15 hours ago
19
Key events
Realistically, if the chasing battalion privation a chance, they’ll request the brace successful the last radical to stall a bit. And connected 3, Sam Burns and Ryan Fox hole to unfastened the door. Both thrust chaotic and attack inaccurately, Fox abbreviated of the green, Burns successful a bunker. Big scrambles coming up.
More amusive and games for Bryson DeChambeau connected 5! No, not implicit there. He misses the greenish left, and astir knocks his transportation into the bunker implicit the different side. The assemblage with the pantomime ooooooohs arsenic the shot toys with the thought of dropping disconnected the green, wherever it’d beryllium taken distant into the trap by the contours. He’ll person a 30-footer for birdie.
A mates of players instrumentality a measurement backwards. Ludvig Åberg, who had done good to prevention par connected 2 aft racing an excitable birdie effort 5 feet past, gets chaotic disconnected the tee connected 3 and pays the terms with bogey. He’s -5. And his playing spouse Lucas Herbert besides drops a changeable astatine 3, taking 2 to extricate himself from an awkward presumption successful a greenside bunker. He’s -6.
Tommy tidies up for his birdie connected 5, and the Southport monolithic does its thing. Back connected 2, Ryan Fox, who had clipped his 2nd pin precocious to 15 feet, dribbles the downhill birdie putt consecutive into the cup. Then Burns makes his shorter one. A brace of birdies. Things hotting up existent nice!
-11: Burns (2)
-9: Fox (2)
-8: Young (12), Kim (2)
-7: Scheffler (9), Fleetwood (5), Gerard (2)
Tommy Fleetwood’s thrust astatine 5 finishes successful a swale, beforehand near of the green. With brushed hands, helium bumps a spot up to 18 inches. Meanwhile backmost connected the adjacent 2nd green, Sam Burns wedges his 2nd pin precocious to 4 feet. A mates of large putts coming up.
Scottie can’t marque his birdie connected 9. It’s a mediocre effort, swished with large uncertainty, the shot ever dying to the debased broadside connected the right. His putter has gone acold astatine precisely the incorrect moment: helium missed a birdie putt from beauteous akin region connected the spread before, too. Meanwhile Sam Burns and Ryan Fox marque reasonably fuss-free pars astatine 1. And Russell Henley misses a tiddler connected 16 to driblet backmost to -6. There goes that 62 dream.
-10: Burns (1)
-8: Young (12), Kim (2), Fox (1)
-7: Scheffler (9), Herbert (2), Gerard (2)
Scottie Scheffler doesn’t instrumentality a shy astatine the 9th green. Instead helium plays the percentages, sending his tee changeable to the country of the dogleg, past knocking a abbreviated robust from 160 yards to six. He’ll person a putt to scope the crook successful 30.
The last pairing – Game No62 No39 – takes to the course. Ryan Fox splits the fairway. Sam Burns, looking a small nervous, catches a bully prevarication successful the semi-rough down the right. Having to hold each time to tee disconnected past successful a large indispensable beryllium arduous enough; an other 14 minutes is putting a chapeau connected a hat.
Cameron Young’s 2nd into 11 kicks disconnected to the close of the greenish and down a swale. He bumps his spot into the bank, up and over, the shot rolling circular from close to near to 8 inches. So adjacent to a perfectly judged chip-in, fantastic shotmaking with the contours. Links mastery. He’s already got a second-place decorativeness connected his CV (2022 astatine St Andrews, down Cameron Smith) aft all. Young remains astatine -8.
Ludvig Åberg is 1 dimple distant from opening birdie, but his 30-foot putt shaves the right-hand broadside of the cup. He remains astatine -6. Par excessively for 1 of this week’s Mr 62s, Lucas Herbert. Behind them, Ryan Gerard and Kim Si-woo get down to business. All of the groups are retired present … isolated from one. And they’ll beryllium teeing disconnected successful a mates of minutes.
Bryson DeChambeau looks mildly disgusted with himself for missing a ten-foot birdie putt connected 1. Jackson Suber maintains his gameface contempt making bogey, the effect of that wayward tee shot, which snagged successful dense rough. The 18-hole person slips backmost to -5.
Cameron Young birdies 9, arsenic truthful galore do. Not truthful galore screen the beforehand 9 successful 29 strokes, though. Well, Ryan Fox did it yesterday, and Denis Durnian went 1 amended present successful 1983, inactive the Open grounds for the beforehand nine. The Players champion is making up for his dreadful backmost 9 yesterday evening: 40 strokes that whitethorn beryllium truthful painfully costly. But let’s spot however it each pans out. If helium posts thing … and spot besides Russell Henley, who birdies 14. The 2 Americans astatine this complaint hunting down different mates of 62s?
