the chasing pack hope with six-under-par third-round 66s to close in on red-hot Australian Open leader Min Woo Lee. Chasing the first Australian PGA Championship and Open double in more than a decade, Lee was due to tee off after midday (AEDT) after establishing a three-stroke halfway lead over American Patrick Rodgers and Scotland's Connor Syme. At 12 under, Lee is very much the man to beat, with superstar Cameron Smith, eight shots back entering moving day, conceding the in-form leader would be mighty tough to reel in. But Crocker and Bland showed the way for the rest of the field with birdie blitzes in beautiful scoring conditions on day three. Crocker joined Rodgers and Syme at nine under, with Mildura-born, Japan-based Bland charging from 53rd overnight into a share of fifth, one stroke further back, with fellow Australian Sam Brazel, Chilean Joaquin Niemann and Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas. Queenslander Kade McBride also moved into contention with a 67 to make it a nine-way tie for ninth at seven under. Newly-turned professional Jeffrey Guan, one of the most exciting prospects in Australian golf, was in also in that bunch entering the weekend, but five shots adrift of Lee, who is vowing to keep his foot to the floor. "People know who I am, I'm pretty true to myself and I don't back out from anything," he said. "I'm an aggressive player and I've always been that way. I will still be aggressive as much as I can." Smith admits Lee - who is bidding to become the first player to win the Australian PGA and Open in the same year since Greg Chalmers in 2011 - will take plenty of stopping. "It's going to take my best to even get close and maybe even a little bit of help," said the 2022 British Open champion. "But there's still lots of golf left and after how I played (on Friday) I can still make a run at least." Adam Scott was also four under and eight back in his ongoing pursuit of a second Open triumph. Australian Associated Press