Adam Scott stretched his lead to four shots ahead of the final round of the Australian Open with Rory McIlroy his only real challenger remaining after a big day at the Royal Sydney Golf Club.
Scott blotted his scorecard with two bogeys in a third round of 68, but that compared well with the four he recorded on Friday after his blistering opening effort of 62.
A run of three birdies between the seventh and ninth ensured he remained the right side of par on the day, and helped him pull clear of McIlroy who ran into trouble early in the day, with a bogey on the fourth and a double bogey on the fifth, before recovering with four birdies between the seventh and 14th helping him to a round of 70.
That sees Scott stretch his overnight lead to four, but with McIlroy also increasing his grip on second place - four shots clear of Matthew Jones, Richard Green and Max McCardie in a three-way tie for third - it appears unlikely that Sunday's winner will come from anywhere other than the top two.
Of those three in third place, only McCardie showed any real form in the third round, carding a 69 to move up while Jones had an eagle 72, late bogeys on the 17th and 18th helping to cancel out his eagle on the seventh, while a poor back nine saw Green sign for a 73.
Stuart Appleby moved up to a share of sixth with a round of 67 while Jason Day got himself into the top 10 with a 66, a mark equalled by Mark Brown and Anthony Murdaca on the day but not bettered.
Earlier this month Scott won the Australian PGA Championship and the Talisker Masters and chief executive officer of the PGA of Australia Brian Thorburn is delighted with Scott's achievements already this year.
Referring to not only his Australian PGA and Masters wins but also his World Cup of Golf title, Thorburn told www.pga.org.au: "What Adam has already achieved over the last four weeks is remarkable."
On Sunday Scott can make history if he claims the Australian golf triple crown, and Thorburn added: "It's already been a history-making year for the US Masters champion and tomorrow Adam has another chance to do what no other person has ever done.
"On behalf of all of Adam's fellow PGA and PGA Tour of Australasia Members I wish him the best of luck."
0 comments:
Post a Comment