Perth International 2016: Saturday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

Louis Oosthuizen continued his charge up the leaderboard at the 2016 Perth International on Saturday and holds a three-shot lead over Friday's joint leader Peter Uihlein at 15 under par.

An impressive seven under from Romain Wattel brought him level with the American at 12 under ahead of the final day at Lake Karrinyup, and Jason Scrivener is one shot behind him with a three-under 69.

Perth native Brett Rumford, who shared the top spot with Uihlein on Friday, slipped down the standings as he could only hit a disappointing plus one in a mixed round.

Here's a look at the leaderboard at the close of play on a thrilling moving day:

#	Player	Score	R3
1	Louis Oosthuizen	-15	67
T2	Romain Wattel	-12	65
T2	Peter Uihlein	-12	71
4	Jason Scrivener	-11	69
5	Brett Rumford	-10	73
T6	Marcus Fraser	-9	65
T6	Mikko Korhonen	-9	66
T6	Richard Lee	-9	68
T6	Mardan Mamat	-9	69
T6	Alexander Levy	-9	70

The full leaderboard can be accessed at the European Tour's official website.

Saturday Recap

An eventful start in Perth ensured Oosthuizen made meaningful gains on the leaderboard within just two holes.

The South African picked up a shot on the first hole—courtesy of an impressive approach shot—and that immediately saw him draw level with the the leaders, per the European Tour:

Uihlein quickly rose to the challenge and answered with a birdie of his own in the opener, but Rumford could only manage a bogey after teeing off directly into the trees.

Oosthuizen cemented his solid start with a par at the second, but some poor putting from both Uihlein and Rumford ensured they dropped a shot each. As the tournament's official Twitter feed and sport reporter Chris Robinson illustrate, Rumford was already slipping down the leaderboard:

"

Lots of action in the opening 2 holes!@Louis57TM: birdie, par. -11@PeterUihlein: birdie, bogey. -11
Rumford: bogey, bogey. -9#PerthIntl

— Perth International (@PerthIntl) February 27, 2016"

Indeed, though the 38-year-old looked to have salvaged his disastrous start when he birdied the third, another bogey at the fourth all but ended his hopes of keeping pace with his rivals.

Bogeys at the ninth and 13th made his afternoon even worse, though he did provide one of the day's highlights as he chipped in from the bunker for an eagle at the 14th:

A stunning second consecutive eagle at the 15th helped him salvage the round and move back to par, but he dropped another shot at the 17th.

Oosthuizen and Uihlein made further gains at the 554-yard, par-five third—the former almost chipping in for an eagle—and an excellent 30-foot putt at the sixth gave the world No. 21 some slight breathing room at the top:

The 33-year-old finished the front nine in style thanks to birdies at the seventh and ninth, while Uihlein kept pace just one shot behind as he picked up shots at the seventh and eighth.

The American's challenge took a catastrophic turn, though, as he suffered a triple bogey at the 148-yard 12th:

"

Disaster on the par-3 12th for @PeterUihlein. On for 4 and two putts. Triple bogey 6 makes him -11 in 3rd #PerthIntl pic.twitter.com/wxaKQrGVPH

— Perth International (@PerthIntl) February 27, 2016"

Uihlein responded well to the setback and within three holes had made back two of the shots:

"

Great work by @PeterUihlein to bounce back with birdies on 14 and 15. He's back into 2nd on -13 #PerthIntl pic.twitter.com/B0pGWlCTyc

— Perth International (@PerthIntl) February 27, 2016"

Meanwhile, Oosthuizen cut short his own significant lead with a disappointing end to the round as he bogeyed the 16th and 17th.

Wattel's exceptional round began with four consecutive birdies between the second and the fifth, and as Perth International revealed, he was one of the few to conquer the tricky 18th:

"

Incredible round by @WattelRomain. The 18th has troubled everyone today but he birdied to take 2nd at -13 #PerthIntl pic.twitter.com/98TV0aYc3x

— Perth International (@PerthIntl) February 27, 2016"

Oosthuizen's late stumble has handed the Frenchman and Uihlein a real lifeline, and both can provide a strong challenge for him on Sunday.

Per the European Tour, he believes it will be an open final day. He said:

"

I think anyone will expect to win, but there's a lot of golf to be played. You need to still hit the shots. Around this golf course especially, someone can go three, four under in the first five holes and it changes everything.

I need to play good golf tomorrow, solid golf, give myself a lot of birdie opportunities like I did today, and there's not much more that you can do then.

"

The one-time major winner and seven-time European Tour winner should have the experience to close out the win from three shots ahead, but as Day 3 showed, gains are easily made and lost on the unpredictable course in Perth.