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He has history in his sights yet Deyen Lawson is determined to stay in the moment as he seeks to close out a wire-to-wire win at the Nexus Advisernet WA Open in Perth.
Lawson has had The Western Australian Golf Club at his mercy from day one, his six-under 64 on Saturday his worst score of the week to establish an eight-shot advantage with one round to play.
A four-time runner-up on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, the 31-year-old will be paired in the final round with second-year professional Lawry Flynn (62) and amateur sensation Jeffrey Guan (64).
A bogey at 17 reduced his lead to seven but a bunker shot on 18 that he described as “the best shot I’ve hit all week” set up a closing birdie to reach 21-under through 54 holes.
The tournament low score relative to par – 23-under set by Ryan Fox in 2014 – is almost certain to fall while Lawson can also challenge Kel Nagle’s record 11-stroke win in 1951 for the largest winning margin in tournament history.
Yet rather than ponder a place in Australian golf folklore, Lawson reiterated the mantra that has been on repeat all week.
“Just be where my feet are and try and play solid,” Lawson said of his final-round approach.
“You want to think about winning and putting yourself in a position but, at the same time, be where your feet are and just stay in the moment a bit more and enjoy it.
“Just go out and play. You know someone’s going to play good so I need to just keep trying to make birdies and hopefully get in a position where I can play the last hole with a big lead.
“That would be ideal.”
Six shots up at the start of play, Lawson’s lead grew to seven when both Michael Sim (67) and Adam Brady (70) bogeyed the par-3 first.
Six birdies between the fourth and 12th holes put him 10 strokes clear, sending shockwaves through those valiantly trying to reel him in.
“We could see Deyen on a couple of the holes, because they were quite close,” said Flynn, who made eight successive ‘3s’ from the eighth hole.
“We were on the 15th green looking at the scoreboard. At the time I was six-under before putting on that green and I’m playing pretty good and I was still 10 shots back.
“He’s playing some unbelievable golf. It’s pretty hard to catch him.”
A gap wedge that spun back off the 13th green led to just his third bogey of the week, another dropped shot at 17 offering the chasing pack a glimmer of hope.
But a 3-wood from the right trees into the bunker right of the green on 18 provided the perfect dress rehearsal for the pressure he will feel on Sunday afternoon.
“Probably the best shot I’ve hit all week to be honest, under the circumstances,” said Lawson, who will head to DP World Tour Qualifying School early next month.
“After bogeying 17 I was very happy with that one.
“If I missed it was going to be a little bit heavy and roll out a bit but I got it absolutely perfect.
“It nearly went in in the end and just a three-footer up the hill to finish.”
Flynn shared round-of-the-day honours with WA amateur Connor Fewkes, his eight-under 62 pushing him up into a tie for sixth with one round to play.
Winner of the Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass last month, Guan went bogey-free in his round of six-under 64 to play his way into the final group.
Saturday also saw the first round of the WA Open All Abilities Championship, Cameron Pollard 10 shots clear following a superb round of five-over 75.
One of only four Australians who will contest the Australian All Abilities Championship at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, Pollard won last week’s WA PGA All Abilities Championship in Kalgoorlie and was one-over through his first 10 holes on Saturday.
It promises to be a tight tussle for the minor placings with Lachlan Smith, Gary Burgess and Scott Smith all within one shot of each other.
Play will commence at 7.51am AWST on Sunday morning with the lead group to tee off at 9.52am.
Click here for Round 3 scores and Round 4 draw.
