SYDNEY, Australia – It took three rounds – and doesn’t include Jordan Spieth – but a PGA TOUR experienced crew have taken the Australian Open by the scruff of the neck. Four of the top five players on the leaderboard are regulars and winners on the TOUR, headed by local favorite Jason Day who leads at 10-under. Day has won 10 times on the PGA TOUR but has never won his national Open. The last time he visited his home shores he won the World Cup with Adam Scott in 2013 and his Aussie fans have been begging for an opportunity such as this for the last four years. He may never get a better opportunity than this to carve his name into the Stonehaven Cup, which already has legends of golf including Gene Sarazen, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Peter Thomson, Greg Norman, Tom Watson, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth adorned on it. “You can look at the names on the Cup, a lot of Hall of Fame members, a lot of great players, a lot of future Hall of Fame members,â€� Day said. “It would be nice to add my name to that list as well, but the hardest thing for me, you don’t want to get ahead of yourself and it’s easy tonight be able to think about the possibility of holding the Stonehaven Cup for the first time. “I don’t want to win it just once, I’d like to come back and win it multiple times.â€� Young Aussie Lucas Herbert is the outlier at 9-under before the hunting TOUR level pack begins. Former Houston Open winner Matt Jones, who also won the Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club two years ago, sits tied third with three-time TOUR winner Jonas Blixt at 7-under. Jones is a member at The Australian and grew up on the course. “I think anyone that plays a golf course for years and years is going to have an advantage, just knowing where to miss shots and how to manage the course would be an advantage for me,â€� he said ahead of his Sunday chase. “Jason’s a world class player, former No. 1 in the world. He’d be the favourite to win but we’ve seen many upsets before and as long as I manage my game and give myself birdie opportunities, anything to happen.â€� Blixt’s teammate in his 2017 Zurich Classic win, Australian Cameron Smith, is fifth at 6-under. He is hoping to draw on the experience of an epic final round and playoff battle with Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner when chasing Day down. “Zurich was probably one of the best experiences of my life as far as getting in the moment and being in contention,â€� Smith, who has finished inside the top-5 of his two PGA TOUR starts this season, said. “I think that will help me heaps tomorrow, obviously been there and doing it on the big circuit is a big help.â€� For the record, defending champion Spieth sits eight shots back. He hasn’t given up hope but knows it’s an extreme long shot. He is expecting high winds like in 2014 when he blitzed the final round field with an 8-under 63 to win the title. “We need 8-under; that would probably be enough given the conditions for tomorrow, may not even need that much but it’s going to be so difficult tomorrow that I’ll go out and try and get under par early and just see what the golf course gets to,â€� Spieth said. Despite the quality of the chasing pack, Day remains the prohibitive favorite. He hasn’t won since his 2016 PLAYERS Championship triumph, which at the time was an eighth TOUR win in 17 starts. On the TOUR he has converted six of 13 54-hole leads, including five of his last six. But despite his clear experience advantage, he expects to feel the butterflies in the stomach Sunday. His win drought is similar to the ones faced by Rory McIlroy (2013) and Jordan Spieth (2014) before they won in Australia. They then followed the drought-breaker with stellar multiple major winning seasons. “I know it’s going to be a very difficult day tomorrow with regard to what we’re going to have out there, the pressure, the wind, the fans, the media and everything out there,â€� Day said. “It’s been a while since I’ve won, so obviously everyone’s going to be nervous out there. “But it’s a good nervous; without nerves you don’t get in the zone and without being in the zone, you don’t shoot the scores that you can shoot. “I’m going to enjoy the challenge of trying to win again tomorrow and it’s going to be a lot of fun getting out there and playing against these guys out there.â€�
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