Amateur Travis Smyth holds a commanding four-stroke lead entering the final round of the Northern Territory PGA Championship in Darwin.
Starting the third round tied with PGA trainee Frazer Droop, Smyth opened with back-to-back birdies before eventually shooting five-under 66 at Palmerston Golf Course.
The 22-year-old heads into the final round on 15-under 198.
“I got off to a good start, I wasn’t feeling nervous, but making birdie on the first two holes definitely made me feel more relaxed,” said Smyth. “Good shots kept flowing. I only hit two bad shots that I wasn’t really happy with and somehow I managed to make par on both of those holes.”
With PGA professional John Serhan on the bag, Smyth plotted his way around the course not putting a foot wrong.
“Every time John is at a tournament, which isn’t often for me, I seem to play well,” added Smyth who has made just one bogey this week.
“I haven’t really been too flustered on the golf course, I am hitting it in a lot of really good positions and the putts are going in. It feels kind of easy and I hope tomorrow is exactly the same.
“I will probably feel a little bit nervous but I am playing the golf course so great I feel like it’s hard to get negative about my game.”
Leading the chasing pack on Sunday is defending champion Jordan Zunic, Marcus Both and Darren Beck.
Zunic and Beck, who is also coached by Serhan, each fired four-under 68 in the third round.
Both fired the equal-best round of the day, a seven-under 64 to earn his place in the final group. Also shooting 64 were Andrew Martin and James Gibellini who moved into the top-10.
At 10-under the card and five shots off the lead, Deyen Lawson and Max McCardle round out the top-five.
The fourth round of the Northern Territory PGA Championship will tee off on Sunday at 9.20am with Smyth, Beck and Both on course at 11am.
