The R&A, 20 July 2024
Anything can happen at The Open. On Saturday, pretty much everything did.
Amid the mist and rain, Billy Horschel produced the round of his life to take the 54-hole lead at Royal Troon on a topsy-turvy, rollercoaster of a Saturday.
He will start the final round with a one-shot lead over a group of six players, including Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele, all fighting for the ultimate prize in golf: the Claret Jug.
Sunday could not be more perfectly poised. Twelve players are within four strokes, including major winners, Champion Golfers and the world number one.
Horschel, four-under-par through 54 holes, will play alongside Thriston Lawrence, who, along with Sam Burnsand Russell Henley, shook up the leaderboard on moving day.
Lawrence and Burns benefited from more benign conditions earlier in the day to shoot 65 and reach three-under-par, a score they share with major winners Schauffele and Rose, Henley and Daniel Brown.
Englishman Brown appeared set for the outright lead after playing superbly once more. He teed off on 17 on six-under-par, but bogeyed the long par-3 and then double-bogeyed the last after finding an awkward lie off the tee and then a greenside bunker with his third.
Though it was a tough end to an otherwise excellent day, Brown will certainly settle for the position he is in. The world number 272 will tee off alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler in a mouth-watering pairing after the American shot 71, and later described the back nine as the toughest he has ever played.
Shane Lowry, the 36-hole leader, is also in contention despite a tough 77 that included five bogeys on the back nine.
Lowry struggled in the Troon downpour as a gentle morning gave way to a cold, wet and windy afternoon. However, Horschel thrived.
The 152nd Open is a wide-open race, with one man at the front. Who knows what awaits on Sunday?
Horschel the hero
Playing in the penultimate group, Horschel teed off alongside Rose just as the heavens opened and the rain poured down.
A shift in the wind also transformed the course. The front nine, which had been into the wind for the first two days, suddenly played downwind and Horschel took advantage.
He started with three pars but soon caught fire, making birdies on 4, 6, 7 and 9 to turn in just 32 strokes. The back nine was treacherous, with the wind blowing hard and the course softened by rain.
On the par-3 17th, many in the field struggled to even the reach the green, so heavy was the air and strong the headwind.
But Horschel kept his composure. He fought for every par, and produced a masterclass in survival.
His short-game was on point, with an incredible five up-and-downs on the back nine – including near chip-ins on 15, 16 and 17. He dropped shots on 11 and 18, but a 69 was – given the circumstances – the round of his life.
“This round in The Open is by far the best I’ve played in a major. I had to grind out a score coming in,” he said.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. I knew it was going to be tough, but I was prepared for what the last nine holes would entail.
“It would be the biggest win of my career. I have won a lot of great events but this one would top all of them and it’s something I’ve wanted in my professional golf career.”
The chasing pack
It was a day of two halves at Royal Troon. If Saturday afternoon was about surviving, the morning was about thriving.
The early starters cashed in on kinder conditions, with Lawrence dialled in from the off. He made six birdies on the front nine, turning in just 30 strokes, and then came home in level-par to sign for a 65.
Burns, who shot 76 in the first round and was seven-over after 11 holes, made five front-nine birdies of his own on Saturday but more impressively found three on the way in to match Lawrence’s score. Both sat back and watched the rain roll in, and their names roll up the leaderboard.
Henley made three birdies in a row on the 4th, 5th and 6th and another on the 9th en route to a 66 that puts him firmly into the mix. He will tee off alongside Burns in the penultimate group.
Rose, who played alongside Horschel, battled to a gutsy 73 – his emotions on the 18th perfectly encapsulating the day: relief, frustration and yet a determination ahead of what he hopes will be glorious Sunday 26 years after he won the Silver Medal.
Brown may feel frustrated at the way his day ended, with three shots dropped in the final two holes, but he can be proud of a fine day’s work. He made three birdies on the front nine and two on the back, and it was only an unfortunate lie following his 18th tee shot – the ball stopping right next to a bunker and offering him no stance – that led to a double-bogey.
Schauffele and Scheffler remain dangerous. Schauffele’s 69 matched Horschel, while Scheffler’s tee shot on 17 was perhaps the shot of the day. On a par-3 many of the later starters were unable to reach from the tee, he drove the ball through the wind and stopped it four feet from the hole. An outstanding shot from an outstanding player.
He is on two-under-par, one ahead of Lowry, while further back are a host of players still within striking distance.
Adam Scott, Justin Thomas and Matthew Jordan are all level-par for the week, four off the lead, while South Korea’s Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An will still have high hopes from one-over.
Si Woo Kim is the ace in the pack
The 152nd Open had almost everything in rounds one and two, except a hole-in-one. Step forward Si Woo Kim.
The Korean not only hit the first ace of the Championship, but he did so on the 17th – a 238-yard par-3.
Kim hit a 3-iron but, unable to see the green, he did not see it pitch just shy of the green and meander beautifully into the cup. Fortunately, the spectators’ reaction told him all he needed to know.
“I saw the ball go over the fringe and thought that must be maybe inside 20 feet,” he said.
“So I took the tee out off the ground and went back to the bag and there were people yelling at me.”
Scott takes charge of Silver Medal race
Four amateurs started round three within two shots of each other. But one emerged from the pack to take control.
Calum Scott shot a well-crafted 70 to take a three-stroke advantage in the race for the Silver Medal, a one-under round that helped him move inside the top 30.
Scott made birdies on 3 and 4 on the front nine. He bogeyed 10 and 12 but a third birdie on 13 and five straight pars on a difficult back nine saw him home.
He starts Sunday three clear of Amateur Champion Jacob Skov Olesen, who went round in 72, and sits at six-over-par.
“There’s so many opportunities to do something cool,” Scott said.
“I think there’s chances to make a run and finish high up that leaderboard or win the Silver Medal or hole out a shot, make a hole-in-one or do something cool.”
Tommy Morrison was in the first group and shot 74 for nine-over-par, while Luis Masaveu struggled to a 78 and starts Sunday 13-over-par.
