Deyen Lawson (70, 10-under)

On following up his course-record 64

“I try and approach very round the same these days whether you’re in front or coming last. Just play my own game shot by shot and no matter how I’m going just try and hit each shot as good as I can.

“I wasn’t playing great but I managed to get a score and give myself some chances. Even if I’d rolled a few more putts in I could have gone a bit lower not hitting it great so that was a good sign.”

On making bogeys on two par 3s

“One of the par 3s was not a great swing and the other was probably the best swing I made all day.

“One of the par 3s I misjudged the wind a little. I actually hit a really, really good shot and just didn’t end up how I wanted.

“The other par 3 I blocked it into the bunker and short-sided myself. I hit a really good bunker shot to eight foot and then lipped out.”

On his approach to the third round

“The top eight are exempt through the first round of the match play so I’d say that’s the goal that everyone’s looking at. At the same time, I’m trying to have a mindset of no matter what tournament it is, what round it is or how I’m going just hit each shot as good as I can. Not thinking about any outside influences. When you’re walking around you can think about stuff like that but if your routine and your process is really good it’s just another shot. If your routine’s good you reset when you get to the ball each time. It’s almost impossible to not think about some things but the better I can do it the easier it will get.”

On playing Blitz Golf Glenelg in preparation

“The early rounds of the Blitz you just need to make sure you get through and then it turns into a match play format. If you get through to the Sunday here there might be times when you have to make a putt to win the hole or halve the hole so you’re going to be a bit more aggressive. Even then if you stick to the process you’re probably going to hit more good shots more often than not. Because the greens are tricky, if you miss it in the wrong spots you can really get penalised pretty easily.”

Levi Sclater (69, 4-under)

On dropping shots on his final two holes

“I pulled my tee shot off 17 and then had to punch one short of the green and didn’t make up and down, just missed the putt. Up 18 I hit a decent tee shot and I was just in the rough. There was a stick right next to the ball that I couldn’t move and when I’ve hit that it came out a bit right. I was short-right of the green and the pin was up the back tier, it was a pretty dead pin. I hit a pretty good chip but had 20 foot for par and almost holed it but finished with a couple of bogeys.”

On making the cut

“I wanted to make the first cut for sure but I just thought I’d see how I go. If I’m going all right then the goal is now to make the second cut.”

On nerves playing first professional event

“I was a bit nervous on the 10th hole – my first hole – in the first round but once I got going and made a couple of birdies it was pretty good. Today was the same. I was less nervous on the first hole today. It took me a few holes and then I made three birdies in a row and that kick-started me for the day.”

On the local support

“I’ve only got Dad here at the course the last couple of days but I’ve been getting a fair amount of messages and stuff after my rounds. People saying well done and stuff like that.”

On preparing for his professional debut

“I thought the more time I put in hopefully the better I can play during the week. I’ve been to Yallourn every day this week but it’s different practising with all the pros and stuff leading up to it.”

On major influence on golf career to date

“I’d have to say my coach, Trevor Pridmore. Sometimes I go out and play holes with him and we play against each other. It took me a fair few years to beat him and finally did that a couple of years ago. He’s been a pretty good help for me.”

Geoff Ogilvy (70, 2-under)

On the difficulty of the conditions on Friday

“Today was super tricky. That was about as tricky a conditions as you’ll ever play in. It’s a lot stronger today. Stronger now than it was for us yesterday morning anyway. And it swirls a lot here because it’s quite hilly and there are a lot of big trees so you were never really sure of where it was going. Frustrating sometimes. You’d hit a good shot and the wind would do something weird to it, but it was doable if you hit good shots.”

On how the format affects his mindset going into the third round

“I hadn’t really thought that far ahead but clearly the job for the first three days is to make the match play. And then the further up you can get you get that bye in the first round which would be a big advantage too. The match play’s the key. You can’t win the tournament if you don’t make it and if you do make the match play you can win the tournament. It’s a strange tournament like that. Normally you’d be eight back and thinking you’ve got a long way to go on the weekend but I’ve just got to make sure I get in the match play tomorrow and then anything can happen over six-hole matches.”

On his approach to the Yallourn layout

“I’ve actually played really conservative. Maybe the old-school golfer in me has been burnt too many times on courses like this. It’s certainly a course that invites aggression. Some doglegs you can take over some trees and drive it near some par 4s. It’s a big advantage if you can pull it off but it’s so firm out here and with the way the wind was, it seemed a bit more prudent to just try and find fairways and find greens and attack it that way. The fairways and greens are immaculate, but as soon as you get off track, it’s very firm and you get those weird bounces and you can be on some sticks under trees, which is all part of country golf.”

On how the layout sets up for match play

“I played quite conservative but coming to the match play I think I would pull driver out quite a bit more. Aggression is worth it if you hit a good shot but it’s fraught with danger. You can get into some really awkward spots. You can get some weird lies around the greens. It’s not hard but they’re not lies that we’re used to having. It’s an adjustment. You can be not far off but be in a really awkward position.”

Jason Norris (68, 6-under)

On the conditions on Friday

“It’s tough out there. It was really hard. The wind was all over the place, you couldn’t judge it with the trees and then the greens were rock hard, bouncy, it’s not easy. There are a lot of trees and it swirls around the trees so you just can’t get an idea of where it’s coming from. If you’re a little bit off here you’re in big trouble.”

On his preparation for the tournament

“I’ve actually been playing all right which is a bit of a surprise because I’ve had six weeks off prior to this. I’m hitting it all right but I haven’t been putting well. I missed three three-footers the last couple of days but just playing solid. In the last five weeks I’ve played 37 holes and hit about 80 balls so it’s good to come out and play all right. I was playing good before then. I’m a believer that if you think right you can still play all right.”

On whether qualifying for the match play enters his thinking

“You do deep down but I was trying not to think about it. I’ve been really good with sticking in the moment and working on my processes again. If you start thinking about that you generally make bogeys and double bogeys. It would be good to have a good score again tomorrow and see how it goes.”

On his struggles with the putter

“It’s the first time I’ve had the yips for a while. I changed to the claw and then I wasn’t missing the three-footers then. I’d been putting well for the past year but just a bit nervy here this week. I four-putted 18 on Thursday and yipped it from three feet on the third today, which wasn’t great. Ash Hall was using the claw and I’d used that in the past so I thought, I like that, I switched to that and I putt pretty good short range with that. I think tomorrow I might go cross-hand from longer range and claw from short range. That’s what I was doing in Fiji and it worked.”