Perske and Hickmott share Victorian PGA lead
BY iseekgolf.com | Von Nida Tour | 2006 Victorian PGA Championship | Round Three | 28 Jan 2006
Luke Hickmott and Wayne Perske are tied for the lead at 11 under par with one round to play in the National Australia Bank Victorian PGA Championship at Sanctuary Lakes.
The leading pair is one shot ahead of a group of three players including Marc Leishman, who fired a brilliant course record 63 – nine under par.
Joining the fired up Leishman at 10 under par were Steven Jeffress, who had a third round 67, and defending champion Cameron Percy (68).
A shot further back was the trio of Chris Downes, Anthony Painter and overnight leader Ewan Porter, who stumbled with a 74, ten shots worse than his previous round.
Along with the leaders already mentioned, official scorers have counted a total of 15 players who are within four shots of each other heading into the final 18 holes.
Of those in contention, Leishman should be one of the favourites – especially if he can come close to matching his heroics in the third round.
The 22-year-old rookie professional from Warrnambool, competing in his first PGA tournament after graduating in third place at last month’s Tour School, took advantage of benign conditions and soft greens to set Sanctuary Lakes alight.
His climb up the leaderboard began in earnest on the par-five 8th hole when he pitched his third shot from 60 metres to within tap-in range.
Five consecutive birdies were to follow.
Leishman later revealed that his run of sustained brilliance had come as somewhat of a surprise.
“I started off pretty slowly and then something just clicked,” the 22-year-old said. “I could see the lines on the putts, there wasn’t any second guessing and they kept going in.”
“You get this incredible confidence. Everything seems to flow and all you see is the middle of the fairway, the pin and the centre of the hole.”
Joint leader Luke Hickmott continues his steady progress in search of a maiden career victory. The talented local is a consummate professional who recently included pilates as part of his pre-round preparations.
“I like to stretch out the muscles in advance so that they are ready to fire on the first tee,” he explained. “The entire routine probably takes only 20 minutes, but it makes me feel ready to go.”
Source – PGA Australia
