Vic Open: Hendry holds lead into final day

NEW Zealander Michael Hendry has mastered increasingly windy conditions at 13th Beach to extend his lead at the men’s Vic Open to three shots with one round to play.

The 43-year-old Hendry’s only blemish yesterday (Saturday, February 11) was a double-bogey six on the 14th hole when he was forced to take a penalty drop after an errant drive.

But that was more than compensated for by five birdies in a round of three-under 69 that took him to 21-under 195.

Australian Justin Warren (67) was in outright second at 18 under, making him the only member of the chasing pack within five shots of the Kiwi frontrunner.

“It was definitely tougher today,” said Hendry, who has been a regular on the Japanese Tour for a decade.

“It didn’t blow as much as I’ve seen it blow out here but it was kind of flukey and moving around a bit.

“It made it particularly difficult on the front nine to get a gauge on whether the wind was into, down or straight across.

“But once I got a feel for the wind after half a dozen holes I started to hit the ball a bit better.”

Hendry was particularly pleased with his tally of five birdies.

“It’s a lot harder to hit the ball close to the hole when the wind is blowing and the pins always get a bit trickier on the weekend,” he said.

“You’ve just got to keep making birdies around here and hope that the bad holes are bogeys rather than doubles.”

There were three Australians in a tie for third at 15 under – Elvis Smylie, Aaron Townsend and amateur Jack Buchanan.

Daniel Gale carded the round of the day, an 8-under 64 highlighted by an eagle-two on the short par-4 15th, to move into a tie for ninth at 13 under.

The New South Welshman made his US PGA Tour debut last year when he qualified for the 3M Open in Minnesota.

Rising star Cassie Porter started shakily but finished her third round in superb style, ensuring she remains atop the women’s leaderboard with one day to play in the women’s Vic Open.

Porter teed off yesterday with a five-shot lead, only for most of that to disappear within the space of an hour as she bogeyed three of the first four holes.

The Queenslander steadied the ship for a while with birdies at the 5th and 7th.

But by the time she got to the 18th tee, Porter was two over for the day and had slipped back into a tie for the lead with former world No.1 Jiyai Shin.

But rather than wilting, Porter rose to the occasion with aplomb.

The 20-year-old flushed a 4-iron to six feet on the par-5 18th and coolly drained the eagle putt to move back into outright first at 15-under 202.

For the third time in four days, she will play alongside Shin today (Sunday, February 12) after the Korean carded the best round of the day, a 6-under 66, to improve into a tie for second with Thailand’s Pavarisa Yoktuan at 13 under.

“It was quite a finish,” said Porter, whose level-par round of 72 included the eagle on the 18th, three birdies and five bogeys.

“I needed to pull something out of the bag today.

“It was a bit of a fight out there on the course, super windy.

“The wind was swirling all day so I’m definitely happy to come out with even par.

“I hit the 4-iron (on the 18th).

“We were kind of thinking it would be a little bit short but with the adrenalin on the last hole it got there and it was nice to hole the putt to finish.”

Just as important for Porter was her ability to stay calm after the tough start to her round.

“It was a matter of sticking to my processes and coming back to what I can do in the moment and my feels for the week,” she said.

“It came together and it was nice to fight back.”

The next best-placed Australian was another young gun, Grace Kim, who shot 69 to move into a tie for fifth at eight under.

Seven-time major winner Karrie Webb had a quadruple-bogey eight at the par-4 13th hole, but still remained on course for a top-10 finish.

She signed for a 1-over 73 on Saturday to be in a tie for 14th at three under.

 – WITH AAP