At seven under for the tournament, the U.S. Open and Masters champion will start the day three shots behind the Australian, but thinks he might be able to find another gear for the final 18 holes.
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Jones had a 54-hole total of 10-under 203. After sleeping on a three-stroke advantage, Jones’ nerves almost got the better of him, but the Aussie collected the hardware at The Australian Golf Club in Rosebery today.
Jones’ brother, Brett, is the club pro at Due Process Stables Golf Course in Colts Neck.
The field’s main Australian draw, Adam Scott, looks to be out of contention after a miserable day on the greens saw him card two over, leaving the 2009 champion nine shots off the pace.
Scott shot a 73 and was at 2 over, nine strokes out of the lead.
They came to the 16 hole on Saturday each four under par but they had arrived there by playing starkly different golf. It was the first time the Jack Nicklaus-designed course had played at a par-71.
“It just made it so frustrating as I was striking the ball well, and it was a round I could have shot six or seven under par, and I just didn’t have any chances”.
“There’s one more day to go and I get to play with him”, said Jones.
Nick Cullen (70) grabbed the third spot after Jones and Pampling by sharing fifth at three under with the lower-ranked Lincoln Tighe (72).
After a flury of bogeys, Spieth began his recovery after four holes to bring himself back to one over.
Adam Scott’s proud record of winning a title every year since 2001 is over after he fell agonisingly short at the Australian Open.
Spieth acknowledged as much but said ominously that he was peaking for the final round and would draw confidence from his course-record 63 he shot previous year to run away with the Stonehaven Cup.
“I made a couple of bad swings and a couple of bad decisions”, said Spieth. It is great for people like me to see what they do and benchmark my game against his and others.
Bourdy hit four consecutive birdies before a triple-bogey on the par three seventh hit his challenge, despite a mini-recovery late on when he claimed birdies on the 15th and 16th.
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“I’ve watched the Australian Open many years growing up – watching (Greg) Norman especially because he was my idol”.
