Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen heads into the final round of the Crown Australian Open with a two-stroke lead. The Danish golfer finished with a stunning finish on Saturday, completing the round with 66 strokes and rising to 14-under thanks to three consecutive birdies.
The chasing pack is strong: local favourite Cameron Smith, South Korean Si Woo Kim and Mexican Carlos Ortiz are two strokes behind the leader and ready to put serious pressure on Sunday.
Spaniard Jose Luis Ballester shot a flawless 65 to move into solo fifth place on 11-under and remains in contention.
Neergaard-Petersen, still looking for his first DP World Tour win, started the race in the lead and rose to the top alone with a long birdie putt on the second hole. He increased the gap with a birdie on the fourth hole, but a mistake on the fifth par-three disrupted the rhythm. Nevertheless, he completed the front nine with 32 strokes, hitting a birdie on the seventh hole.
The 26-year-old golfer quickly recovered after starting the back nine with a bogey. A birdie on the 14th par-five, another birdie from 12 feet on the 16th hole, and then an accurate shot from 15 feet on the 17th hole brought him back into the lead along with Cameron Smith. A birdie from 32 feet on the 18th hole gave him a two-stroke buffer in the lead.
Neergaard-Petersen is playing with high confidence after securing dual PGA TOUR membership at the end of last season, and Sunday could be his next turning point.
He said after the round:
"I've tried to stick to my plan all week – my main goal was to be patient. I was disappointed with the result on the fifth hole, because I actually made a great shot there. But I calmed myself down and played very good golf after that. I am very happy with the finish. The ability to finish strongly has come to the fore in recent races, and it felt really good to hit the last three putts today."