-10: Burns
-8: Young (9), Fox, Kim
-7: Henley (14), Scheffler (6), Gerard, Herbert
-6: Matsuyama (3), Fleetwood (1), DeChambeau (1), Åberg
… Tommy Fleetwood drains a 73-footer from the fringe astatine the beforehand of 1!!! Shoulders UP! Shoulders BACK! One of those putts that looked inevitable halfway on its journey, a left-to-right swinger that disappeared into the spread similar a rodent with a portion of cheese. He smiles truthful wide and hard that his teeth astir outshine the sun. The assemblage spell bonkers. What a start! The imagination is alive! He’s -6.
Speaking of people heroes: present comes Bryson DeChambeau! He’s surely not going to dice wondering, and puts everything he’s got into his opening drive. A monster that bounds down the fairway earlier scuttling into the semi-rough connected the right. He’ll beryllium going circular with the debut sensation Jackson Suber, who toys with OB down the close but stays in. There was a immense roar arsenic helium took his shot. And that’s due to the fact that …
Rory McIlroy’s momentum-free week continues to bumble on apace. Having birdied 10, helium instantly hands the changeable backmost astatine 11, the effect of uncovering a fairway bunker with his tee changeable and being forced to instrumentality his medicine successful it. Meanwhile much quality connected the presumption of Tommy Fleetwood’s shoulders: drooped. He’s got a decent capable lie, and cracks an robust towards the green, his shot creeping onto the front, just. But helium intelligibly wanted more, and lets those shoulders autumn arsenic helium offloads to his caddie. He appears agitated, the value of carrying the gallery’s hopes and dreams astir with him each week possibly opening to tell. A section leader is thing to be.
The last fewer games are moving late, owed to a rules brouhaha successful an earlier match. So if you’ve been hammering distant astatine refresh waiting for quality of Tommy Fleetwood, present helium comes now. The accustomed hubbub connected the tee, past helium takes his fairway wood, hits the ball, and twirls the nine successful satisfaction. Not precisely definite why, due to the fact that his shot disappears into a heavy clump of writer atop a slope to the near of the fairway. Some hostility successful the shoulders nary doubt.
Another birdie for Scottie Scheffler! He crashes his thrust astatine 5 greenside, chips up to 4 feet, and rolls successful the putt. No fuss. The defending champion is present -7, and if helium continues similar this, posts a number, and the late-starting leaders person to woody with the cranking up of some upwind and unit … good now, we’d person rather the Open. A agelong mode to spell yet.
A bully mates of minutes for Ireland. Rory McIlroy yet makes a putt, connected 10, portion Shane Lowry holes retired from a bunker astatine 4. It’s back-to-back birdies for the 2019 champion, who clenches a fist successful celebration. At -5, you tin beryllium definite he’s not going to admit decision conscionable yet. Rory is -4. But immoderate faint Scottish hopes of a archetypal rubric since Paul Lawrie seized the time successful 1999 person gone south. Consecutive bogeys for Bob MacIntyre, astatine 6 and 7, and he’s backmost to -2.
Russell Henley keeps connected keepin’ on! He sends his attack astatine 11 from 156 yards to 14 feet, and the putt drops for his 5th birdie of the day. The remainder of his paper is unblemished, truthful helium conscionable needs different 3 birdies successful the past 7 holes to articulation Club 62. And determination are scoring opportunities each astir Royal Birkdale.
On the taxable of Bryson, who reportedly threatened to locomotion upon being penalised for his fescue footwear shuffle, here’s the communicative of 1 subordinate who really walked it similar helium talked it. Courtesy of an aged Joy of Six connected the Open.
The 16th Open Championship was the 2nd to beryllium held connected the celebrated Old Course astatine St Andrews and the archetypal to descend into full farce. From the outset, determination was occupation brewing. The organisers had forgotten – golfers who person been unlucky successful the St Andrews ballot volition emotion this – to publication the people for the tournament, truthful competitors had to drawback tee times erstwhile they could, going retired for their rounds portion members of the wide nationalist hooked and shanked to their hearts’ delight astir them. Delightful bedlam.
Sure enough, this would yet ruin the Championship. It is said that the champion 2 players of the aboriginal 1870s were Young Tom Morris and David Strath. Morris had pipped Strath to the Open successful 1870 and 1872, but died of a breached bosom connected Christmas Day 1875, a fewer months aft his woman and newborn babe had died during a hard labour. With his main rival tragically retired of the picture, it was assumed an Open triumph for Strath would travel on sooner oregon later.
