Jordan Spieth shoots 70, doesn’t do much moving at Australian Open

SYDNEY – Defending champion Jordan Spieth never looked like getting on track for a move up the leaderboard on Saturday, shooting a 1-under 70 to leave himself a daunting task to win his third Australian Open in four years.

His 54-hole total of 2-under 211 will likely leave him about eight strokes behind the leaders by the end of the round, the same as when he started.

Spieth bogeyed the fourth hole after three pars to open his round. He got that shot back with a birdie on the par-4 sixth, then needed putts of 12 feet and three feet to save par on the next two holes.

He hit wayward tee shots on the final three holes of the front nine, bogeying the ninth for a 1-over 36. On the back, he birdied the par-5 14th to get back to even par on the day, then added a tap-in birdie on the 18th.

When Spieth won his first Australian Open in 2014, he shot a then-course record 63 in the final round at The Australian to win by six shots.

“Yeah, that’s what we need,” Spieth said. “We need 8-under; that would probably be enough given the conditions for tomorrow, may not even need that much but it’s going to be so difficult tomorrow that I’ll go out and try and get under par early and just see what the golf course gets to.”

Spieth said six strokes was the largest deficit he’s made up in the final round of a tournament as a professional.

“So, if there’s any place to come from way behind, it’s here, from where I’ve seen,” he said. “Tomorrow’s going to be a grind for the leaders, going off even later. If I can sneak a few breaks in, get a couple of long putts to go or chip in or something like that. I’m going to have to have some magic.”

The round of the day belonged to Takumi Kanaya, a 19-year-old Japanese amateur, who had six birdies and a bogey on the back nine for a 65. Kanaya, who was in the third group of the day on Saturday morning, moved into the top 10.