Sydney, December 5, 2009: Australian Adam Scott birdied the last two holes to fire a five-under 67 and lead Stuart Appleby by two shots heading into the final round of the US$1.2 million Australian Open.
The event is being played at NSW Golf Club and is the penultimate leg on this year’s inaugural OneAsia Tour.
Scott, who completed a second-round 66 on Saturday morning to trail by two at the halfway stage, led by as many as three shots in the penultimate round before back-to-back bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes saw Appleby draw level.
But Appleby, who led Scott by six shots at the start of day two, could not match his playing partner's closing exploits, struggling to a one-under round of 71.
"It was good stuff today," a weary Scott said after a marathon day which saw him rise at 4.30am and play 29 holes.
"I got off to a great start on the front nine and it could have been anything if I'd done everything right on the back-nine."
"It's not easy out there, the wind was still blowing and the greens, they've had to leave them fairly long in case the wind returns so they're a little bumpy and it's hard to get a good speed on any of the long putts."
"It's there for me with a good round tomorrow. For an Aussie it's like the next major in a sense. It'd mean a lot to me at any point but I think it'd be great coming off a pretty ordinary year. "
"If I had the chance to win I'd certainly savour it for a while."
The final day looms as a race in two with Nick O'Hern leading the chasing pack in solo third, trailing Scott by seven shots.
And Scott welcomed the prospect of going toe-to-toe with his good mate on Sunday.
"It was great to see us both go out there and play good today," he said.
"We're a fair way out in front and it could be us getting the gloves off and having a bit of a ding-dong (battle) tomorrow hopefully."
James Nitties posted a respectable two-under 70 to trail O'Hern by one on seven-under, while Scott Strange made the most of relatively calm conditions to card a four-under 68 to sit a further shot back with American David Oh.
Meanwhile, pre-tournament favourite Geoff Ogilvy must wait at least another year to claim his first Stonehaven Cup after posting a frustrating 74 to sit at plus-seven in a share of 55th.
OneAsia concludes with next week’s US$1.2 million Australian PGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Coolum on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
OneAsia teed off with the April’s Volvo China Open won by Strange followed by September’s Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open won by Bae Sang-moon and October’s Midea China Classic won by Liang Wenchong.
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