Zach Murray produced one of the hottest starts to a round in recent PGA Tour of Australasia history before a tense showdown for one of the last spots in the Australian PGA Championship field.<\/p>\n
Having made birdie on six of his first seven holes in the third round of the Queensland PGA Championship, Murray will hold the lead into the final day at Nudgee.<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t need any reminding of what\u2019s at stake with a berth at Royal Queensland next week on the line for a host of players trying to score their first win of the season.<\/p>\n
Murray (-12) eventually signed for an eight-under 64 on Saturday \u2013 matched by hotshot amateur Billy Dowling \u2013 to hold a one-shot lead as he chases his first professional win since the New Zealand Open in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t led a golf tournament in a while,\u201d Murray said. \u201cI was pretty lucky earlier in my career I had a fair few leads and I\u2019ve won events and been in contention a fair bit when I was younger, but of late my game hasn\u2019t been anywhere near it. You embrace whatever comes with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not in next week and I really want to play. It\u2019s win or go to qualifying on Monday. That\u2019s the plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore importantly, I didn\u2019t come out (in the third round) to win the golf tournament. I came out to shoot the lowest score I can, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ll do (in the last round).<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat will be (on Sunday) will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray has bravely spoken about his mental health battles throughout his career, including panic attacks which would make it impossible for him to even go to the supermarket alone.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s slowly returned to the tour in recent times and has a chance for another monumental win, shading Cameron John (68), James Marchesani (68) and Douglas Klein (69), who are all at 11-under.<\/p>\n
Queensland amateur Dowling (-9), who played in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in the Middle East, is the next best of the chasing pack after a scintillating 64.<\/p>\n
But not even he could boast the start of Murray, who made birdie on his first five holes and then seized the lead with two more on his final three after chucking a new putter in his bag for last week\u2019s NSW Open.<\/p>\n
Asked if he can remember making six birdies in his first seven holes before, Murray said: \u201cProbably not on tour, but I do it most weekends back home. I haven\u2019t been able to put it into play in a tournament for a while. It was a really nice start and good to capitalise on it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
KLEIN BOUNCES BACK TO HOLD LEAD AT QUEENSLAND PGA<\/p>\n
Douglas Klein\u2019s 11th-hour push for a spot in Australia\u2019s two richest events is one step closer after he doggedly fought to maintain the lead at the halfway point of the Queensland PGA Championship at Nudgee.<\/p>\n
Klein, who is outside the projected field for both the Australian PGA Championship next week and the ensuing Australian Open, laboured to an even-par 72 in tricky conditions on Friday.<\/p>\n
But it was enough to maintain a one-shot cushion at the top of the leaderboard knowing a win on the PGA Tour of Australasia will secure his immediate and longer term future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got humbled pretty fast out there (on Friday) morning,\u201d Klein said. \u201cPlayed a pretty terrible opening nine, (but) got back to the game plan, which is hitting a lot of greens.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to stay patient around here, but even then, that might not be enough. You\u2019ve got to lean on your iron play a lot, which I did on the front nine and capitalised and got it back to even.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething I\u2019ve worked on is my attitude a lot. So far so good. I think we\u2019ve done a pretty good job of just steadying the ship and not getting too flustered with the bad ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Klein (-8) had four birdies to cancel out four blemishes on his card, meaning he heads into the weekend a stroke clear of Anthony Quayle (71), James Marchesani (68) and Cameron John (70), who are all at seven-under.<\/p>\n
Marchesani would be a popular winner if he could prevail this week after the 35-year-old was denied his first PGA Tour of Australasia win on the fourth hole of a three-man playoff at the NSW Open last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hit a lot of good golf shots last week and tried to carry that on into this week,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of similar to where you can\u2019t really force yourself off the tee too much, so it\u2019s sort of set up nice that we can carry that same sort of game plan into this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eighteen-year-old Victorian amateur Hamish Farquharson (-6) was the big mover during the second round with a four-under 68 to be sitting on the heels of the leading pack.<\/p>\n
NSW Open winner Chris Wood (+1) scrambled inside the cut line on the number after a 74.<\/p>\n
HUGE STEP IN GUAN\u2019S INCREDIBLE FIGHTBACK FROM HORROR EYE INJURY <\/p>\n
They\u2019ve won almost everything this year, and two Queensland stars took hold of their state championship on a day Jeff Guan achieved a new milestone in his comeback from a horrific eye injury.<\/p>\n
Douglas Klein and Anthony Quayle, who both play under the Queensland flag, shot to the lead after the opening round of the Queensland PGA Championship on Thursday \u2013 a precursor to the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland next week.<\/p>\n