Charlie Dann (16-under, 66)

On handling the nerves as tournament leader

“I was nervous at the start, I was nervous all last night because I haven’t been in that position. If you’re putting yourself in uncomfortable positions on the golf course you know you’re doing something usually quite well. I was pretty excited to be nervous, which was cool. I felt it for the last three holes but then flicked a little switch and felt somewhat comfortable. It was really fun the rest of the day.”

On the tee shot at the fourth hole

“It was a good swing thought for the day on the driver. I hit a really nice one up there and it’s quite skinny where that went so it was pretty nice to pump that one and I felt that driver swing all day. If you can hit driver well around here you’re in play most of the time. The birdie definitely helped things but it was more slotting the drive.”

On the strength of his putting from inside six feet

“I contribute that to the last couple of months of playing. I’ve done a lot of putting over the last six months but I got really technical through that whole period because I wasn’t playing any events but playing these events, I’ve kind of just willed them in. I feel like I’ve taken all the pressure off my stroke and I just try to have good tempo. If I’ve got a good mindset over most of them, I’m sure they’re going to go in.”

On his work with Grant Field over the past six years

“I don’t see him as regularly as his other people. We work on similar things that I know my swing needs. Obviously my swing is a little unique and he knows when I’m playing my best golf that I’m not really thinking about too much. He knows that my game is in me and it’s all about my getting my mind to where I need to get it. He has a belief in what I do and I do to. He’s more of a great support for me rather than a technical coach.”

On whether he will indulge in a pre final round McFlurry

“You know what, I haven’t decided. Tee times have come a little bit earlier, it might hinder my time to go to the toilet. I’m going to say yes. I’m going to have a nice dinner with my girlfriend tonight who I haven’t seen for a couple of months and probably have an early night. And you know what, if we walk past McDonald’s I’m not going to not go in. I’ve had one little bar of chocolate from the pro shop here at Bonnie Doon basically the whole week, bar a couple of little Lindt balls at home. I haven’t actually had as much this week so maybe that’s going to be the trend for me to stop eating so much.”

On handling the nerves of the final round

“I’m expecting to feel more comfortable in the morning and then maybe a bit less uncomfortable as the day goes on. I’m kind of looking forward to it.”

On playing with junior Brielle Mapanao

“I just wanted to help her with the moment as well as myself. I knew talking to her about being nervous and me telling her exactly how I was feeling, we had an understanding and helped each other have some fun. It was really cool to play with her, she’s a very solid golfer. Hopefully I made her feel comfortable.”

Jordan Zunic (13-under, 67)

On his play the first three days

“I just had a bit of an unfortunate chip shot on 18 on Thursday that bobbled on me a bit and came back down the slope but besides that I’ve felt really good all week. I’m hitting the ball pretty well and I’ve holed a few putts which is always nice. It’s been really tough in the southerly the last couple of days and now that I’ve finished I’m absolutely shattered. Every shot you’ve got to really concentrate because the wind’s so strong and if you lose concentration for one shot you can get into some real trouble pretty quickly. I’m really happy with how I’ve gone the last couple of days and I’m glad to be thereabouts. Hopefully I can be right in there tomorrow.”

On his association with Bonnie Doon

“I got picked up here as a junior on a scholarship and I was a member here for the past 15 years up until last year. I obviously know a lot of people here, have a lot of history here at the club and it’s cool to play a professional tournament at what used to be my home club. I still have a lot of ties and a lot of history here and all the members have been really awesome supporting me this week. It feels like home.”

On the difficulty of the conditions

“The good thing about the wind is that because it’s coming from the south it’s consistently coming from the same direction so it’s not swirling. A lot of holes you are hitting uphill and there’s a lot of undulation in the fairways so you’re never really have a flat stance. It always makes it tricky when you’re trying to control your ball into the wind and you’re hitting off side-slopes. Because the wind’s up the greens are getting a little firmer and when they play firmer it’s harder to get close to the pins. All that combined makes it quite tricky.”

On the highlights of his round

“I hit a really nice chip 9-iron into 15. It was into the wind off the right and the pin was tucked in the front i the bowl and I hit one in there to six feet which was really nice. That was nice into the breeze. Besides that it was pretty stock standard birdies, took advantage of the downwind holes on seven, eight, nine and had a two-putt birdie on the par 5 on 14.”

On lessons from leading into the final round of the 2017 Australian PGA

“That was obviously gut-wrenching at the time but I did learn a lot from that experience. Obviously playing against Cam Smith who is an awesome golfer and top-50 player in the world now. I took a lot from that because I said to myself that if I can go toe-to-toe with a guy who has won on the PGA TOUR, it gave me a lot of belief that I can be there. That will make me feel better about going into tomorrow because I know that I’ve played against really world-class players. If everything goes my way tomorrow I definitely know I could do it again.”

On the nerves Dann will be feeling on the first tee Sunday

“I definitely know the feeling. He’s been playing really solid golf even in the weeks leading up to this in a few of the regional events we were all playing. I’m not surprised to see him up there but I’m looking forward to going to battle with him tomorrow. It should be good fun.”

On support crew in the gallery

“I’ve got my wife Olivia, Mum and Dad and my aunties and uncles and a few family friends. It’s always nice when you’ve got them in the crowd supporting you.”

On his form to start 2021

“I didn’t play much last year with COVID and got a part-time job at the Drummond Golf at Taren Point just to help with finances. My game took a bit of a hit because I was only playing once or twice a week just because I was working quite a lot. When I got back into it I said to my caddy that it was going to be a marathon and that it would take four or five weeks of playing to get back to competitive level. We’ve been planning to peak for the NSW Open because that’s our biggest event to finish the season and I just seem to be getting a little bit better with each tournament. It’s bene what I was expecting and everything is trending in the right direction.”

Dale Williamson (11-under, 66)

On his performance the first three days

“The birdies have come pretty easy this week, it’s just been keeping the other stuff off the card. I’ve had a lot of birdies and a few eagles but just trying to stay consistent and get rid of the other rubbish.”

On his double bogey at the par-3 sixth

“I short-sided myself in the bunker and was semi-plugged. I hit that onto the other side of the green, chipped on to eight foot and had a 360-degree horseshoe that came back at me that I was walking in. A couple of metres away from being an OK tee shot to walking off with double was a bit of a shock to the system. I was able to claw it back pretty quick.”

On his strong form to start 2020

“It’s been a work in progress. I’ve put a lot of work in with my coach/mentor Michael Gannon and then started having a few lessons with Gary Barter as well, doing a lot of short game stuff which has really helped and freed up the rest of the game. I’ve generally played pretty solid in the Aussie pro-ams so it was just a matter of time before it started to translate and take that relaxed feel to the four-rounders.”

On confidence from finishing tied 17th at TPS Victoria

“It was definitely positive down in Melbourne and feels similar to these couple of weeks where I’ve left a lot out on the course but the game is definitely trending in the right direction.”

On his approach for the final round

“I was just talking to my coach about it. If I can eliminate a couple of those mistakes and get close to having a bogey-free round where I know I’m going to have a lot of birdies, I should be able to get thereabouts.”

On his friendship with leader Charlie Dann

“I’ve played a lot with Charlie and do a lot of my travelling with him. He’s playing well this week as well and been playing very solid the last couple of months. He absolutely loves his McFlurries from Macca’s. That’s Charlie’s go-to, the ice cream and if he doesn’t have at least half a block of chocolate a night there’s something wrong with him. He’s an M&M man with his McFlurries but we saw the new Cookies McFlurry the other day so he’s pretty keen to get his hands on one of them. I won’t be handing it to him (if he wins); I’ll be tipping it on his head.”