SWEDE Daniel Chopra was hanging on to his one-shot overnight lead, despite an unconvincing start to his final round in the Australian Masters at Huntingdale.
Chopra, who started the day on 12-under, was still on that score after making par on each of the first three holes on Sunday.
Australian Aaron Baddeley remained in second place on 11-under, after going through the opening four holes in even par.
Two more Australians, Stuart Appleby and Kurt Barnes, were tied for third on 10-under.
Appleby, who had played five holes, made an early charge, picking up birdies on the 2nd and 4th holes, after starting the day eight-under par.
Barnes was heading the other way, dropping a shot on the par four 2nd hole when he three-putted, after starting the day tied with Baddeley in second spot.
Chopra, playing with Barnes in the final group, started his round poorly when his opening tee shot went left of the fairway, but he was lucky the ball ended up on the right side of a thick tree trunk, giving him a shot at the hole.
After finding a greenside bunker, he made it out and sunk a par-saving putt.
He again recovered after another wayward tee shot on the 2nd hole to keep his round on track.
Appleby surged into contention with a stunning second shot on the 2nd hole, after he had found trouble off the tee.
He curled his second shot brilliantly around a tree, with the ball finishing just centimetres from the hole for a tap-in birdie.
He sank a long birdie putt on the fourth to move to within two shots of Chopra’s lead and put himself well in contention.
Englishman Dave Horsey shared fifth spot with Australian Rod Pampling, on nine-under par, after gaining seven shots in his first 16 holes.
Horsey had a five-over par 77 in the opening round, but fought back with a seven-under 65 in round two, the equal best round of the tournament so far, and was on track to repeat that score with two holes to play on Sunday.
AAP
Source: Chopra hanging on
