Lee is outright second, two shots behind World No.2 Scottie Scheffler, after lighting up TPC Sawgrass on Saturday with a six-under-par 66 jump started by a spectacular eagle at the 1st hole.

The 24-year-old from WA led for much of the day before a three-putt bogey on the last and a birdie for Scheffler (65) earned the American sole possession of the lead at 14-under. (Read John Huggan's report on Lee's Saturday HERE).

At 10 under and in outright third, Sydneysider Davis is also doing is utmost to keep the trophy in Australian hands in the absence of suspended defending champion Cameron Smith.

After ambling through the front nine in even par, Davis roared to life with an eagle and three birdies coming home having needed to complete seven holes of his second round early on Saturday morning.

“I felt like I got just about everything I could have out of that round,” Davis said. “This whole day actually, I played, what, 25 holes or so and I felt like I did a really good job of getting the most out of what I had. So, yeah, awesome to get some momentum, awesome to see my name up toward the top of the leaderboard.

“I'm really looking forward to keep pushing tomorrow and keep doing what I've been doing and hopefully some more birdies drop.”

Min Woo Lee is right in the mix for the trophy after an impressive Saturday 66. PHOTO: Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.

Davis, a one-time winner on the PGA Tour, is making his third start at The Players. The former Australian Open winner learning more and more about the famed host venue, with some more challenges in front of him as he plays his first weekend, having missed the cut in 2021 and 2022.

“This course can suit anyone or no one. I mean, it's not overly long, it forces you to take some shorter lines off the tees because you can't cut a lot of corners and because the pins are cut in the way they are, good shots get rewarded, some almost great shots don't,” he said.

“You just have to get out of your way and play the golf course as it presents itself to you.”

Davis adding of the Sunday pin at the island green 17th: “This weekend's the first for me, so I'm going to try and make it a really good first run around.”

The Aussie pair won’t have it all their own way, with the foreboding figure of one of the top players in the game at the top of the leaderboard.

Scheffler’s third round 65 including six birdies and an eagle against one bogey, with his birdie at the last to Lee’s bogey the difference in margin for the final pair as the set off on Sunday.

“I played really good today. I got off to a nice start, which is always good,” Scheffler said. “Kept it rolling from there, gave myself a lot of looks. Good finish as well.

“I think the conditions are going to be pretty tough. From what I saw, it's going to be pretty gusty winds tomorrow in the afternoon, so it should be a good challenge.”

Sparked by a hole in one on the famous island par-3 17th hole, Aaron Rai (65) is in a four-way tie for fourth at nine-under with fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (65), South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout (69) and American Chad Ramey (68).

“You just have to get out of your way and play the golf course as it presents itself to you ... This weekend's the first for me, so I'm going to try and make it a really good first run around.” - Cam Davis.

Speaking in the immediate aftermath of his blemish at the last hole, Lee is maintained his attitude of “fun” as he prepares for what he labelled “could be the biggest day of my life”.

A win is without question the goal, yet as he continues to chase a place on the PGA Tour and a return to the Masters next month, there is plenty of other motivations at play for the younger brother of multiple major winner Minjee.

“I obviously played the majors last year and played really well in them. I definitely feel like I had the potential to be up there,” Lee said. “Obviously guys are playing really good and have such good stretches. But, yeah, I was just hoping for a week like this and to play really good golf and not too many mistakes.

“Hopefully I can take him (Scheffler) down tomorrow, but it will, it would be a big effort.”

Another Aussie looking to secure a Masters invite via the top-50 in the world rankings at the start of April is Jason Day.

Although his chances of winning another Players title are now remote after a third successive 70 left the former World No.1 at six under and eight shots off the pace, Day is in a share of 14th and well in the mix for a fifth consecutive top-10 finish on the PGA Tour this year.

Aaron Baddeley and Adam Scott were the only other Aussies to make the halfway cut, with Baddeley in a tie for 70th after a Saturday 74, while Scott will be out early on Sunday hoping to improve his 74th position following a disastrous 77 that included four bogeys and two doubles.