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Coolum - KT Kim played steadily over the back nine while other challengers fell around him, shooting a bogey-free 5-under-par 67 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Bubba Watson into the final round of the Australian PGA.
Kim, who played for the losing International side at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne last week, had a 54-hole total of 13-under 203 at the Hyatt Regency resort course.
Watson, who held the lead for part of the third round, double-bogeyed the par-5 15th with bad chips out of the rough to finish with a 69.
Aaron Baddeley was in third place after a 67, three strokes behind. Second-round leader Marcus Fraser (74), YE Yang (70) and David Brandson (67) were tied for fourth, four strokes behind.
Watson had an eventful 18th, pulling his tee shot into the rough, then hitting a shot with his rescue club into the green which ricocheted into a marquee and bounced into the rough. But the American got up and down for par to stay within one of Kim.
Robert Allenby moved into a share of the lead before dropping four shots on the last six holes to shoot 71 and was five shots back, tied for seventh with Matthew Giles (68).
Australian Rod Pampling, with a 66, the best round of the day, was tied for ninth, six strokes behind Kim.
A quartet of leading Australian players Greg Norman (69), Jason Day (72), Adam Scott (73) and Stuart Appleby (72) were tied for 13th, seven shots behind.
American Rickie Fowler, making his first appearance as a professional in Australia, shot 70 and was tied for 22nd, nine behind.
British Open champion Darren Clarke had an awful day, shooting 79, prompting him to tweet: "Sometimes golf is easy, sometimes golf is tough but today I was brutal!! lovemyjob." He was at 5-over-par and tied for 61st of 66 golfers who made the cut.
Third-round scores from the 1.5-million-dollar Australian PGA on the par-72 Hyatt Regency course in Coolum on Saturday (Australian unless stated):
203 - Kim Kyung-Tae (KOR) 69-67-67
204 - Bubba Watson (USA) 67-68-69
206 - Aaron Baddeley 67-72-67
207 - Marcus Fraser 68-65-74, Y.E. Yang (KOR) 69-68-70, David Bransdon 69-71-67
208 - Robert Allenby 69-68-71, Matthew Giles 70-70-68
209 - Aaron Townsend 67-71-71, Greg Chalmers 71-69-69, John Senden 73-64-72, Rod Pampling 72-71-66
210 - Marc Leishman 70-69-71, Adam Scott 70-67-73, Jason Day 69-69-72, Stuart Appleby 70-68-72, Greg Norman 72-69-69, Kurt Barnes 69-69-72
211 - Chan Shih-Ching (TPE) 69-69-73, Choi Joon-Woo (KOR) 66-73-72, Han Chang-Won (KOR) 68-72-71
Selected:
212 - Rickie Fowler (USA) 69-73-70
214 - Andre Stolz 67-77-70
215 - Peter Senior 70-73-72
216 - Geoff Ogilvy 72-69-75, Steven Bowditch 66-73-77, Li Haotong (CHN) 72-70-74
219 - Eugene Choe (USA) 70-74-75
221 - Kim Woo Hyun (KOR) 74-69-78, Darren Clarke (NIR) 69-73-79, Kang Sung-Hoon (KOR) 75-69-77
224 - Jason Kang (USA) 72-72-80
