MELBOURNE, December 17, 2011 (AFP) - Australian Geoff Ogilvy fired a course record eight-under 63 to supplant England's Ian Poulter as the third round leader of the Australian Masters at Victoria Golf Club on Saturday.
Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, used his intimate knowledge of the course he played as a teenager to fire nine birdies and an eagle two at the opening hole, to lead Poulter by two shots.
Ogilvy said he was "embarrassed and frustrated" on the opening day of the tournament when he bent his putter and had to use a wedge to putt the final two holes.
But he showed the episode was behind him with some outstanding shots with a new mallet putter on Friday and Saturday.
"Sometimes your brain needs to look at something different and it has worked. So now I'm in love with my putter again," Ogilvy said.
Poulter, who led the tournament over the opening two rounds, said he was intent on chasing down Ogilvy, who at 42 is 14 spots below the Englishman in the world rankings.
Poulter is in search of valuable world ranking points in his last tournament of the year and only trails Ogilvy by two shots despite the Australian's superb round.
The Englishman posted a third round 69 -- two under -- around the tight Melbourne course, leaving him 11 under after 54 holes.
"Hats off to Geoff going out and shooting under par in that wind today," Poulter said.
"That's a great score. When someone posts a course record on you on Saturday then generally they move forward. Geoff has done that and I will be chasing him down tomorrow."
Poulter said he had recovered from a stomach bug which had troubled him during Friday's second round but described his third round as "awkward."
It has been left to Poulter to fly the flag for England after world number one Luke Donald struggled to post a good score Saturday.
Donald, who last week secured a record same season top finish in both the US and European money lists, could only manage a 70 to be five under for the tournament and eight shots off the leader.
"I had a lot of opportunities. I could not convert them on the greens," he said.
"I've been struggling all week to hole those 10 to 15 footers that you need to gain some momentum in the round.
"But you never say never. Geoff (Ogilvy) looks like he's playing well, there's definitely a low round out there. Hopefully I can shoot a low one tomorrow and give myself a chance."
Donald said he has always been impressed by Ogilvy's golf.
"He's a great golfer. He has good touch around the greens and he's pretty solid off the tee as well. He does not do too much wrong.
"He obviously knows this place very well and is showing that."
Third round scores from the Australian Masters at the par-71, 6297-metre Victoria Golf Club course in Melbourne on Saturday (Australian unless stated):
200 - Geoff Ogilvy 71-66-63
202 - Ian Poulter (ENG) 65-68-69
204 - Nathan Green 69-68-67, Ashley Hall 66-70-68
206 - Steven Bowditch 70-69-67, Greg Chalmers 69-70-67, Peter Lonard 67-70-69, Kieran Pratt 67-70-69, Matthew Giles 67-68-71
207 - John Senden 70-70-67, Peter Senior 69-70-68, Brent McCullough 71-66-70
208 - David Smail (NZL) 70-73-65, Marcus Fraser 70-69-69, Luke Donald (ENG) 69-70-69, Cameron Percy 70-69-69, Jarrod Lyle 67-71-70, Brendan Jones 69-68-71
209 - Luke Hickmott 70-71-68, Brad Kennedy 71-69-69, Nick Cullen 72-68-69, Daniel Beckmann 73-67-69, Peter Fowler 71-67-71
210 - Robert Allenby 73-70-67, Craig Scott 72-69-69, Gareth Paddison (NZL) 69-71-70
Selected scores
215 - Matteo Manassero (ITA) 76-67-72
218 - Peter Tomasulo (USA) 71-73-74
219 - Will Strickler (USA) 73-70-76