Australian PGA Championship: Cameron Smith takes three-shot lead into final round at Royal Queensland | Golf News

Cameron Smith hits four of his six birdies in the first six holes and holds onto lead despite struggling on the back nine in windy conditions; watch the Australian PGA Championship live on Sky Sports Golf at 3.30am.

Cameron Smith carded a two-under 69 to take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Australian PGA Championship.

The home favourite moved a step closer to his third title at the AUD$2m (£1.11m) event.

Smith, who won the Open earlier this year, got off to a good start with four of his six birdies coming in the first six holes.

The world No 3 struggled on the back nine in windy conditions but held on to take a lead into Sunday at the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane.

“It was a bit frustrating on that back nine, but in these conditions I would have taken two under,” he said.

“I’d like to be six or seven ahead, to be honest, but it’s a good spot to be in.

“I can’t complain. Everything’s feeling really good, so feeling really confident and really looking forward to tomorrow.”

The 29-year-old will also be competing at the Australian Open in Melbourne next week.

“My big thing down here was to have a really big crack at the Aussie Open. I haven’t won one of those yet and I think that would be a really good end to a really good year,” Smith said.

Smith started the day a shot behind overnight leader Jason Scrivener, but the 33-year-old Australian had a day to forget.

Scrivener failed to recover from a poor start, after carding three bogeys on the front nine.

He followed this up with two further bogeys on the 14th and 16th, but ended the day well with two birdies in the last two holes.

China’s Liu Yanwei shot a 70 to move up to joint second with Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura, three strokes off the lead.

Australia’s two-time winner Adam Scott struggled to a three-over 74 to sit tied for 39th. English golfer John Parry had his best round of the weekend, shooting a 69 to finish the day in the top 20.

Watch the Australian PGA Championship live on Sky Sports Golf at 3.30am

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