Golf: Kiwis fall off the pace at Australian PGA as Cam Smith leads

Cam Smith leads by three at the Australian PGA. Photo / Getty

New Zealand’s charge at the Australian PGA stalled today, with the Kiwi contenders having poor third rounds.

Starting the day in a share of fifth at seven-under par, Denzel Ieremia bogeyed four of his last six holes to card a four-over 75 and drop back to into a share of 20th on a difficult day at Royal Queensland.

Nobody struggled more than fellow Kiwi Daniel Hillier, who started in a tie for 10th at six-under but slumped 46 spots after the worst round of the day, an eight-over 79 which included six bogies and a triple bogey on the par-four 10th.

That left Chang Gi Lee, who shot an even-par 71, as the best New Zealander in a share of 15th at four-under, with Nick Voke (74) at even par and Josh Geary (73) at two-over.

New Zealand’s hopes of victory would have been slim even had they performed well, with world No 3 Cam Smith taking control of the event to lead by three shots.

Having started the day at nine-under and a stroke behind overnight leader Jason Scrivener, the reigning British Open champion had moved to 13-under after four birdies on his first eight holes.

Smith had birdied the second and then put his approach to the par-three fourth within a metre of the flag.

The two-time Australian PGA winner then birdied the sixth and seventh holes to build a four-shot lead before making bogey on the par-five, 562m ninth hole, which he bogeyed after an errant drive. Smith recovered to the fairway, put his third shot into a deep greenside bunker and then missed his putt for par.

In contrast, Scrivener went backwards on the opening nine holes, with three bogies.

Smith came back to the pack slightly with bogies at 11 and 12, as well as a closing bogey on 18, but also had birdies on 15 and 16 to card a two-under 69 – the eighth-best round of the day.

Smith is at 11-under, with Liu Yanwei (70) of China and Masahiro Kawamura (71) of Japan tied for second at eight-under. Four others, including Australians Min Woo Lee (68) and Scrivener (74) were at seven-under and four behind Smith.

- With AP