Adam Scott of Australia plays a fairway shot on the 7th hole during the Australia Open Golf Tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Nov. 27, 2015.
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He added: “I had a lot of shots right at the pin, like at nine and 10, and in the middle of the round I could have got something going, but managed to save myself when I got it wrong”.
The European Ryder Cup captain is joined on one under by Australian Adam Scott, who recovered from a 73 on Friday to shoot 68, including an eagle on the 18th.
“You can use the same club and end up with a 30-yard difference based on if you hold the ball up or ride the wind”.
“I’m not surprised to be here”, Tighe said.
The top-ranked Spieth birdied his opening hole and bogeyed his last to go along with birdies on a pair of par 5s and bogeys on two par 3s.
Spieth looked down and out after three bogeys in his first four holes of the third round, but clawed his way back with birdies at the fifth, six and ninth holes — dampened by a bogey at the eighth.
“I struck it nicely, there’s not too much room to land it, up there”, Spieth said.
“I feel a little bit better with the putter and it all obviously peaked on the weekend and hopefully I can do the same here”, Spieth said.
The winds made scoring particularly hard on the par-3 second hole from an elevated tee – it was the toughest hole on the course Thursday.
“I hit two fairways on the back nine”.
“It would be fantastic”, the 35-year-old said.
The 22-year-old narrowly missed an eagle putt at the last after a superb approach shot but tapped in for birdie, giving himself every chance of back-to-back titles in Sunday’s final round.
“If I can shoot a couple of mid-60s, it is really doable if you play well”, he said.
Spieth battled his way through a “frustrating” day to record a three under par 68, moving to three under par overall.
Defending champion Jordan Spieth struggled with windy conditions at the start of his Australian Open defence.
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Todd Sinnott climbed to third at four under overall through 16 holes of his round, while big-hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts has carded the best round of the morning, a 66, to claim a share of fourth at three under. I don’t know how many players are up there. “I’m not sure what the wind will be tomorrow but if I go out and shoot two or three under I’ll be tough to beat so it’s in my hands”.