With 2 holes of his 2nd and last circular to play, 1876 looked similar being Strath’s year. Bob Martin was successful the clubhouse having conscionable changeable 90 for a full of 176, a people which meant Strath would triumph the rubric if helium got location successful 10 strokes. Having played his 2nd consecutive down the mediate of the fairway astatine the Road Hole, the radical up were faffing astir connected the green. Strath – his patience worn by 2 rounds of nonsense connected a ludicrously engaged people – clipped his 3rd changeable into the greenish the precise infinitesimal the radical up finished the hole. But they had not wholly vacated the green, and his attack deed 1 of the players, the shot stopping adjacent the spread alternatively of bouncing done and connected to the roadworthy moving behind.
Strath inactive took 2 putts for a five. He should person sealed the woody with a cautious transition up the last, but got caught up successful the Valley of Sin and took six. He excessively signed for a 90, tied connected 176 with Martin. A play-off was truthful scheduled for the pursuing Monday, but determination had besides been complaints astir the incidental backmost connected 17, and the R&A committee refused to regularisation until aft the deciding circular was complete. Understandably, Strath reasoned that determination was nary constituent playing if helium was lone going to beryllium disqualified anyhow and demanded a determination earlier they teed off. None was forthcoming. Strath walked, leaving Martin with the formality of competing successful the play-off himself for the close to go Open champion.
Strath competed again the pursuing twelvemonth astatine Musselburgh, but lone came fifth, six shots down the victor Jamie Anderson. It was his past Open. Two years later, helium near connected a vessel for Australia, suffering from tuberculosis and seeking a cure successful sunnier climes. He had bought a instrumentality ticket, but ne'er came back, laryngitis adding to his carnal woes, and helium succumbed successful Melbourne not agelong aft his arrival. Another grim story, but 7 top-10 Open finishes successful 8 attempts, including 3 second-place finishes, isn’t a atrocious bequest to beryllium leaving.
Rory McIlroy’s beforehand 9 has been his 2026 Open successful microcosm. A plethora of birdie chances, a batch of putts steadfastly refusing to drop, momentum a tube dream. He birdied 2 and 6, bogeyed 7, and connected the abbreviated par-four 9th – birdie, birdie, eagle connected the archetypal 3 days – helium sends a spot agelong and has to settee for par. Out successful 33, and he’ll not beryllium troubling the engraver this week. He’s already etched his sanction onto this peculiar Open’s story, to beryllium fair.
Russell Henley finished successful the apical 10 successful 2024 and 2025, and the hat-trick isn’t retired of the question yet. The 37-year-old from Georgia, who is thing of a precocious bloomer successful the majors – helium tied for 3rd astatine this year’s Masters, and for 4th astatine Augusta successful 2023 – started the time astatine -1, but has made a large determination acknowledgment to birdies astatine 2, 3, 9 and present 10. The latest a dainty chip-in implicit the bunker astatine the beforehand of the green, his shot landing mildly connected the enarthrosis and rolling into the cup. He’s zoomed up the standings to -5.
-10: Burns
-8: Fox, Kim
-7: Young (6), Gerard, Herbert
-6: Scheffler (3), Åberg, DeChambeau, Suber
-5: Henley (10), Neergaard-Petersen, Fleetwood
It’s just to accidental the opening tee changeable has got into Jon Rahm’s head. He hoicked it retired of bounds down the close yesterday … and present he’s done precisely the aforesaid happening today. That leads to treble bogey, conscionable arsenic it did yesterday, and helium drops backmost to -2.
So is determination a people retired determination if idiosyncratic wants to marque a charge? Of people there’s a people retired there, we’ve had 3 62s already this week. A 4th is astir apt a tube dream, with the upwind picking up successful the day arsenic it ever does … but past regularisation thing out, due to the fact that these gentlemen are good. There are already 3 players backmost successful the location with 66s: Matthew Southgate (E), John Parry (-2) and Rickie Fowler, who astatine -3 is the precise aboriginal clubhouse leader. But determination are a mates of large names lone conscionable retired who are besides illustrating the point. Scottie Scheffler has thrown darts astatine the emblem connected some of the opening 2 holes, and his birdie-birdie commencement takes him to -6. Cameron Young meantime has birdied 4 of the archetypal 5 holes to emergence to wrong 3 of Sam Burns’ overnight lead. How he’ll beryllium ruing his miserable backmost 9 of 40 yesterday evening. But that hr and a half, erstwhile the wheels came off, hasn’t outgo him yet.
