Sydney, 8 December 2012: First round leader John Senden will take a two stroke lead into the final day of the Emirates Australian Open. Shooting 2-under 70 at The Lakes today, Senden finished with a three round total of 7-under the card after spending the third round battling for top billing with World Number 4 Englishman Justin Rose. Rose closed with two bogeys to find himself drop away from Senden finishing at 5-under in outright second. A further shot back are Matthew Jones and Kieran Pratt who are joined by the evergreen Peter Senior. Having a mixed round, Senden is relieved to find himself leading going into the last day. I had a sluggish start with the hand brake on a bit, but once I got through three or four holes I was feeling good again, said Senden. It was a day of trying to do the best I can, stay in stay in position. It is nice to be leading the tournament. Senden, who finished runner-up to Greg Chalmers at last year s Emirates Australian Open and led then through 54 holes, has his sights firmly set on the Stonehaven Cup. Winning the national Open is always a dream, but there is a long way to go, we ll see what happens tomorrow. It would be my best year but the last two years have been pretty good. As the wind picked up in the afternoon Senden was happy to be done for the day but will come back for the final round refreshed. I thought the last two holes were pretty much on the edge, the golf course is very dry. I would not say that it was on the edge but it was quite windy out there, it s tough to keep the ball straight in the air. I was happy to handle it reasonably well and feel good. England s Rose was disappointed with his finish, but at just two shots off the lead he is confident of being in contention late Sunday afternoon. It got progressively tougher as the day went on, towards the end of the round it was tough event to tap in, said Rose. I m excited, as long as it does not get out of control and blow too hard, it is going to be a fun day to try and hit some shots. It will be my last round for the year and I d like to go out on a high note. Yesterday s leader Marcus Fraser struggled in the wind today and finds himself well down the leaderboard at 2-under the card tied ninth with playing partner Brendan Jones and seven other players. The fourth and final round will get underway tomorrow at 6.47am with the leaders out at 12.20pm. Click here for a full Round 3 Leaderboard. The Emirates Australian Open is played at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney from 6 9 December 2012 and is sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia and OneAsia. Tickets are now on sale at www.ticketek.com.au
Author: Golf Australia