BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Adam Scott and Marc Leishman were two shots off the lead heading into the final round of the Australian PGA Championship Sunday at Royal Queensland.
Australian veterans rarely play at home due to Scott’s reduced PGA schedule and Leishman’s tenure on the LIV Tour. And there are just two top professional tournaments left in Australia, this week’s PGA and next week’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.
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Scott, 45, shot a 5-under 66 on Saturday and Leishman, 42, shot 67 and was tied for sixth.
The lead in the third round was held by three players: European tour regulars David Puig (65) and Ricardo Gouveia (66) and Australian Anthony Quayle (67), who had Tiger Woods’ former caddy Steve Williams in his bag.
The trio had a 54-hole total of 13-under 200.
“I was very consistent off the tee and hit a lot of greens, which is important on a course like this,” Gouveia said.
Min Woo Lee (67) and second-round leader Kazuma Kobori (68) were one shot behind the leaders and tied for fourth. Kobori, a New Zealander of Japanese descent, finished his second round Friday with four straight birdies and made two more to start the day Saturday, but then made 16 straight pars.
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Scott said he will need a “beauty” in the final round to catch the leaders.
The former world number one and 2013 Masters champion made eight birdies with three bogeys. Scott has 32 victories worldwide but has not won a 72-hole event since winning the Genesis Invitational in 2020.
“It’s hard to complain about a 66-year-old,” he said. “I’m going to have to have a really good round. A good nine in front to get going and then maybe, if I can put my name in the lead with seven or eight to go.
“But I’ll have to finish well too. I’m chasing. I can’t stop. It’s too bunched up, it’ll have to be a beauty tomorrow. But I put myself in a decent position.”
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The players had to overcome another delay due to a storm. After storms suspended play Thursday and forced nearly half the field to complete their first round Friday, thunderstorms prompted a two-hour suspension Saturday.
The side benefit was that the greens were soft from rain and rules for lifting, cleaning and placing on the fairways were in effect, resulting in lower scores.
Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion who international team captain in next year’s Presidents Cup at Medinah in Chicago, shot 66 and was 10 under, three behind the leaders.
The Australian PGA is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australia and the European Tour, which begins its 2025-26 season just two weeks later Rory McIlroy won the Race to Dubai title.
McIlroy will be the highlight of the field at next week’s Australian Open.
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AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
