Cameron Smith is in the hunt to win his first Australian Open title, while Rory McIlroy will need a final round miracle at Royal Melbourne.
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Smith (-12) is two shots back from leader Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen after a five-under par third round 66 and shares second place with Korean Si Woo Kim and Mexican Carlos Ortiz.
The Queenslander has the best chance of breaking Australia’s six-year drought in the national open, but Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee (-10) are not out of the equation.
“Yeah, it’s just nice being in contention,” Smith told reporters at Royal Melbourne.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had this feeling to be honest. So yeah, I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I love that it’s here. I love that it’s at Royal Melbourne.
“I love that it’s the Australian Open. I couldn’t think of a better place to get back into form.”
“It would shut a few people up,” Smith added.
“I mean, not that that’s really the goal. I mean the goal is to go out there and play well, but I think motivation is just for myself to go out there and play well under these conditions.
“It’s like I said, it’s been a while, so yeah, it’d just be nice to do that.”
Double Bogey! Rory vs Banana Peel | 01:04
It’s been a tough lead up week for Smith after he failed to make the cut at the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane last weekend.
It sparked concerns that Smith’s best form was behind him given his dry run of results in non-LIV tournaments since he made the move to the breakaway golf league.
The highlight of Smith’s day came at the par 5 14th via a stunning chip-in eagle, much to the delight of another bumper crowd who braved the Melbourne weather.
As for other key Australians, Min Woo Lee recovered from an ugly start to record four birdies in the final seven holes of the round to finish the day on -10.
Adam Scott is also in the thick of things. A week after a T6 in the Aus PGA, Scott will start the final round of the country’s flagship event four shots behind Neergaard-Petersen.
More than 30,000 fans surrounded the fairways and greens despite the on and off rain, and they were treated to another late McIlroy flurry.
Rory has an air swing! | 01:09
The Masters champion made four back nine birdies, including at the last two, but with a three-under 68 taking him to -5, he will likely need to break the course record on Sunday to even threaten lifting the trophy.
The most bizarre moment of his day came at the second when McIlroy was forced to play the ball as it lied from a banana peel after an errant drive.
He went on to make double bogey.
“I feel like this week’s a week of firsts in a lot of ways. I mean, I shouldn’t have been there in the first place, but yeah, it wasn’t the best to start,” McIlroy told reporters at Royal Melbourne.
“But I feel like I played well after that. Sort of got a feel for it a little bit and especially I feel like I played the back ninewell. Just need to figure out how to make a few more birdies on the front.”
McIlroy concedes he’ll need a miracle in the final round.
“I’m probably going to be a little too far behind to challenge but hopefully I can finish my week on a high and record my best score of the four days,” he told Fox Sports’ Paul Gow post-round.
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The Whiff & The Miracle – Rory Reacts | 01:24
Leader Neergaard-Petersen surged to the top of the leaderboard with four birdies in his final five holes.
The PGA Tour-bound Dane enjoyed an impressive year in Europe and is looking to finish it on a high.
“I felt like I played some really good golf and obviously really happy with the finish,” he said.
“I’ve been able to finish well here over the last couple of events, even in rounds, so it’s nice to finish off well today.”
World No. 740 Jack Buchanan, meanwhile, was the biggest mover in Round 3, with the young Australian shooting a seven under 64 to rocket into contention.
Buchanan will start Round 4 on seven under par and six shots off the lead.
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for the 23-year-old, who won entry onto the 2026 DP World Tour last month after a gruelling qualifying schedule in what is a massive leap forward in the young gun’s professional journey.
Sitting just above the cut line at the end of Round 2, Buchanan is now a live hope of lifting the Stonehaven Cup on Sunday afternoon.
Buchanan felt early on Saturday that it was going to be a good day.
“I holed a 20-footer downhill and as soon as that went in I was like, yeah, I’m on today,” Buchanan told foxsports.com.au.
“As soon as I made the cut I was pretty stoked and I knew that I was playing good enough to go low today.
“I think I can still go low tomorrow. I think the way they set the course up today is pretty tough on some pins you need to manage your ball well.
“I think it can be one of those ones where you either go seven under or you go over par if you don’t manage your ball properly.”
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