A relaxed and reinvigorated Laura Davies believes she&aposs within striking distance of the main prize following her third-round 67 at the Australian Open at Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne. Hidden back in the pack at plus-four at the start of the day, the 45-year-old English veteran is now well-positioned in the top 10 from where &aposanything is possible&apos, especially on a course as challenging as &aposMetro&apos. “We were jokingly saying &aposnine-under&apos this morning messing around in the player lounge and we&aposre three off it, so it was a pretty good effort,” said Davies after her round which was highlighted by an eagle at the 422-metre par-five 15th. “It just depends now if Karrie (Webb) or one of the others gets to nine or 10 under then I&aposm stuffed, but if they can stay at six or seven then, you never know, I&aposve got a chance.” Davies said the greens which were noticeably &aposcrisping up&apos during her round along with the combined effects of the sun and freshening south-easterly breeze would provide a stern test for the tournament front-runners. “If it really started to blow it would be great fun watching this afternoon, to be honest,” said Davies with a smile. “I don&apost think that will happen, but I keep looking out the window hoping for a bit of wind.” Davies said her game over the three rounds at &aposMetro&apos had been much more consistent than her scores – 74, 76 when she bogeyed the last three holes on Friday, and 67 – would suggest. The X-factor, she said, is the 5997-metre sandbelt layout itself which she regards as better than last year&aposs Open venue, Kingston Heath, and one of the finest she&aposs ever played. “I know it sounds daft, but I&aposve hit it fantastic all week,” Davies said. “I&aposve played no different all three days and I&aposve shot a ridiculous spectrum of numbers.” “Yesterday I played really great golf and bogeyed four of the first five holes and did not hit one bad shot – that&aposs just the sort of golf course this is.” “You can be a foot out and you can shoot 10 shots difference but if I go and shoot another good round tomorrow, you never know.”