MELBOURNE — Defending champion Adam Scott laid one hand on a second successive Australian Masters trophy Saturday, shooting a five-under 66 to take a commanding four-stroke lead into the final round. Joint leader with compatriot Nathan Holman overnight, the US Masters champion rolled in seven birdies on another breezy day at Royal Melbourne for a 14-under total of 199, well clear of a four-player group that includes former world No. 1 Vijay Singh. World No. 8 Matt Kuchar was a further stroke adrift after carding a solid four-under 67. Scott will be paired up with triple major champion Singh after the Fijian tore up the famed sandbelt course with an eight-under 63 to continue his late-year resurgence after a troubled season marred by a doping controversy. With his driving and iron-play in superb touch, the world No. 2 Australian will be difficult to catch, however. “I just hit my shots today... hit lovely approach shots, made a couple of putts for the first time this week,” Scott told reporters. “If there's enough holes with that quality of golf tomorrow, a good score's going to be out there for me. Vijay must have done something like that today.” Scott's putter ran hot midway through his front nine as he drained four birdies in five holes, including three in a row from the par-four seventh to charge clear of the chasing pack. Now eligible for the PGA Champions Tour, the big Fijian has not had a win in five years but proved he was far from a spent force. Singh, tied on a 10-under total of 203 with a trio of local players in Holman, Nick Cullen and Matt Griffin, is likely to get his wish with the weather forecast to be a sunny and pleasant 22 degrees Celsius. Three share LPGA lead South Korea's Ryu So-yeon and Sweden's Anna Nordqvist fired five-under par 67s Friday to share the second round lead with Thailand's Pornanong Phatlum at the LPGA Lorena Ochoa Invitational at Gaudalajara, Mexico. Ryu and Nordqvist finished with birdies at the par-5 18th while Pornanong could muster only a par, leaving them tied on nine-under-par totals of 135 at Guadalajara Country Club. American 18-year-old Lexi Thompson, who fired the day's low round with a 64, shared fourth on 136 with compatriot Gerina Piller and world No. 1 Park In-bee, who is trying to become the first South Korean to claim LPGA seasonal Player of the Year honors. Karlsson and Stadler ahead Swede Robert Karlsson and American Kevin Stadler pushed their way to a three-shot lead in Friday's rain-interrupted second round of the PGA Tour's OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico. Only 29 players completed the second round at El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen as rain and lightning interrupted play for a second straight day. Stadler produced a blistering bogey-free eight-under 63 to back up his opening 67, while Karlsson, the leader after the first round was completed earlier in the day, carded a 67 following his opening 63. The duo share the lead at 12-under-par, while South African Rory Sabbatini is on nine-under through 17 holes of his second round tied with American Chris Stroud after 15. Sabbatini opened with a 68 and was six-under in the second round when play was suspended due to darkness, while Stroud opened with a 66 and is four-under for his second round. Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas (66,68) and Americans Ryan Moore (67,67), Pat Perez (66, three-under through 14) and Jay McLuen (67, four-under through 14) shared fifth at eight-under. — Agencies
