Perth, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) – Thorbjorn Olesen fired a 5-under 67
in Saturday’s third round to take a 3-shot lead into the final day of the ISPS
Handa Perth International.
Olesen, who held the first-round lead along with Australian John Wade,
finished 54 holes at 16-under-par 200, three shots ahead of Sihwan Kim. Olesen
has one win on the European Tour, which came at the 2012 Sicilian Open.
“It’s been a couple of years since I won, so definitely I’ll feel the nerves,”
said Olesen. “I’ve been in contention in big tournaments and I know how it
feels. But it’ll be great to get that victory, so it’ll definitely be on my
mind. I just want to be out there tomorrow, be aggressive and have fun.”
Kim, who needs to finish second or better this week in order to keep his tour
card, shot his third straight round in the 60s at Lake Karrinyup Country Club
with a 3-under 69 and he is alone in second place at 13-under 203.
After eclipsing the course record with a 9-under 63 on Friday, a day after the
mark was set when Olesen and Wade shot 64s in the first round, James Morrison
also carded a 69 and he is in third at 12-under 204.
Peter Uihlein (65) is alone in fourth at minus-11, while Richard Green (70)
and David Drysdale (71) are tied for fifth at 10-under 206.
Second-round leader Peter Whiteford, who also needs to finish second or better
to keep his card, struggled on his way to a 3-over 75 and he is tied for
seventh at minus-9.
Beginning the day one shot behind the leader Whiteford, Olesen vaulted up the
leaderboard with three birdies in his first four holes on one, three and four.
Olesen made the turn at minus-3 after making five straight pars to finish off
his front nine.
It was more of the same on the back nine as Olesen extended his lead to six
shots when he made birdies on 11, 12 and 14. A bogey on No. 15 was Olesen’s
first and only blemish on the day. He closed things out with a trio of pars
from No. 16 to take a 3-shot lead going into the final round.
“I tried to go out there and be aggressive like I did the first two days, but
I didn’t have the game today,” Olesen said. “I didn’t feel good — I was
struggling out there. I made some great up-and-downs to keep it going. It was
a fight all the way through, but I still had fun and I was fighting all the
way. Five-under is a great score today.”
Kim was slow out of the gate with five pars and a bogey on No. 6. He got that
shot back with a birdie on No. 7, but another bogey on No. 9 put Kim back
above par.
The back nine was where Kim made his move as he rattled off back-to-back
birdies on 10 and 11, getting him into red numbers on the day for the first
time. Kim cut Olesen’s lead to two shots when he made an eagle on the par-4
14th and a birdie on the par-5 15th.
A pair of pars on 16 and 17 were followed by Kim’s third bogey of the day on
No. 18, dropping him three behind the leader after 54 holes.
After going bogey-free on day two, Morrison made five pars in a row before
making two bogeys in a three-hole stretch from No. 6 to go along with a birdie
on No. 7.
Making the turn at plus-1, Morrison ripped off five birdies in a six-hole
stretch from No. 10, with a bogey coming on No. 13. Morrison made three
straight pars from 16 to end his round.
NOTES: Through three rounds, there are only five players above par for the
week, with four more at even par … Olesen’s best finish of the season came
at the Qatar Masters, where he ended tied for third … Jason Dufner (69),
playing in his first event since withdrawing from the PGA Championship with a
neck injury, is tied for 19th at 7-under 209 … Kim has never won on tour,
while Morrison has one victory at the 2010 Madeira Islands Open BPI.