This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Geoff Ogilvy will carry a two-stroke lead heading into Sunday’s final round of the Australian Open, but he has a raft of big names including American superstar Jordan Spieth on his tail.



Ogilvy expressed surprise after firing the low round of the tournament, a brilliant, unblemished eight-under-par 64 at Royal Sydney on Saturday.



The former US Open champion is 11-under, with Spieth lurking ominously two shots back after grinding out a third-round 68 despite a shaky start.



Two-time champion Aaron Baddeley is also at nine-under after carding a 67, as is Ryan Fox (70) in his bid to become the first New Zealander in more than a century to lift the Stonehaven Cup.



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In-form veteran Rod Pampling is three off the pace after a rollercoaster round of 70 vaulted the 47-year-old into contention for his maiden national championship. Adam Scott is a further shot back at seven under after salvaging a 71 with two late birdies.

Ogilvy made the most of the favourable early morning conditions to go out in a red-hot six-under 30 courtesy of birdies at the first, second, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth holes. He did not grab another birdie until the par-five 16th, where he moved into the outright lead.

The 2010 Open champion iced his round with a stunning approach on the 18th for a tap-in birdie three. “To be honest, I didn’t really see 64 on the first tee,” Ogilvy said.

“But after going out so well on the front nine I kind of started seeing a score like that. It’s always a nice feeling. I’m back in the mix.”



This morning’s big mover was unheralded Australian Jake Higginbottom who capitalised on a morning tee time, shooting six-under-par 66 to be seven-under for the tournament.



The 23-year-old from Charlestown opened his account with a birdie on the first hole, before mixing five birdies and an eagle with two bogeys to sign for a 66.



“It was actually pretty breezy this morning,” said Higginbottom, who won the 2012 New Zealand Open as an amateur.



“I played well. They call it moving day for a reason and it’s always nice being in contention.”



Halfway leader James Nitties (74), along with Higginbottom (66), Jason Scrivener (69) and 20-year-old Lucas Herbert (71) all share sixth place with Scott.



Two-time former champion Robert Allenby (68), teenage amateur Min Woo Lee (71) and fellow young gun Cameron Smith (68) are not out of it at six-under and five in arrears of Ogilvy.