SYDNEY — Adam Scott holds the upper hand in his duel with Rory McIlroy going into the final day of the Australian Open after the home favorite posted a four-under-par 68 to open a four-shot lead over the Briton Saturday. Two-time major champion McIlroy looked down and out after a patchy front nine but rallied for a 70 to remain in the hunt for his first win of the year in front of bumper galleries at the Royal Sydney Golf Course. Most of the crowd were backing Scott's bid to secure a “triple crown” of Australian titles and a huge cheer went around the course when he birdied the last to double his overnight lead by reaching 16-under for the tournament. “It's an exciting position to be in, obviously a great chance to win my national championship tomorrow,” Scott, who has already won the Australian PGA and Masters titles this month, told reporters. McIlroy missed a shorter birdie putt at the 18th and so will resume Sunday on 12-under, four shots clear of Australians Max McCardle (69), Matt Jones (72) and Richard Green (73) in a share of third. “I played a good back nine, it could have been a couple better, I felt I left a couple out there,” the 24-year-old said. “But obviously I'm four back now and I've got a tough job on my hands to try and catch Adam.” Scott started the day with a two-shot advantage over McIlroy and, with the sun shining brightly, it looked being a day of low scoring when both players birdied the opening hole. McIlroy found himself in a thicket with his drive at the second but rallied to save par brilliantly as Scott lipped out with a birdie putt. The Northern Irishman's bogey at the fourth was not a disaster as Scott followed suit after finding a bunker but the Australian opened up a four-shot lead as the wind whipped up at the fifth. McIlroy undercooked successive chips from the bottom of a greenside slope and then two-putted for a double bogey, while Scott missed a 10-foot birdie putt but sank his second attempt from a foot for par. Former world No. 1 McIlroy was now buried in the chasing pack and when Scott picked up shots at the three holes before the turn he moved to 15-under, five clear of Jones and Green in second. Scott drove into the trees and then the sand to take a bogey at the 10th, however, and McIlroy capitalised with the first of three birdies in five holes, the last coming after he hit the pin with his tee shot at the short 14th. Scott was only a little less accurate with his iron for a birdie at the same hole and the marquee pairing were now clear at the top of the leaderboard. Both found the greenside bunkers at the 16th but saved par, McIlroy just missing out on a birdie with a long snaking putt, and the pair got up-and-down from off the green for pars at the next before Scott drained his crucial five-footer at the last. Schwartzel moves two clear South Africa's Charl Schwartzel opened up a two shot lead following the third round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship Saturday, as he remained on track to defend his title. The Johannesburg native and 2011 Masters champion crushed the field last year on the Leopard Creek par-72 layout when he won by 12 strokes, just one week after winning the Thailand Open by 11 shots. A bogey free round of 67 that included five birdies saw Schwartzel remain top of the leaderboard on 13 under with England's Richard Finch alone in second and Frenchman Victor Riu on ten under, with his compatriot Romain Wattel a further shot back. “It's one of those courses where I'm comfortable with all of the right lines,” the former world number six told EuropeanTour.com. “A lot of golf courses you need to hit on lines that you feel awkward with, but this course is mostly right in front of you. And I think it helps that I've had good success here,” continued Schwartzel. “If I had really putted well today, it could have been very low. The good thing is that I know it's there. It very easily could have been low, but it was still a solid round of golf and this is still a tough golf course. “I felt a lot more comfortable and consequently I was hitting a lot more positive shots. I felt a little more in control than the last few days. “I hope a good round like this picks me up and I go out tomorrow (Sunday) and have the same,” he concluded. Finch knows he has his work cut out to close down the gap on the in-form South African who will be hot favourite heading into Sunday's final round. “If he goes out and shoots a 65, it's done and dusted,” said the Englishman. “He's one of the best players in the world. Denmark's Morten Orum Madsen, who narrowly defeated Schwartzel last week at the South African Open, and began the day as joint overnight leader, plummeted down the leaderboard with a disastrous 79 to fall out of contention. — Agencies
