Date: April 27, 2008
Author:

Great Scott in prime position

Australia&aposs world No.10 Adam Scott is on the verge of victory at the Byron Nelson Championship after another stylish round in Dallas. Scott, the highest-ranked player at the tournament, leads the field by three shots with one round remaining. He signed for a solid three-under-par 67 in the penultimate round to move to eight-under the card for the tournament. The chasing pack is headed by Kevin Sutherland (67), Bart Bryant (67), Charley Hoffman (68) and Ryan Moore (68), all tied at five-under-par. Sergio Garcia managed a season-best round of 65 to get within four shots of the lead, equal with Dudley Hart (66) and Jesper Parnevik (68). Scott, however, will enter the final 18 as warm favourite on the back of his classy finish on Saturday. Two birdies in his final three holes swelled Scott&aposs margin, but the trophy is far from engraved. “It was a bit of a slow start for me. I never really got going on the front,” Scott said. “I knew a solid nine holes would do me good.” “No.16 and 18 were key. I finished the day with a couple of nice wedge shots, and that makes it a little buffer going into Sunday.” In his only other appearance at the Byron Nelson Championship two years ago, Scott shared the lead at the end of each of the first three rounds before a final-day 71 left him in third place behind Brett Wetterich and Masters champion Trevor Immelman. Immelman, meanwhile, missed the cut this week in his first tournament since winning at Augusta. Of Scott&aposs compatriots, Matthew Goggin (72) is next best placed at two-under par, one shot in front of Mark Hensby (73). Stuart Deane fired a 72 to be one-over-par for the tournament while Michael Sim (71), John Senden (71) and Nick Flanagan (72) are all a couple of shots over for the event. Nathan Green (74) is four-over-par and Stephen Leaney (75) another shot behind and out of contention. Byron Nelson Championship, Round 3 (Par 70): -8: Adam Scott (Australia) 68 67 67 -5: Bart Bryant 72 66 67, Kevin Sutherland 68 70 67, Charley Hoffman 69 68 68, Ryan Moore 67 70 68 -4: Sergio Garcia 71 70 65, Dudley Hart 70 70 66, Jesper Parnevik 68 70 68 -3: Brian Gay 72 67 68 -2: Luke Donald 72 68 68, Ken Duke 70 70 68, Kenny Perry 72 67 69, Matthew Goggin (Australia) 67 69 72 -1: Carl Pettersson 74 68 67, Eric Axley 67 74 68, Roland Thatcher 69 68 72, Scott McCarron 70 66 73, Mark Hensby (Australia) 69 67 73 Also: +1: Stuart Deane (Australia) 70 69 72 +2: Michael Sim (Australia) 70 71 71, John Senden (Australia) 73 68 71, Nick Flanagan (Australia) 71 69 72 +7: Nathan Green (Australia) 72 71 74 +8: Stephen Leaney (Australia) 71 72 75