Adam Scott has extended his lead over the field to five strokes midway through his third round of the Australian Open at Royal Sydney.
Scott’s much-hyped head-to-head duel with Rory McIlroy failed to materialise on the front nine as Australia’s Masters champion opened up a six-shot advantage over the Irish star.
After starting the day at 12 under par, Scott reached the turn at 15-under after collecting birdies at the first, seventh, eighth and ninth holes, with his only blemish coming on the par-4 fourth, which he double-bogeyed on Friday.
McIlroy began the day at 10-under and birdied the first, but he unravelled with a bogey on the fourth and then a sloppy double bogey on five when he fluffed two chip shots.
Chasing Australian golf’s Triple Crown after already winning the Australian Masters and PGA titles this summer, Scott’s closest challengers midway through his round were countryman Matt Jones and Richard Green.
McIlroy was outright fourth at nine-under, with Max McCardle one stroke further back and Stuart Appleby among a raft of players at seven-under.
Earlier, three-time major runner-up Jason Day awoke from his slumber to claim the clubhouse lead with a sparkling six-under 66.
The individual winner at last week’s World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne, Day said he struggled with fatigue over the opening two rounds of the Open but woke up feeling revitalised on Saturday morning.
He also had about an hour’s work on his back on Friday night after complaining from stiffness after his second-round 74.
“The energy from today compared to the last two days was much better,” Day said.
“The first two days I was just really tired, just wasn’t mentally sharp and just didn’t have my best stuff.
“Today was just much better. The swing felt like I was swinging a lot faster without even trying.”
Like Day, teenage amateur Ryan Ruffels got to six-under late in his second round, only to stumble with a double-bogey five on the par-3 17th to slip back outside the top 10.
The 15-year-old nevertheless signed off for an impressive 68 to be four-under for the tournament and on track for a big finish in his Open debut.
