• Australian Masters

Scott edges closer to defending Australian Masters title

Adam Scott is close to winning a second successive Australian Masters title © Getty Images

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Defending champion Adam Scott moved into a strong position to secure his second successive Australian Masters title after carding a third round of 66 to move into a four-shot lead.

Scott, who won at the Australian PGA last week, leads the field at 14-under-par for the tournament, while Vijay Singh shot a 63 to move into a four-way tie for second.

"I'm in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. "I put the ball in play and made a couple of putts for the first time this week.

"A good score is going to be out there. Not wasting any shots and taking advantage of the good ones. Vijay must have done something like that today."

Matthew Griffin, Nick Cullen and Nathan Holman join Singh at joint second, but the Fijian will partner Scott for the final round on Sunday as he attempts to win his first title since 2008.

"The first nine holes were incredible; I thought I could have birdied every hole. I was three under, but the first eight holes I didn't hit anything outside of 10 feet," Singh said.

"After 2008 I had a couple of operations on my knee so that kind of got me back two years. And then you start to limp and your whole body kind of reacts differently - I started to have a lot of back aches. But last year it started to get better, and I'm much stronger, healthier and happier."

Meanwhile, Jarrod Lyle continued his comeback from a 20-month lay-off due to leukemia by shooting a 70 to leave him at even-par.

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