Travis Smyth's hot putter and Todd Sinnott's resilience has put the two Australians in with a shout of ending their Asian Tour season with a big-money triumph in Saudi Arabia.
Smyth shot the second best round of the day at the Saudi Open, his seven-under-par 64 putting him right in contention going into the final round of the $US1 million ($A1.5 million) season-ending event in Riyadh
Sinnott, joint-leader overnight, then recorded three birdies on the inward stretch at the Riyadh Golf Club to re-energise his challenge with a 69 and ensure that both Australians are just two shots off the lead, held by Thailand's Phachara Khongwatmai at 12 under. ย
Khongwatmai shot a four-under 67 to take a one-shot lead over his compatriot Denwit Boriboonsub, who's shooting for a third win in successive weeks.
Smyth, Sinnott and India's Veer Ahlawat, who shot a 66, are in joint-third place with Sweden's former British Open champion Henrik Stenson also in with a chance of scooping the title on Sunday after a 67 left him tied for sixth with three others on nine under.
Khongwatmai, who began the day in a share of the lead with Boriboonsub and Sinnott, has earned the advantage after recording three straight birdies from the 10th hole, only to see his three-stroke lead narrowed with a nervy finish to his round.
Smyth, a 28-year-old from Shellharbour who's had a fine season as the leading Australian on the Asian Tour, currently seventh in the Order of Merit, enjoyed a dream day with the putter.
"Yeah, it was amazing," Smyth, who played in the original LIV event in London last year as well as other events on the Saudi-based tour, told the tour's official website.ย
"For the last three months I feel like the putter has been letting me down, and today I hit some okay shots, but I was getting lucky, I'll be honest.ย
"I was holing like 20-footers, 40-footers, I think I even holed a 50-footer as well. So it was a little bit of luck, but it felt amazing. Especially with the last few months that I've had, it just felt unreal."
Smyth's biggest claim to fame this year was when he became the first man ever to hole in one on the newly-created 17th hole at Royal Liverpool during the British Open, but a win in Riyadh would be a fresh career highlight.
Melbourne's Sinnott had a bogey at the short sixth as his challenge seemed to stall over the first nine but the 31-year-old Victorian, who's 58th on the Order of Merit and has to stay in the top-65 to keep his tour card, then birdied the 10th, 13th and 16th to give himself a good chance of a second Asian Tour win.
Fellow Australians Scott Hend, who shot a fine 66, and Douglas Klein (70) were both at five under for the championships in joint-25th place.
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