Ernie Els continued his inexorable march to victory at the Johnnie Walker Classic with an eight-under-par third round of 64 to set the lowest 54-hole aggregate ever recorded on the European Tour.
The South African, chasing his fifth win in six tournaments, has led the field from day one and his 23-under-par total of 193 was nine shots better than Craig Kamps and Jean-Francois Remesey. It beat the 27-year-old record of 194 set by Vicente Fernandez in the Benson & Hedges Festival in 1975.
The second-placed pair finished on 14 under, one ahead of defending champion Retief Goosen, Australians Andre Stolz and Stephen Leaney plus New Zealander David Smail.
At this point last year, Goosen held a 13-shot lead after equalling the course record with a nine-under-par round of 63, a feat achieved this year by Craig Spence.
The 28-year-old Australian also levelled the European Tour record for eight consecutive birdies as he leapt from three-under to finish the day in eighth place on minus 12.
Despite that incredible display, Spence still remained an amazing 11 shots off the lead as Els carried on regardless.
Champion back in 1997, when the tournament was held at Hope Island in Queensland, Els had not looked comfortable on the front nine in his opening two rounds.
He led each day based on stunning 29s on the inward stretch, but looked right at home today, beginning with three birdies and an eagle inside his opening seven holes.
The South African dropped his first shot on the back nine on 15, but birdies on 11, 13, 14 and 17 shot him onto 23-under.
Els, who tends to use the word 'nice' when he really means 'excellent', said: "I had a nice day again today.
"It is hard to compare rounds but there was no breeze out there and you could really go out and be quite aggressive.
"I saw other guys making moves and felt I would play aggressively. It felt good on the range this morning.
"I had a nice start and obviously the eagle on three got things right on track. I kept it going and had a nice, enjoyable day."