Queenslander Adam Blyth climbed up the leaderboard in round three of the Oates Vic Open shooting 7-under 65 to jump in to tied fifth position.

The 2016 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Player of the Year shot 69 and 71 in the opening two rounds to put himself within striking distance and is happy with his performance coming in to the business end of the tournament.

“It was a great round, it was good to get out early in good conditions, I don’t know how the leading guys will go out there today to be in the hunt to be honest, I’m sure they’ll shoot good rounds,” Blyth said.

“I started well with a nice putt on the first and that’s always a good feeling, I just played really well today and struck it so well, even the putts I missed I hit it in the right spots but they just didn’t drop.”

Blyth could be forgiven for nerves starting to creep in, he was in a similar position on the leaderboard heading in to the final round last year.

However a capitulation of six bogeys saw him plummet quickly out of contention and thoughts of what could have been.

Rather than stew on his missed opportunity, Blyth uses the final round as a driving force to this day.

“I think a lot of people think of last year as a bad thing and I didn’t, I thought of it as a good thing, I learned a lesson from it.

“I got out of playing my game, I started thinking of other people, thinking of results and getting out of what got me there. It was a lesson to learn and in the spotlight it was hard but they’re the ones you learn from.

“You can either take it two ways, it can really get you down and you never want to be there again, or you want to be there again and keep getting there until it’s done and that’s the feeling I have.”

The 36-year-old now waits on the results of the afternoon session to see where he officially finishes and who he’ll be teeing it up with in the final round.

“I don’t watch the scoreboard very often but I might at the end of the day and see who’s leading and how far back I am.

“It’s nice to be there on Sunday, hopefully I’ll get out early again and shoot a good score.”

Joining Blyth watching the leaders tee off will be 2015 Vic Open champion Richard Green who also shot 7-under 65 to go to tied second, one shot behind outright leader Jake McLeod.

“I started off well today, made a birdie early in the round and got the ball rolling,” Green said.

The local expects the leading group of McLeod, David McKenzie and Dimitrios Papadatos to post good scores with ideal conditions at Thirteenth Beach Golf Links.

“The conditions are pretty perfect unless the wind picks up you can’t really think they’re not going to shoot a good score.

“The pressure when you’re leading and trying to maintain a lead that can sub-consciously unsettle you a little bit in my experience.

“I give myself a chance to be there somewhere; I think if I’m within five shots I should be alright.”

The afternoon session is now on course.