-10: Burns
-8: Fox, Kim
-7: Young (5), Gerard, Herbert
-6: Scheffler (2), Åberg, DeChambeau, Suber
-5: Neergaard-Petersen, Fleetwood
Preamble
Sam Burns is playing with location wealth today. Sort of. The 29-year-old from Louisiana was readying to beryllium this 1 out, with his woman Caroline slated to springiness commencement earlier this week. But Caroline delivered earlier than expected, past encouraged her hubby to springiness the Open a whirl. And present look!
So it’s a escaped hit. Kind of. Thing is, erstwhile you’re successful this position, there’s a hellhole of a batch to lose. And retrieve however heartbroken Burns was to travel up abbreviated astatine past year’s US Open. He’s been connected the verge of the large breakthrough for a mates of years now, and possibly this is his time. But determination are different in-form players lurking, dreaming of a maiden major, truthful expect a batch of nerves to jangle today.
And past there’s Bryson DeChambeau. We’re astir 40 hours connected from Gardengate™, truthful let’s effort to enactment that 1 to furniture now. But rightly oregon wrongly, the two-time US Open champion and social-media behemoth is fuelled by a righteous fury, and plentifulness successful the assemblage volition beryllium four-square down him. Plenty much volition beryllium pulling for section leader Tommy Fleetwood, though. Ludvig Åberg would beryllium a fashionable champion arsenic well.
Or volition idiosyncratic travel bursting from of the nether regions of the leaderboard, conscionable arsenic Ryan Fox did yesterday, leaping 50 places successful benign aboriginal conditions to sprout the 3rd 62 of the week? It’s not beyond the realms. So let’s spot however this pans out. It promises to beryllium truthful overmuch fun.
Here’s however the apical of the leaderboard looked aft the 3rd circular …
-10: Sam Burns
-8: Ryan Fox, Kim Si-woo
-7: Ryan Gerard, Lucas Herbert
-6: Ludvig Åberg, Bryson DeChambeau, Jackson Suber
-5: Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Tommy Fleetwood
-4: Xander Schauffele, Eric Cole, Kazuma Kobori, Hideki Matsuyama, Daniel Brown, Cameron John, Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler
… and here’s erstwhile everyone went retired / volition spell out today (all times BST). It’s on!
7.40 am: Jesper Svenson, Keegan Bradley
7.50 am: Matthew Southgate, Laurie Canter
8 am: Jack McDonald, Ben Griffin
8.10 am: Peter Uihlein, Kazuki Higa
8.20 am: Sepp Straka, John Parry
8.30 am: Andy Sullivan, Aldrich Potgieter
8.40 am: Marcus Plunkett, Ryo Hisatsune
8.50 am: Min Woo Lee, Tyrrell Hatton
9 am: Nick Taylor, MJ Daffue
9.15 am: Eugenio Chacarra, Rickie Fowler
9.25 am: Naoyuki Kataoka, Thomas Detry
9.35 am: JJ Spaun, Victor Perez
9.45 am: Chris Gotterup, Patrick Cantlay
9.55 am: Michael Brennan, Kurt Kitayama
10.05 am: Brooks Koepka, Bud Cauley
10.15 am: Alex Fitzpatrick, Pierceson Coody
10.25 am: Corey Conners, Johnny Keefer
10.40 am: Patrick Reed, Adam Scott
10.50 am: Michael Thorbjornsen, Shaun Norris
11 am: Marco Penge, Alex Noren
11.10 am: Russell Henley, Matt Wallace
11.20 am: Francesco Molinari, Collin Morikawa
11.30 am: Jordan Smith, Rory McIlroy
11.40 am: Hennie Du Plessis, Sahith Theegala
11.50 am: Casey Jarvis, Kristoffer Reitan
12.05 pm: Cameron Young, Robert MacIntyre
12.15 pm: Nico Echavarria, Im Sung-jae
12.25 pm: Jacob Bridgeman, Justin Thomas
12.35 pm: Max Homa, Alex Smalley
12.45 pm: Jose Luis Ballester, Scottie Scheffler
12.55 pm: Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry
1.05 pm: Cameron John, Daniel Brown
1.15 pm: Hideki Matsuyama, Kazuma Kobori
1.30 pm: Eric Cole, Xander Schauffele
1.40 pm: Tommy Fleetwood, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
1.50 pm: Jackson Suber, Bryson DeChambeau
2 pm: Ludvig Aberg, Lucas Herbert
2.10 pm: Ryan Gerard, Kim Si-woo
2.20 pm: Ryan Fox, Sam Burns
