Cameron Smith is in the mix to win his first World Golf Championship event at the Fedex St Jude Invitational in Memphis tomorrow.

Smith, who created worldwide headlines with his record-equalling 18-putt second round, pushed out a third-round 65 at TPC Southwind today to get himself into a tie for second, two shots behind leader Harrison English.

The Queenslander is at 16 under par and tied with Bryson DeChambeau after rounds of 67-62-65, showing some of the form that almost took him to an Olympic Games medal in Tokyo last week.

“Probably just the grind,” he said when he was asked what he liked about his third round. “It was a little bit scrappy, especially early on. Didn't hit a lot of good drives and just kind of hung in there. A couple of nice par saves and the chip-in on nine probably turned the momentum around.”

Smith said he looked forward to the chance of winning his fourth PGA Tour event.

“Just the competition, just to be in the hunt there tomorrow's a good enough experience in itself. I feel like I've been up there a few times now, I just need to go out there and do what I did the first three days and grind it out.”

Marc Leishman (tied-25th) is the next-best Australian.

First prize tomorrow is $US1.82 million.

Leaderboard