Golf: Martin hangs on to PGA lead

LEAD OFF: Andrew Martin tees off at The Hills. Photo / Getty Images

Australian Andrew Martin is still the man to catch after the third round of the New Zealand PGA Pro-Am Championship in Arrowtown.

However, the 27-year-old's lead has been slashed dramatically, with three players within four shots of the lead.

Martin started the day with a five-shot buffer, but it was gradually whittled away and by the 16th hole he found himself in a three-way tie for the lead at 13 under with fellow Australian Brody Ninyette and New Zealand's Michael Hendry.

Martin would not be denied the lead, though, picking up a late birdie to finish the day at 14-under-par, one shot clear of Ninyette. Hendry is in outright third at 12 under, after dropping a shot at 17, the only blemish in his round. The 32-year-old says the course was ripe for the picking in the benign conditions.

"It was really calm out there this afternoon, which obviously made it friendly if you were hitting good shots," he said. "Thankfully I hit all good shots bar one and that led to a bogey on 17. But I can't complain - I'm in position to have a chance tomorrow.

"Hopefully a bit of mana will come out of the ground and help me out a bit and give the Aussies a bad bounce or two. We will see how we go. If I keep playing the way I am I'll give myself a chance for sure."

Hendry also enjoyed the new celebrity Pro-Am format, having played plenty of pro-ams in his career. However, he says the two amateurs in his group took a while to settle in.

"They were cats on a hot tin roof for a while there. They didn't really know where to walk and what to do or when it was their shot but once they got five or six holes in they were okay and we had a good day. Hopefully we'll have another one tomorrow.

Fellow Kiwi Ryan Fox had a good day, rocketing up the leaderboard with a superb eight under par 64. Fox got off to a slow start, but an eagle at the par four fourth ignited his round and he followed it with four successive birdies.

With two holes to play, the course record of 10 under par was within his reach but he couldn't quite equal the benchmark set by Australian Peter Fowler in 2007 and matched by South Korean Jin Jeong in round two yesterday.

Meanwhile, world No1 women's amateur Lydia Ko is in a position she knows at the top of the leaderboard in the team's event with South Korean Jin Jeong. They finish the first round at 11 under par, one shot clear of the field.

Ko scored seven birdies for the team with Jeong grabbing the other four. The 14-year-old Kiwi said she played well and it was a fantastic experience playing in the same group as Hollywood actor and director Don Cheadle.