Turner pulls three shots clear

New Zealander Greg Turner shot a solid two-under-par 70 in windy conditions on Saturday to take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Australian PGA championship.

He led on 206 from Australians Mick O'Hern, round in 72, and pre-tournament favourite Craig Parry (68).

Another Australian, Gavin Coles, carded a 67, the best score of the day, to move into fourth spot four shots off the pace.

Turner held his game together well in the wind to stretch his lead from one shot at the start of the day to three by the end.

He is chasing his first tournament victory since winning the 1997 British Masters.

"It was one of those days to batten down the hatches and was one of the few days where golf pros actually earn their money," said Turner.

206: Greg Turner (NZ) 68 68 70

209: Nick O'Hern (WA) 71 66 72, Craig Parry (WA) 71 70 68

210: Gavin Coles (NSW) 70 73 67

211: Shane Tait (Qld) 69 71 71, Tony Christie (NZ) 70 70 71

212: Robert Allenby (Vic) 70 71 71, Rod Pampling (Qld) 72 72 68, Anthony Wall (England) 73 66 73

213: David Smail (NZ) 71 69 73, Michael Long (NZ) 73 69 71, Tony Mills (Vic) 69 69 75

214: Paul Moloney (Vic) 69 72 73

215: Mark Hensby (Vic) 72 73 70, Stephen Allan (Vic) 73 72 70, Brett Partridge (Tas) 69 70 76, Geoff Ogilvy (Vic) 71 67 77

216: Byron Clarkson (WA) 75 71 70, Craig Warren (NSW) 69 72 75, Marcus Cain (Qld) 69 72 75, Martin Doyle (Vic) 69 73 74, Bradley Hughes (Vic) 71 71 74, Matthew Ecob (NSW) 70 71 75

217: Jarrod Moseley (WA) 72 72 73, Stephen Gordon (NZ) 78 66 73, Brett Ogle (NSW) 72 69 76, Kim Felton (WA) 68 74 75, Per Haugsrud (Norway) 70 70 77, Matthew King (Qld) 70 69 78, Richard Green (Vic) 67 73 77

218: Adrian Percey (SA) 73 71 74, Darren Cole (Vic) 73 73 72, John Senden (Qld) 69 74 75, Matthew Lane (NZ) 72 73 73, Michael Barry (Vic) 72 74 72, Michael Clayton (Vic) 73 71 74, Mathew Goggin (Tas) 71 70 77, Chad Wright (US) 70 70 78, Nathan Gatehouse (NSW) 73 69 76

219: Chris Gray (WA) 72 72 75, Davidson Matyczuk (Canada) 74 71 74, Neil Kerry (NSW) 72 73 74, Paul Gow (NSW) 75 70 74, Peter Fowler (NSW) 71 73 75, Peter Lonard (NSW) 74 72 73

220: Craig Carmichael (ACT) 71 73 76, Craig Hanson (Vic) 70 74 76, Euan Walters (Vic) 74 71 75, Grant Moorhead (NZ) 72 73 75, David Ecob (NSW) 71 69 80, David Hill (Vic) 67 75 78, Elliot Boult (NZ) 70 69 81, George Serhan (NSW) 69 68 83

221: David A Armstrong (Vic) 70 73 78, David Podlich (Qld) 72 72 77, Malcolm Baker (WA) 72 74 75

222: Craig Spence (Vic) 73 72 77, Stephen Scahill (NZ) 73 73 76

223: David Van Raalte (NSW) 76 68 79, Peter Senior (Qld) 73 71 79

224: Anthony Painter (NSW) 70 76 78, Brendan Chant (SA) 71 75 78, Steve Collins (WA) 75 71 78

225: Jean-Louis Guepy (France) 72 74 79, Robert Stephens (Vic) 72 74 79

229: Marcus Norgren (Sweden) 75 71 83