STORY BY PATRICK TAYLOR

Barker leads at 17-under, one stroke ahead of Victorian Nathan Page, his playing partner on Saturday, who missed several late birdie chances to snatch the 54-hole lead.

New South Welshman James Conran sits in solo third at 15-under, followed by a group of five players tied for fourth, another shot back. Among them is 2021 WA PGA champion Jay McKenzie, a Sydneysider who had missed the last seven cuts prior to this week.

A staggering 17 more players are at 10-under or better, and with several posting 7-under rounds on Saturday, Barker won’t be surprised if someone makes an early charge on Sunday.

Saturday’s final group of Harrison Crowe, Tyler Hodge and Will Florimo struggled to take advantage of scoring opportunities. Crowe and Florimo carded 70s, while Hodge finished with an even-par 72.

Playing in the penultimate group, Barker shrugged off an early bogey before his putter turned hot. The 2023 PNG Open winner caught fire with two stretches of three consecutive birdies - first at holes 7-9, then again at 11-13.

“Putter has been my friend so far this week, which is really good,” Barker said. “I've been working hard at it, so it’s great to see my putting really turning up for me.”

It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. While the scorecard appeared clean, those following Barker’s round saw some remarkable late scrambling - none more impressive than his par save at the 17th.

“It’s funny; you look at the scorecard and it seems like a really solid round of golf, but I felt like it was either a really good shot or a very poor shot,” Barker admitted. “I just didn’t get penalised for the bad shots today.”

He described a rollercoaster finish: “Late in the day, I hit a tee shot left on 14, but it felt good. Then 15, right; 16, straight; 17, right; 18, left. A bit of ‘army golf’ late, but I managed to scramble pars out of the poor situations. The putt on 17 was massive for par.”

After leaving his tee shot well short and right on the par-3 17th, Barker holed a crucial putt to save par. He was forced to scramble again on 18 after his 8-iron from the rough came up agonisingly short in the front collar. But it proved no trouble, and he was all smiles in the clubhouse, signing for a 7-under 65.

Like many in the field, Barker has loved The Heritage since playing the Australian Junior Amateur there in 2014. As he and Page jostled for the lead, it brought back memories of his amateur days.

“I love match play. I’ll be playing mind games tomorrow,” Barker joked.

Having missed only two cuts all season, Barker has been one of the most consistent performers on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia. However, he hasn’t been in serious contention - until now.

“It has been frustrating, but I know my game, I know I’m good enough, and golf’s like that. You ride the highs when they come and battle through the lows,” he said.

“You’re still the same guy. If you keep working at it, you have to believe in yourself. It’ll come around - you always know you’re good enough.

“It’s been a while, so yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to it.

“People ask, ‘What are you going to do differently?’ Nothing. Get up and play golf tomorrow. I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again.”

Order of Merit leader Elvis Smylie endured a tough Saturday, with two late double-bogeys leading to a 5-over 77. He will play in the opening group on Sunday before his OOM position is finalised for the season.

The Heritage Classic is live on Fox Sports and available on Foxtel and Kayo.

Final Round: Sunday 1pm-6pm (AEDT) (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)