Murray fired a superb 67 in yesterday’s third round to increase his lead to two shots over Droop heading into the final 18 holes of the tournament.

The gifted youngster said playing with Droop had been a great way to steady any nerves he might have had leading a major 72-hole event for the first time.

“We basically went out there and played — we had one bogey between us and were never in trouble,” Murray said last night.

“We just cruised around and it was fantastic.

“It was great and will really help us both again tomorrow, I hope.”

Murray said he couldn’t be happier with the way he was striking the ball.

“I couldn’t have driven the ball or hit my irons any better,” he said.

“I left a few putts out there, but that’s Royal Melbourne.

“I’m absolutely stoked to have done that.

“I’ve become more positive.

“Big credit to Paul Skinner, Golf Australia’s course management guy — he caddied for me at the Australian Open.

“It was an eye-opener that you don’t need the driver everywhere — I’ve hit only five drivers in three rounds.

“I’ve taken the risk out of everything and my course management has gone through the roof.”

Droop, who is one shot clear of third-placed pair Jake McLeod and Ben Eccles, could have easily been the joint co-leader with a slice of luck.

“I left a couple short in the heart and a couple went just past the edge that could have dropped,” the Yarrawonga star said.

“You can’t get too angry on these greens because, if you do, you’ll rip it well past really quickly.”

“I’m hitting it the best I have for a while — so I’m happy to have had that score in the last group.”

Droop agreed the easy nature of the group, including Andrew Schonewille (who shot 70 to be seven under), had made the day less tense.

“We talked about a lot of things out there and not many of them were golf,” he said.

“It’s great to be able to do that with your mates and put together a decent round while you’re doing it.”

Today’s round for the title starts at 8am.