Three years ago Robert Allenby rolled out the welcome mat for little-known Australian golfer James Nitties at his Florida home.

The Melbourne-born youngster was in America ahead of representing Australia at the Eisenhower Trophy in Puerto Rico in 2004.

The pair, along with fellow Australians Michael Sims and Jarrod Lyle, practised, ate and sunk some beers with the experienced golfer.

"I looked after them for a few days," Allenby said on Saturday as he shared the lead with Nitties following the third round of the MFS Australian Open in Sydney.

"I practised with them, took them to Jack Nicklaus' club, and looked after them."

"He's (James) a great guy and has a great game. It's great to see him playing well."

"He's a tough competitor, still learning."

But on Sunday, Allenby and Nitties will go head-to-head as they share the lead at 10-under ahead of the final day of the Open at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney.

"Off the course, he's just a normal Aussie dude," Nitties said of his meeting with Allenby in Florida in 2004.

"We went over for a BBQ and he took us out on his boat."

"We drank some beers, but on the course, he's determined and tenacious."

"Hopefully it will be comfortable for me tomorrow (Sunday) as I've played with him before."

But the 25-year-old can expect no favours as Allenby attempts to win his 21st career tournament.

After a three-under 69, the 36-year-old warned he is approaching career-best form and is hungry for yet another win on home soil.

"I swung it the best I've swung it all year," Allenby said.

"It was tough today, really tricky out there. I made some good putts, made some good clutch putts."

"I've been working hard on my swing all year and really hit some unbelievable shots out there."

"But, it's the Australian Open and it's a tough tournament to win."

Nitties too is excited about sharing the lead with Allenby as he attempts to claim the Stonehaven Cup.

"I'm happy with the result," he said of his three-under 69.

"I played scrappy early, but really happy with the result."

"It was tough to gauge which way the wind was going. The front nine it was pretty consistent but the back nine it really swelled there."

"The greens really got hard towards the end, all week we've been playing at the pin, you had to play before it a little today."

"I'll sleep well ... this sort of thing does not keep me up any more."

"I'm a really light sleeper. I'll sleep like a baby, up every two hours crying ... nah, just joking."

Collated third round scores & totals in the the Australian Tour, MFS Australian Open Championship, The Australian Golf Club, Rosebery, New South Wales, Australia

(Aus unless stated, par 72):

206 Robert Allenby 67 70 69, James Nitties 71 66 69

207 Stuart Appleby 71 68 68

208 Craig Parry 74 64 70, Nick O'Hern 70 66 72

209 Brandt Snedeker (USA) 69 70 70

210 Aaron Baddeley 70 71 69

211 Gavin Coles 71 69 71, Stephen Leaney 69 75 67, Cameron Percy 74 70 67, Kane Webber (USA) 70 72 69, Ewan Porter 70 71 70, Terry Price 73 71 67, Jason Gore (USA) 73 70 68, Paul Sheehan 72 70 69

212 Won Joon Lee 70 70 72, Rodney Pampling 73 70 69, Marc Leishman 72 69 71, Michael Curtain 73 71 68, Ryan Moore (USA) 73 68 71, Peter O'Malley 72 71 69, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 71 73 68

213 Jarrod Lyle 70 70 73, Greg Chalmers 69 72 72, Lee M Williamson (USA) 65 72 76, Geoff Ogilvy 68 72 73, Tatsuhiko Takahashi (Jpn) 73 71 69, Hiroshi Iwata (Jpn) 71 69 73, Matthew Jones 74 68 71

214 Steve Alker (Nzl) 70 71 73, Nathan Green 72 70 72, Michael Sim 72 70 72, Steve Jones (USA) 69 69 76, Stephen Allan 71 69 74, Adam Crawford 71 69 74, Peter Lonard 71 70 73

215 Richard Green 73 71 71, Matthew Millar 71 73 71, Wayne Perske 69 69 77, Wade Ormsby 70 72 73, Kim Felton 67 69 79

216 Scott Hend 68 74 74, Andrew Tampion 77 67 72, Scott Barr 74 70 72, Scott Sterling (USA) 71 72 73, Ed Stedman 74 69 73, Peter Senior 71 72 73, Lee Sung (Kor) 69 72 75

217 Paul Marantz 68 72 77, Aaron Townsend 73 71 73, Lucas Parsons 72 72 73, Kevin Stadler (USA) 73 71 73, Bradley Iles (Nzl) 69 72 76

218 David Smail (Nzl) 70 71 77, Andrew Bonhomme 67 70 81, Michael Long (Nzl) 70 71 77, Matthew Zions 73 68 77, David Diaz 73 71 74, Takuya Taniguchi (Jpn) 72 71 75, Rohan Blizard 72 72 74

219 Nick Flanagan 73 71 75, Scott Draper (Rsa) 72 72 75, Brad Lamb 73 71 75

220 Terry Pilkadaris 72 72 76

221 Marcus Fraser 77 67 77

223 John Wade 75 69 79