CAM STILL HAS HOPE: Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith will start the final round six shots off the lead and tied for fourth. It’s a daunting task to reel in the leaders, but Smith isn’t giving up hope just yet. 

They’re going to be hard to chase down tomorrow,” Smith said. “Anything can happen out there, though. It’s tricky. The greens get slick and firm. Anything can happen.” 

His Rippers are just five shots off the lead behind Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII, a minimal deficit in which all four player scores count. Even so, Legion has won nine tournaments the last two years, including the 2025 Team Championship. 

“It’s not going to come easy. Being behind Legion, defending team champs, they’ve done it plenty of times before, so we need some of our best tomorrow.” 

Smith is hoping that the supportive Australian crowds will make a difference Sunday. They certainly helped push him Saturday when shot an 8-under 64. 

“It’s really epic, actually, particularly when I got off to a really hot start, and it seemed like the crowd just grew and grew and grew and the momentum was growing,” Smith said. “A guy shouted out to me on the 17th tee, he said, ‘Fire up.’ I’m like, I don’t think I can fire up anymore. I think if I fired up anymore, my head would just explode. I was really out there on a mission today, and the momentum and the energy was so high that I really didn’t need any help. It was a pretty cool day.” 

WATERING HOLE: HyFlyers GC’s Brendan Steele, the 2024 Adelaide individual champion, has the best tee shot of the day at the par-3 Watering Hole, leaving himself 2 feet, 3 inches for birdie. 

STATS LEADERS 

Round 3

Driving Distance: Victor Perez, 339.6-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Victor Perez, 378.1 yards (17th hole)

Driving Accuracy: Ben Campbell, Sebastián Muñoz, Wade Ormsby, 85.71% (12 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Sam Horsfield, 94.44% (17 of 18)

Scrambling: Bjorn Hellgren (7 of 7), Cameron Smith (6 of 6), Ian Poulter (4 of 4), Brendan Steele (3 of 3), Sam Horsfield (1 of 1), 100%

Fewest Putts: Cameron Smith, 22

Bogey-free rounds: Cameron Smith (64), Ian Poulter (67), Sam Horsfield (68)

Cumulative

Driving Distance: Victor Perez, 317.9-yard avg.

Driving Accuracy: Ben Campbell, 78.57% (33 of 42)

Greens in Regulation: Anthony Kim, 81.48% (44 of 54)

Scrambling: Cameron Smith, 80% (16 of 20)

Fewest Putts: Cameron Smith, 75

Fewest Bogeys: Jon Rahm, Anthony Kim, 1