The Australian had a three-shot lead going into Sunday but dropped shots on the first and fourth to open the door to Marc Leishman who was three-under on the day after five.

But Smith's 37 going out was followed up by a flawless back nine as he took the title by two strokes to become the first player to win back-to-back Australian PGA Championship titles since Robert Allenby in 2000 and 2001.

Leishman carded a 69 for the second day in a row as he finished on 14 under for the tournament.

One of the biggest risers on the final day on the Gold Coast was England's Ross McGowan who had four birdies back to back as he carded a 63 to go from tied 32nd into a share of third place alongside Matthew Millar.

Day three report

Cameron Smith will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Australian PGA Championship following an error-free round on day three at Royal Pines.

The overnight leader maintained his fine form from the previous day, when he recorded the lowest round of the week with a 65, by shooting a 67 on Saturday to move to 14 under par and extend his advantage at the top of the leaderboard.

Smith spread five birdies across a flawless round of golf, while Marc Leishman (69) did his best to keep up and finished three shots back in second place.

Contending youngsters Dimi Papadatos and Jake McLeod, who was tied for the lead after the first round, found it tough on day three as they jostled for order of merit honours, leaving Matt Millar tied with 2017 champion Harold Varner III in third on seven under par.

Victory for Smith would see him become the first player to win back-to-back Australian PGA Championship titles since Robert Allenby in 2000 and 2001.

"The last year I've been playing some really good golf," Smith told europeantour.com. "Probably over the last three days has been some of the best golf I think I've played both mentally and pulling off the shots. I'm feeling really confident and looking forward to tomorrow.

"I did a really good job today when I was out of position, just taking less risks and putting myself into the centre of the greens and taking a par. It's what you have to do around here.

"There's plenty of birdie opportunities out there and that's what you have to realise and I did a good job of that."

Home favourites Braden Becker, Ben Eccles and Matt Jager finished the day eight shots off the lead on six under par, one clear of McLeod.

Day two report

Defending champion Cameron Smith produced a stunning seven-under-par second round to surge into the lead at the Australian PGA Championship on a leaderboard dominated by home favourites.

The top six are all from Australia, including joint first-round leaders Jake McLeod and Matt Jager, with American Harold Varner III three shots off the pace in seventh as the highest-ranked non-Australian on the Gold Coast.

Smith started the day four shots off McLeod and Jager, who were tied for second and tied for fourth respectively after their second rounds, but the 25-year-old rolled in six birdies on his opening nine holes to turn in for 31, with his only blip coming at the fourth.

Two more gains came on the back nine helped reach to nine under overall, one stroke ahead of Marc Leishman, who recorded six birdies and two bogeys, and McLeod.

McLeod briefly opened up a two-shot lead on his back nine, but he shot three over on his final six holes to give countryman Smith the initiative.

Speaking to the europeantour.com, Smith said: "It was good. I thought I struck it nicely yesterday and the putts weren't quite going in. I just didn't quite have the speed yesterday.

"I did a little bit of extra work this morning on the green and it paid off. I was actually getting putts to the hole today, which is nice.

"I was just trying to do my best. I decided I wanted to get to 10, that was kind of my goal before Friday's end, so one off is not too bad. Seven under, you can never complain about seven under."

Dimitrios Papadatos and Jager are at seven under alongside Christopher Wood, who hit a six-under-par 66, with Varner III at six under.

Englishman Andrew Johnston is in a group of five one shot further back, while Wales' Oliver Farr is in a trio on four under.

Day one report

Home favourites Jake McLeod and Matt Jager shared the lead after the first round of the Australian PGA Championship having each posted a six-under-par 66 on the Gold Coast.

The pair are one shot ahead of their compatriot Dimitrios Papadatos and South Korea's Jaewoong Eom.

Australians Marc Leishman, Jason Scrivener, Douglas Klein and Mathew Goggin are in a group of five on four under, alongside Spaniard Adrian Otaegui.

McLeod's bogey-free round at RACV Royal Pines Resort featured six birdies, while Jager, who made one bogey, registered three birdies and two eagles.

McLeod has been in fine form of late, claiming his first professional win at the NSW Open earlier this month and then securing a top-three finish at the Australian Open, and has his sights set on the Order of Merit.

He said: "I've been playing well."I've just got to keep on doing what I've been doing.

"Anything can happen. If one of the other guys wins, obviously they win. So I'll just go do what I can do and see what happens at the end of it.

"The whole game's been pretty good and I've seen a new psychologist six months to a year ago now and the things we've been working on have been really good, so I think that's definitely helped a lot."

Jager said: "The eagles (that he made at the 12th and 15th, having started from the 10th) were a bonus. But in saying that, I just made some really nice swings.

"I put us in a position and just rolled a couple of putts in. You obviously don't expect to do that but that was a bonus."

There were 13 players at three under, including American Harold Varner III, English pair James Morrison and Tom Murray, Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia, Ryan Fox of New Zealand and India's Gaganjeet Bhullar.

Australia's defending champion Cameron Smith and England's Andrew Johnston were among a large group on two under, the latter having recovered from a nightmare start with four late birdies.