McDowell and Scott set for final-day battle
Less than a year after hiring golf's most successful caddie in a bid to end his long wait for a first major title, Australian Adam Scott hopes he is just 18 holes from achieving his dream at Royal Lytham tomorrow.
But, even though he holds a four-stroke lead going into the last leg of the Open Championship, the 31-year-old knows the toughest part is still to come.
And, despite the quality of those just behind him, Scott also knows the biggest battle is with himself.
Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, up into joint second with American Brandt Snedeker after a superb 67, came from three shots back on the final day to win the 2010 US Open and only last month was one putt away from forcing a play-off in the same event.
And then there is Tiger Woods one stroke further back in fourth place. He senses a chance to grab his third Claret Jug and 15th major four traumatic years after he last tasted success at the highest level.
New Zealander Steve Williams is the man on Scott's bag and he helped Woods win 13 of his 14 majors before being sacked last summer.
Williams made no secret of how angry he was about that after staying with Woods throughout his sex scandal and when Scott won a world championship last August he called it "the best win of my life".
Then three months later at a caddie awards dinner in China Williams aimed what he later admitted could be construed as a racist comment about his former boss.
They have done battle face-to-face since then in the Presidents Cup, with one win for each of them, but not in a major. It could be some day.
Taking advantage of Snedeker running into all sorts of problems following his major-record-equalling first two rounds, Scott moved to 11 under par and back out in front with a 68.
His 199 total is only one outside the championship record set by Tom Lehman on the Lancashire links in 1996.
Snedeker had not been in a single bunker or registered a single bogey in his opening 36 holes - but it was not long before that all changed.
He three-putted the 219-yard fifth from just short of the green and then found sand with his approach to the next.
It cost him another dropped shot after he came out sideways and Scott's six straight pars were good enough to take him back into the lead he had held with his opening 64.
Both birdied the long seventh, but while Scott then added a 25-foot putt for another at the 416-yard eighth Snedeker ran up his third bogey after finding the rough.
That made the gap three and when it became four after Snedeker visited another bunker at the ninth, the Nashville golfer was not even second on his own.
Alongside him was Woods. Six back after bogeys at the first and third he re-ignited his bid with an outrageous 60-footer at the difficult sixth and followed with more birdies at the seventh and ninth.
Snedeker's day got worse when he ran up a six on the long 11th, but Scott was on in two and not far away from an eagle. The tap-in birdie swept him five clear.
He did bogey the next, but six closing pars kept him in firm control and on course to become Australia's first winner of the title since Greg Norman in 1993 and their first major champion since Geoff Ogilvy at the 2006 US Open.
