The Australian veterans rarely play at home due to Scott’s limited PGA Tour schedule and Leishman’s tenure on the LIV Tour. And there are only two high-level professional tournaments left in Australia: this week’s PGA and next week’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.
Scott, 45, shot a 5-under 66 on Saturday and Leishman, 42, shot 67 to tie for sixth place.
The lead in the third round was in the hands of three players: European tour guests David Puig (65) and Ricardo Gouveia (66) and Australian Anthony Quayle (67), who had former Tiger Woods caddy Steve Williams on his bag.
The trio had a 54-hole total of 13-under 200.
“I was very consistent off the tee and hit a lot of greens, which is important on a course like this,” Gouveia said.
Min Woo Lee (67) and second-lap leader Kazuma Kobori (68) were one stroke behind the leaders and tied for fourth. Kobori, a Japanese-born New Zealander, ended his second round Friday with four straight birdies and had two more to start the day Saturday, but then had 16 pars in a row.
Scott said he needs a “beauty” on the final lap to catch the leaders.
The former world No. 1 and 2013 Masters champion had eight birdies and three bogeys. Scott has 32 wins worldwide but has not won a 72-hole event since claiming the Genesis Invitational in 2020.
“It’s hard to complain about 66,” he said. “I’ll need to have a really good round. A strong ninth up front to put myself in there and then maybe, if I can get my name up there with seven or eight to go.
“But I will also have to close well. I’m hunting. I can’t wait. It’s too much, it should be a beauty tomorrow. But I’ve put myself in a decent position.”
Players had to overcome another thunderstorm delay. After storms suspended play on Thursday and forced nearly half the field to complete the first round on Friday, thunderstorms forced a two-hour suspension on Saturday.
The added benefit was that the greens were soft from the rain and there were lift, clean and place rules in place on the fairways, which led to lower scores.
Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion who will captain the international team at next year’s Presidents Cup at Medinah in Chicago, shot 66 to be at 10 under, three behind the leaders.
The Australian PGA is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australia and the European tour, which starts the 2025-2026 season just two weeks after Rory McIlroy won the Race to Dubai title.
McIlroy will light up the court at the Australian Open next week.
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