Pampling shot a 10 under the card 61 for the day beating the coarse record by two strokes.
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Earlier, Scott gave himself a shot by finishing at seven-under after shooting a six-under par 65, including a birdie on the final hole that ended the hopes of a fairytale by veteran Aussie Rod Pampling (six-under).
Local boy Matt Jones is relishing a final-round duel for the Stonehaven Cup with world No. 1 and defending champion Jordan Spieth after retaining control of the Australian Open.
“I can’t recall off the top of my head, normally I can sneak one in”, said Scott, managing a smile.
It was perhaps appropriate that a local should win the 100th edition of the Australian Open and few were more local than Jones, who has been a member of the host Australian Golf Club since he was 15.
Jones had a three-shot lead heading into the final round at the Australian GC but a two-over 73 nearly saw his second PGA Tour title slip away.
Scott, the world No. 12, and Spieth, the world No. 1, tied for second at The Australian in a heavily laden leaderboard. “I’m just playing to a strategy for this golf course”.
Spieth bogeyed three of the first six holes but fought back to finish even for the day to join Scott in second. I was just lucky it caught the left lip and went in. “Peter Dawson let me start the event off a year ago and it was fantastic to have that honour”, said Pampling.
“There’s one more day to go and I get to play with him”, said Jones.
Spieth missed a long eagle putt at the last that would have forced a play-off.
He ultimately finished in fourth after his course-record round.
“And now I’m well in contention and in the last group, whether it’s three or four behind, it’s a lot better than I’d thought it would be after four holes”.
“The support of State Governments is critical with golf tournaments these days and you have to judge the quality of courses, whether the players are happy, will it attract the best, will it suit sponsors and is there the space”.
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While horrific chipping yips led to a last-place finish for Woods, Spieth used his 10-stroke victory over a limited field of elite players to kick-start his five-win tour de force that included two major championships.
