DANIEL POPOVIC LEADS BY TWO WITH ONE ROUND TO GO IN AUSSIE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

DANIEL POPOVIC .. nearly gave up golf to care for terminally ill father

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ONE ASIA TOUR
COOLUM, Australia - Daniel Popovic held a charging field at bay with a three-under-par 69 on Saturday for a 13-under total and a two-stroke lead going into the final round of the Australian PGA Championship, presented by Coca-Cola.

Countryman Anthony Brown shot a brilliant 64 to take sole command of second place, while Peter Senior (68)  and Matthew Griffin (70) -- who have both won on OneAsia this year -- were a further shot behind.

The A$1.5 million tournament, being played at the 6,114-metre (6,686-yard) Palmer Coolum Resort course on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, is the final event on both One Asia and the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Popovic has led since a blistering 64 on Thursday, but shared the overnight lead with unheralded Chinese rookie Zhang Xinjun, who battled to a third-round 74 that included a bogey-bogey start and a triple-bogey on the par-five 12th.

The 26-year-old Popovic has touched the hearts of golf fans across the country this week, revealing he nearly gave up the game to care for his father after learning he had terminal cancer. Inspired by the way his parents tackled the illness, he has re-dedicated himself to the sport in a bid to capture a first professional victory.

"It’s going to be an incredible ride for the whole family tomorrow -- for myself, my mum and my dad," he said. "It's going to be huge."

Popovic started with two birdies in three holes, but came unstuck at the par-five sixth when a careless drop from an unplayable lie following an errant tee shot left him with a limited backswing.

Playing alongside, Zhang dropped two shots on the first two holes, but then grabbed four birdies in the next five  to lead the tournament by a stroke at 11 under.

The 25-year-old bogeyed the next two, however, and then further disaster struck at the 11th when he lost his ball after blasting his tee shot into the trees.

Well ahead of them, Brown was having a round to remember after a year he'd rather forget, with nine birdies offset by a bogey.

"It hasn’t been the best year this year for me, but I've been playing a lot better the last couple of months so I knew there was a good one in me," he said.
"I guess I didn’t really have any expectations at the start of the day, but whenever you shoot 64 in a tournament -- let alone the Aussie PGA -- you’ll take it."

Senior, who won this championship for a third time in 2010 and claimed the Emirates Australian Open title last Sunday, could complete an unlikely double at the age of 53 if he keeps his form for one more round.

"The conditions dictated how I needed to play last week," he said, referring to the 80 kph (50 mph) gusts that forced play to be suspended for three hours in the final round.

"This week, especially today, there wasn’t that much wind. There is an opportunity to put the right club in your hand a bit more often today."

Griffin, who could also claim the OneAsia Order of Merit title by winning on Sunday, was delighted to be in the mix.

"It wasn't my best round today but I'm still here," said the 29-year-old, who won the Charity High1 Resort Open in September.

A slew of former champions remain in the hunt including Robert Allenby (68) and Geoff Ogilvy (72), who play in the same group as Zhang on Sunday at eight under.

Defending champion Greg Chalmers (68) is a shot further back while international visitors Darren Clarke (72) is five under for the tournament and Rory Sabbatini (70) two under.

 

  THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

  Par 216 (3x72) Yardage 6,686yd

203 Daniel Popovic (AUS) 64-70-69.

205 Anthony Brown (AUS) 73-68-64.

206 Peter Senior (AUS) 68-70-68, Matthew Griffin (AUS) 69-67-70.

207 Brendan Jones (AUS) 73-67-67, Rod Pampling (AUS) 71-67-69, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 69-68-70, Mathew Goggin (AUS) 71-66-70.

208 Stephen Dartnall (AUS) 68-72-68, Robert Allenby (AUS) 73-67-68, Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 67-69-72, Zhang Xin Jun (CHN) 67-67-74.

209 Greg Chalmers (AUS) 72-69-68, Nathan Green (AUS) 72-71-66, Michael Wright (AUS) 70-73-66, Richard Green (AUS) 71-68-70, Matthew Millar (AUS) 73-66-70.

210 James Nitties (AUS) 70-72-68, Josh Geary (NZL) 69-72-69, Cameron Percy (AUS) 70-70-70, Kurt Barnes (AUS) 74-65-71, Jason Kang (USA) 70-69-71, Stephen Leaney (AUS) 69-70-71.

211 John Senden (AUS) 73-69-69, Adam Crawford (AUS) 70-71-70, Bronson La'Cassie (AUS) 69-71-71, Peter Fowler (AUS) 70-70-71, Leigh McKechnie (AUS) 70-69-72, Darren Clarke (NIR) 70-69-72, Steven Bowditch (AUS) 70-67-74.

212 Mark Brown (NZL) 71-71-70, Peter O'Malley (AUS) 73-68-71, Jason Scrivener (AUS) 68-75-69, Jamie Arnold (AUS) 71-68-73, Marc Leishman (AUS) 69-70-73, Kim Do-hoon (753) (KOR) 73-71-68.

213 Nick O'Hern (AUS) 72-70-71, Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 70-74-69, Scott Strange (AUS) 66-73-74, Jake Higginbottom (AUS) 76-69-68.

214 Jason Norris (AUS) 74-69-71, Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 76-68-70, Michael Hendry (NZL) 73-72-69.

215 Ryan Haller (AUS) 68-73-74, Nick Flanagan (AUS) 70-73-72, Brad Shilton (NZL) 76-67-72, Aaron Townsend (AUS) 69-74-72, Steve Conran (AUS) 69-70-76.

216 Cao Yi (CHN) 73-71-72, Alex Hawley (AUS) 72-72-72, Brendan Smith (AUS) 72-73-71, Stuart Appleby (AUS) 70-75-71.

217 Choo Tze-huang (SIN) 67-75-75, Alistair Presnell (AUS) 73-70-74, Craig Parry (AUS) 71-72-74, Heath Reed (AUS) 72-68-77, Park Ju-hyuk (KOR) 77-67-73, Steven Jones (AUS) 70-74-73, Andrew Martin (AUS) 73-71-73, Nick Gillespie (NZL) 72-73-72, Kurt Carlson (AUS) 76-69-72.

218 Park Hyo-won (KOR) 71-73-74, Paul Sheehan (AUS) 72-73-73, Ashley Hall (AUS) 71-74-73.

219 David Bransdon (AUS) 73-71-75, Gavin Flint (AUS) 70-75-74.

221 Choi Joon-woo (KOR) 74-69-78, Pravee Visalkt (THA) 74-71-76.

222 Peter Cooke (AUS) 70-75-77.

223 Li Xinyang (CHN) 72-73-78, Christopher Campbell (AUS) 74-71-78.