December 06, 2008

FORMER US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy turned the worst shot of his third round into a spectacular chip in for birdie, setting the scene for some last day fireworks in the $1.5 million Australian PGA Championship.

In a remarkable few holes, the tournament went from seemingly having four players tied on 11 under on the last day, to gritty Tasmanian Mathew Goggin (69) completing an incredible late fight back to snatch a one shot lead at 12 under.

Goggin, who slipped back to eight under at one stage at the Hyatt Regency resort, pulled out the shot of the day by planting his approach to the 18th green less than a metre from the pin.

"It was a knock down six iron from 150 metres," said Goggin who dragged out three birdies in his last four holes.

When putters were finally holstered, Goggin emerged with a slender lead over Ogilvy (67-71-67) and last weekend's Masters champion Rod Pampling (70-67-68), both on 11 under.

Victorian Jarrod Lyle, who'd bravely defied the challengers all afternoon, cracked in the searing heat and humidity late in his round.

He struggled to keep his rhythm, posting three bogeys in six holes, unable to match Friday's course record equalling 63 with a one under 71.

Lyle ended a tough day on 10 under, the same score as Peter O'Malley who repeated yesterday's five under 67 to give himself a chance of a huge upset.

Ogilvy tried to play defensively into the 18th hole and came up with "my worst shot of the day".

"Maybe it (the chip in) was good karma for missing all those putts during the day," he said.

Ogilvy seemed unimpressed when reminded that he was a non-winner at home.

It suggests his resolve will be steely to win a tournament steeped in so much history and finally get the monkey off his back.

"It would just be nice not to hear the question," said Ogilvy when the "m" word was mentioned after his round.

"Obviously I want to win at home.

"We play all around the world and you win tournaments all around the world ... obviously I want to win at home.

It was veteran's day for a while as firstly Peter Senior, 49, who won the PGA at Coolum in 2003, and then O'Malley, 43, threatened to upstage the young guns.

Senior (70-67-71) worked within two shots of the lead early on the back nine before dropping a shot on his last hole to finish eight under and four behind Goggin.

Pampling has a chance to head to Sydney next week for the Australian Open chasing a rare treble if he follows up his Masters win by collecting the Joe Kirkwood Cup.

APGA: Australian PGA Championship
Pos Name NAT Hole To Par 1 2 3 4 Total
1 Mathew Goggin AUS F -12 67 68 69 204
T2 Geoff Ogilvy AUS F -11 67 71 67 205
T2 Rod Pampling AUS F -11 70 67 68 205
T4 Peter O'Malley AUS F -10 72 67 67 206
T4 Jarrod Lyle AUS F -10 72 63 71 206
T6 Tim Wilkinson NZL F -9 66 72 69 207
T6 Chris Gaunt AUS F -9 71 68 68 207
T8 Peter Senior AUS F -8 70 67 71 208
T8 Scott Strange AUS F -8 70 69 69 208
T10 Wade Ormsby AUS F -7 70 70 69 209
T10 Peter Wilson AUS F -7 66 70 72 208