Ten years ago Jake McLeod wrote a school project about his
sporting hero; fellow Yeppoon local Adam Blyth. Tomorrow the pair will go
head-to-head to win the South Pacific Open Championship.

On a day where everything clicked, Adam Blyth fired 6-under
65 to earn top spot on the leaderboard with one round remaining.

"It was a very calm day and the greens were soft so I
thought the scores would be quite low. But when you are in the lead it’s not as
freewheeling as normal, so I guess the other guys didn’t get it together and I
managed to have a good round," said Blyth, who is 12-under the card after three
rounds.

"I got away to a good start with an eagle on the first; I
holed a 30 footer there. I almost had a hole in one on the third. I spun it
back to sit on the lip so that would have been nice."

"I just played really solid and it was just perfect out
there to play golf."

However rookie Pro and second round leader Jake McLeod is
hoping he can recover from his 1-over 72 in the third round to claim the title
from his childhood hero.

"I didn’t do too much damage. I was hitting it really nicely
but I just didn’t hole anything," said McLeod, who is one shot off the pace.

"I was hitting them a bit too firm, I probably would have
holed four more putts if I just had a good speed. I will do a bit of putting
practice this afternoon."

It will be a friendly showdown at Tina Golf Course with the
pair singing each other’s praises.

"We are both from Yeppoon so it will be a bit of fun. I will
just try to out drive him all day and give him a little bit of cheek," added
McLeod.

"I will be a lot more comfortable out there with Adam
because we will chat and have a joke."

Blyth added, "I’ve known Jake since he was in grade six. He
did a project on his sporting hero and he chose me. So that is pretty funny and
I am sure he is embarrassed about it now."

"I really took a liking to Jake, he had a great attitude
growing up and I am really happy to see him doing well."

"But it does make me feel old because I still think I am
young. Each year there are good new players and Jake is definitely one of
them."

At 10-under the card, New Zealander Harry Bateman will join
Blyth and McLeod in the final group tomorrow.

Sitting a further shot back is Victorian Deyen Lawson, who
was among the top picks at the start of the tournament.

Rounding out the top-5 on 8-under the card are Michael
Wright (QLD), Matthew Giles (NSW), Matthew Millar (ACT), Jason Norris (SA), Ben
Clementson (NSW) and Tom Power Horan (VIC).

The final round of the South Pacific Open will
tee off at 7:02am tomorrow morning with the final group on course at 10:50am.