The Victorian’s advantage was four shots until late, Henkel moving quickly to ensure he finished his round before a second storm cell potentially pulled the final group from The Vintage. A tee shot that found the trees right of the fairway would ultimately lead to a closing bogey and a slightly tighter gap to the nearest challengers.

Overnight leaders, Darcy Brereton and Lucas Higgins, both finished at 4-under, part of a four-way tie in second with debut professionals Declan O’Donovan and Adam Coull.

“Just going to go out and not think about anyone behind me,” Henkel said of his planned approach to Sunday, when he will play with Coull and O’Donovan.

“Everyone’s good golfers. Everyone can shoot the numbers. If I can go out and play well myself and have another couple under or whatever’s out there for me, I’m happy.”

Birdieing the first hole of the day and the long par-3 eighth, Henkel mixed in two bogeys on the front nine before the storm hit at what was almost the perfect time for the 54-hole leader to reset and resume his round when he looked as if he would run away from the field.

“I think it did. I played pretty solid on the front, nine, maybe I guess a little disheartened or frustrated with that,” Henkel said of the timing of the interruption to play.

“I wasn’t, probably a few shots better, but I was lucky, and my caddie and I were chatting coming up nine. We’ve played a lot better than even par through nine and were hitting a lot of good shots.

“It just settled me down a bit. I actually got a bit of food into me and just settled me a bit. It was good to have a bit of a break midway through, which you don’t get.”

Henkel made three birdies in four holes from the 11th before his dropped shot at the last meant a 2-under 69 and gave the chasing pack a sniff heading into Sunday.

“I wasn’t out of position at all, really, today, except that last hole, and even hitting that second shot in, I hit a great shot,” Henkel said.
 
“It was a bit of a tough shot, and I probably just didn’t really commit to the bunker shot as much as I would have liked. It was one of the ones where I could kind of see the leaderboard and knew where I sat, and I just kind of accepted, all right, let’s just finish off strong.”

At the top of those pursuers, Higgins and Brereton will be looking to bounce back from matching 3-over rounds of 74, while O’Donovan (69) and Coull (68) will get a baptism of fire in their first tournament since both turned professional.

Sitting 1-under-par for the tournament after reaching 4-under through 14 holes, Herbert headed for the range to remove some frustration before unleashing an attacking game plan on Sunday in an attempt to bring some pressure to Henkel and the others high on the leaderboard.

“I’ve got nothing to lose,” Herbert said after closing with three bogeys in four holes.

“We can get out for a good start and put a number out there through the turn for the leaders to have a look at, then maybe there’s some interest there.”

Winner of the Gippsland Super 6 less than 12 months ago, Henkel is unlikely to be too fazed about the moves of Herbert or others, and not too worried about getting a good night’s sleep before chasing a second Tour win.

“I think with how tired I am, it’s a long walking course, I think I’ll be right,” Henkel said.

“My billets are great this week. I’ll have a nice dinner, do the same thing, chat, and then get into bed and have a nice sleep.”