Sunday 19 February 2017 10:38, UK
Brett Rumford finished the strokeplay section of the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth five shots clear of the field.
Rumford carded a four-under 68 at Lake Karrinyup to finish his third round on 17 under, well clear of a group of six players who also secured byes for the opening matchplay round on Sunday.
The eighth bye went to Australia's Jake Higginbottom, who carded the best third round of the six players on 11 under par.
Rumford's round was not all straightforward, as he stumbled to a double bogey on the seventh to drop to two over for the day.
But back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th got him back to level and he birdied four out of five holes from the 13th to restore his clear advantage.
Four of his Australian compatriots - Jason Scrivener, Adam Blyth, Lucas Herbert and Steven Jeffress - secured byes by finishing on 12 under along with Canada's Austin Connelly and Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa.
Higginbottom had six birdies in his Saturday round of 66, the best of those players tied on 11 under, all of whom qualify for the matchplay stage but face an extra game on Sunday.
The top 24 players qualify for Sunday's matchplay phase, with all games being played over six holes.
Ryan Evans of England, Belgium's Thomas Detry, Daniel Fox and David Bransdson of Australia and American Johannes Veerman also made it through on 11 under.
Australia's Nick Cullen and Hideto Tanihara of Japan progressed on 10 under, while home players Adam Bland and Wade Ormsby, Spain's Pep Angles and Casey O'Toole of the United States safely made Sunday's play on nine under.
The intrigue came in the eight-strong group on eight under, where only five further qualification places were available.
The players all returned to the 18th tee, where pars from Australian pair Matthew Millar and Sam Brazel, Scotsman Duncan Stewart and India's Jeev Milkha Singh were enough to secure qualification.
With only one place remaining, Germany's Sebastian Heisele and Jordan Smith of England were eliminated with bogeys.
That left Ryan Fox of New Zealand and Thailand's 17-year-old Phachara Khongwatmai to go down a third play-off hole, and it was the latter able to celebrate when he made par to snatch the 24th spot.
World Super6 Matchplay draw:
1. Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) v Duncan Stewart (Sco).
Winner plays Brett Rumford (Aus)
2. Nick Cullen (Aus) v Ryan Evans (Eng).
Winner plays Jason Scrivener (Aus)
3. Matthew Millar (Aus) v Casey O'Toole (USA).
Winner plays Austin Connelly (Can)
4. Johannes Veerman (USA) v Daniel Fox (Aus).
Winner plays Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)
5. Adam Bland (Aus) v Thomas Detry (Bel).
Winner plays Adam Blyth (Aus)
6. Sam Brazel (Aus) v Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha).
Winner plays Lucas Herbert (Aus)
7. David Bransdon (Aus) v Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind)
Winner plays Steven Jeffress (Aus)
8. Wade Ormsby (Aus) v Pep Angles (Spa)
Winner plays Jake Higginbottom (Aus)
