Wind specialist Matthew Stieger has stormed into contention in the third round of the men's Vic Open at 13th Beach.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The former Narrabri native, who won the Australian Amateur title back in 2011, teed off in the first group at 0640 (AEDT) on Saturday and later signed for a seven-under 65 which gave him a three-round total of 13-under 203.
The 27-year-old cut his teeth at the coastal Sydney club of St Michaels and was largely unfazed by the wind which whipped around 13th Beach on Saturday.
"I've played a lot of golf in the wind so I actually like these types of conditions," Stieger said.
"The first day it didn't blow at all and I shot one-under.
"Then yesterday it blew in the afternoon, I shot five-under and then it blew this morning and I shot seven-under.
"So it's getting better and better, which is good.
"I'm just hoping for another day like this tomorrow."
Englishman Callum Shinkwin also shot up the leaderboard to 203 after carding a 66 on Saturday.
Two other players to make big early moves were South African Justin Harding and Australian David Bransdon.
Harding signed for a 66 to move to 12-under 204, one shot clear of Bransdon (67).
The wind got even stronger on Saturday afternoon, making low scoring much more difficult.
Australian Brad Kennedy held the lead at 14-under through 10 holes, one shot clear of Stieger, Shinkwin, Wade Ormsby and overnight co-leader Jason Scrivener, who was one-over through the front nine.
Fellow overnight leader Nick Flanagan dropped five shots on the front nine on Saturday to slip back to nine-under.
The $A1.5 million men's Vic Open is co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
Australian Associated Press