Needing to hit a provisional ball off the tee on his way to an opening bogey in Round 3 was the worst possible start for Percy, who would drop further shots at two and three to lose the share of the lead with which he began the day.

Troubled by a back injury that was exacerbated in Round 2, the 51-year-old righted the ship with birdies at four and seven yet turned 3-over after back-to-back bogeys at eight and nine.

The response was again swift with birdies at the par-3 10th and par-5 11th but further dropped shots at 12, 13 and the par-4 18th would see Percy post 4-over 76 and fall into a tie for 12th at 2-under par.

A congested leaderboard will see Percy start the final round just three strokes back of the lead, major champions Retief Goosen (68) and Angel Cabrera (70) tied with Jason Caron (71) and Phillip Archer (71) at 5-under par.

Percy’s 67 in Round 1 remains the low round of the tournament and gives the 2005 Victorian PGA champion hope of a maiden PGA TOUR Champions win in one of the year’s five senior majors.

Mark Hensby’s 1-under 71 was the best of the Australasian contingent on day three, elevating the New South Welshman into a tie for 19th and within five strokes of the lead.

Australasian scores
T12      Cameron Percy             67-71-76—214
T19      Mark Hensby               71-74-71—216
T27      Scott Hend                   70-74-74—218
T38      Steven Alker (NZ)         75-73-72—220
T38      Brendan Jones             71-74-75—220
T47      Richard Green              71-76-74—221
T58      Andre Stolz                  73-73-78—224
T58      Mick Smith                  72-73-79—224
MC       Rod Pampling              72-78—150
MC       Stuart Appleby             70-81—151
MC       David Bransdon           72-79—151
MC       Michael Wright            75-78—153
MC       Michael Campbell (NZ) 77-81—158

Photo: Courtesy PGA of America