Scott prepares for Aust PGA shootout

Hold on to your hats.

Adam Scott will try to blow his rivals away early in a bid to overcome a bunched leaderboard and successfully defend his Australian PGA Championship title.

The world No.3 is one of three golfers sharing the lead going into Sunday’s final round at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.

Scott (68-69-69) sits at 10-under-par for the tournament along with Wade Ormsby and Scott Strange after shooting a solid third-round 69 in windy conditions on Saturday.

The 34-year-old will be an overwhelming public favourite to claim back-to-back titles.

But with Ormsby (68-67-71) and Strange (69-66-71) alongside him and American Boo Weekley (66-72-69) and Jason Scrivener (73-66-68) just one further shot back he knows nothing has been settled yet.

“For me tomorrow, I need to get out and get off to a good start,” Scott said.

“It’s the best thing I can do for so many reasons to give myself the advantage. Whether it’s a crowd cheering perspective or just a rhythm of the tournament perspective.

“Any of these guys can get off to a good start and there’s no reason why not.”

Scott could have built an advantage of his own on Saturday but could only make four birdies with one bogey in his round as several attempted birdie putts failed to fall.

The 2013 US Masters champion said that luck will need to change on Sunday.

“It was tough conditions so on a day like today it’s less frustrating to see a few slide by because most people are struggling, scoring wasn’t great today … I kinda got away with that,” he said.

“If that’s the case tomorrow then I’ll probably not win. The winner ends up making putts so I need to make a few tomorrow.”

West Australian Strange had led for most of the back nine but crucially bogeyed the 17th to fall to 10-under while South Australia’s Ormsby nailed a long birdie putt on the 18th to jump back into a share of the lead.

Weekley provided one of the shots of the day when he chipped in for an eagle on the par-5 12th and will be a concern for the leaders.

Scrivener, who shot Friday’s lowest score of 66, backed that up with a four-under 68 to quietly climb into contention.

New Zealander Michael Hendry showed the value of a hot putter as he made five birdies in seven holes in a bogey-free 67 to be poised at eight-under.

His compatriot David Smail and American Scott Stallings are also both in contention at six-under.

Sunday’s round begins at 7am AEST with the tournament frontrunners to hit the course at around 11.30am AEST.

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