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New South Wales’ Matt Jones will take a three shot lead into the final round of the Emirates Australian Open tomorrow after a shooting a 3-under par 68 in todays third round.
Ominously, playing alongside Jones in the final group will be world No.1 Jordan Spieth, who is looking to defend his 2014 Australian Open Title.
Two shots behind is fellow NSW golfer, Lismore’s Rhein Gibson currently sitting at 5-under par, with Wollongong’s Lincoln Tighe and Aron Price from the Sutherland Shire a shot further behind at 4-under par.
Jones, who grew up in Oyster Bay in the Sutherland Shire, is no stranger to the Australian Golf Club, spending time at the course as a junior as well as being coached by Gary Barter, one of the Australian Golf Club’s teaching professionals.
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Winning his national Open Would mean a lot to the US Based Sydneysider.
“One more day to go and I get to play with him (Spieth), so there’s no better person to beat on the final day and to have him in the same group as me, and to go up against the number one player in the world will be a lot of fun.”
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Spieth acknowledged that his good friend Jones had played the better golf this week. Jones in fact was the player the world number one identified this week as the biggest threat for the Championship.
“Matt (Jones) has played the best golf for three rounds, he’s played better golf than I have and I have to somehow not only play better golf, but play better golf by multiple shots in order to win the Tournament tomorrow,”Spieth said. ”No matter where you’re ranked in the world, he’s played this golf course better than I have up until now and I’ve got to somehow overcome that.”
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For Rhein Gibson the idea of a sleepless night worrying about a championship is not something that is playing on his mind. Having only flown into the country from the US on Wednesday – some sleep and a bit of cricket is what matters.
“I’ll hit a wall about eight o'clock, we flew in Wednesday morning from America, so my sleep has been a little sporadic, maybe watch a bit of the cricket tonight and fall asleep and at it again tomorrow.”
Tomorrow promises to be a fantastic final day for golf fans in NSW – four in the mix, the world number one in the final group, and a magnificent golf course ready to challenge them.