Spieth three off the lead in Sydney

The highlight was his eagle two at the par-four 17th where his 180-yard 8-iron shot bounced twice on the putting surface before rolling into the hole.

The big-hitting 26-year-old, so lowly-ranked he was denied a spot in Wednesday’s pro-am, carded a five-under-par 66 early in the day and only Matt Jones, a member of the host Australian Golf Club, was able to come close in the afternoon with a 67.

Leading the Emirates Australian Open by three shots, Jones is looking to control his aggression in the final round to minimise his mistakes and ensure he sets himself up with an opportunity to claim the Stonehaven Cup.

Adam Scott rebounded from a 73 on Fri.to shoot 68, together with an eagle on the 18th.

Spieth chalked up three bogeys in his first four holes, punished for an errant drive on the first, finding the water on the third and failing to get up and down from a bunker on the fourth. He missed the green but took his putter and holed his third shot.

“Not really, I could have given him one though… getting wet on the 14th”, he said, referring to his club selection on the hole, obviously suggested by Williams.

Scott, playing for the sixth time in eight weeks, was right on the cutline when he finished his second round just before midday Friday, but he eventually was two inside the 4-over cut mark.

Matt Jones retains a three-stroke advantage midway through his third round of the Australian Open in Sydney.

As for his round, he added: “I made a couple of bad swings and a couple of bad decisions”.

Even if he fails to clinch a second Australian Open title on Sunday, he will have one final chance to finish with a trophy when he tees off at Tiger Woods’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas next week.

After a bogey-free outward 32, Spieth made birdies on the back-nine par 5s, Nos.

“But I’ve now seen with enough competitive Sundays that so much happens in 18 holes, so many scores flip and flop”, Spieth said. If I go out and shoot two or three under tomorrow, I’m going to be very tough to beat. “Hopefully I haven’t peaked yet, I know I can hit it better than I did today and if I can get a few more putts we’ll have a good day tomorrow”.

Senior, 56, who rolled back the years to win the Australian Masters last week, said: “It was a bad round”.

“No it is not match play at all”, said the leader.