LEADERBOARD:
-6 Lowry (10), Horschel (10)
-5 Brown (10)
-4 Schauffele (13), Rose (10)
-3 Lawrence (F), Burns (F), Scheffler (11), Henley (F)
Lowry misses again! Great chances missed, he puts down his putter and he can’t believe it didn’t go in.
Bogey for Brown on the 10th, doesn’t make the green with his pitch, misses the putt for par from off the green. Brown one behind Horschel and Lowry now.
Brown is in the rough and smashes it out of the rough but about 40 yards short of the green. Lowry gets a decent lie in rough, and wants his shot to get down but it nips up onto the green and below the hole 10 feet. Brilliant shot in the end, even if he didn’t mean it!
Horschel is in the rough at the 11th but safely away from the railway and whins. It’s straight back into the wind, 504 yards, a railway to the right. Horschel’s drive hardly had 250 carry.
Lowry finally misses a fairway, an looks concerned. There’s a gorse bush there but hopefully over it.
Schauffele misses a good birdie chance at the 12th after a great approach. Horschel pars the 10th, another one out of the way. Scheffler at the tough 11th hits a beautiful stinger from 234 yards to the front of the green.
Lowry misses the birdie putt. A one over front 9 then. Just one bad shot at the Postage Stamp and a few missed putts. Otherwise, he has hit seven out of seven fairways and eight greens. But the most difficult stretch of the course 10-12 coming up.
Brown hacks it out from the rough at 9 and goes to the edge of the green. Lowry on the fairway again and hits a superb shot to 15 feet up the hill. Good recovery.
Schauffele drops down to -4 after a bogey at the difficult 11th. Henley joins Lawrence and Burns at -3 in the clubhouse.
Horschel joins the leaders with another birdie at the 9th! Out in 32 and flying in the rain. Rose joins Horschel with the backwards cap. A really miserable Scottish day weather wise.
Double bogey for Lowry! Lowry has a good look at the bogey putt. Just out of his left it seemed but it didn’t take the break! Ouch. Brown misses his par putt, he’s back to -6, but tied for the lead.
What Lowry could have done to have played this shot...
Lowry misses the green, couldn’t get any backspin and is over the green on the other side! Not good. He hits a nice pitch from some nasty grass and has a 6 or 7 footer to avoid double bogey.
Horschel hits it close enough for birdie on nine, could be in a tie for the lead in 5 or 10 minutes.
Next up is the famous Postage Stamp, the 8th par 3. Brown hits into the bunker to give the advantage to Lowry. He grits his teeth he doesn’t like it and he is right beside Brown in the bunker. Oof, tough shots coming up.
Brown is in the middle of the bunker and is aiming away from the flag. He aims for the back of the green, with the moisture and spin he keeps it on the green. Lowry has a harder shot coming up. He gets his hand on the ball due to it being marked from being so close to Brown’s.
Lowry misses the birdie chance! Big opportunity missed, Brown holes his and now it’s only a one-stroke lead!
Horschel hits to the middle of the green on 8 but a little short, long putt coming up. Rose looked right at the flag but spins back a bit too much but good birdie chance.
Brown finds a brilliant angle from beside the 8th green and wedges it to a few feet! Lowry from 90 yards hits a great shot too. Above the hole, inside 10 feet.
Birdie for Schauffele at 10, he’s -4 for the day and in fine form at -5 for the tournament as he holes from a good distance for birdie.
Good shot by Scheffler at the Postage Stamp, sets up birdie as Burns posts 65, great round by the American.
Wow, Brown lands on the eighth green, goes way right on the seventh tee, Burmester and Scheffler quite perplexed. Scheffler lips out his putt.
Lowry hits yet another fairway though, another squeezy cut that Rory said was going well for him. Every fairway and green so far by my count.
Meanwhile, another birdie for Horschel! That’s two in a row and up to -5.
So close! Lowry for birdie at 6 looked straight in but again it just stops in the jaws of the hole. Brown makes his birdie! Lowry’s lead back to two strokes.
Billy Horschel who went from skipping the rain gear for the first few holes, now sporting a jacket and a backwards cap and makes a cool approach to a couple of feet for birdie on 6 to get to -4.
Shane Lowry lays up at the par 5 to wedge distance. His approach is nicely played, over the pin, again an outside birdie chance. Brown from 86 yards is better though, brilliant shot to a few feet.
Another fairway made by Lowry on the par 5 6th, Brown rips his drive well past him though. Up ahead Rose hits a wedge to 10 feet up the hill. Henley drops a shot on the 16th to drop to -3.
Brilliant shot by Schauffele at the Postage Stamp! He nearly makes a hole-in-one, inches away for birdie to get to -4. Brown makes an aggressive putt at 5 and nearly moves within two.
Lowry so close! Great putt again but just a few inches short, maybe the moisture keeping that up. But another safe par.
Rose bogeys the fourth, he’s four behind Lowry now and he fails to get up and down.
Another great shot by Lowry at the 5th, hasn’t missed a shot yet. 212-yard iron to the back of the green. Brown on the green too.
Lowry’s chip at 4 is overhit, skids and doesn’t get the spin, 10 feet above the hole. Brown could drop a shot as the rain really comes down, he went into a pot bunker off the tee and has a similar length for par.
Birdie for Lowry! He makes the putt, sloping downhill and he fist pumps his first birdie of the day. Brown also makes his par.
Justin Rose hits over the green at the 5th. Thriston Lawrence has a chance to post a score and get out of the rain, he’s 3 under and on the green at the 18th.
Another perfect drive from Lowry, right down the middle. Driving in complete control so far. His second shot is good too, from 290 yards at the par 5. It comes up just short of the green, but good chance for birdie there should the chip follow the quality of the first two shots.
Great shot by Rose from the greenside rough at the fourth after not the best wood approach. Chance for birdie at the par 5 which he converts.
Brown hits the middle of the green from the rough on 3, nice shot. He then pours in the putt for birdie! Back to within two of Lowry. 36 feet for Lowry at the third, just short this time but safe lag and makes his par.
A bad miss for birdie by Scheffler on the par 5 4th, he’ll stay at -3.
Another fairway found by Lowry, composed start so far. Henley hits a great shot at 12 to gimme distance and gets to -4! Great round from him today and he’s up to tied second.
Pádraig Harrington is now +2 for the tournament after 13 holes.
Brown hits his second shot from the rough to the back of the green. 158 yards for Lowry from the middle of the fairway. Nicely played, to 25 feet or so. He goes for the putt, misses and a few feet past the hole. Brown lags up for par. Earlier today, Si Woo Kim got the longest hole-in-one in Open history:
Scheffler rolls in the birdie putt on three to go to -3, only one off second now. Lowry hits iron off the second, straight down the fairway. Brown hits it in the rough with an iron.
Lowry with a long birdie putt at the first shaves past it on the left and leaves himself a bit coming back, four feet or so. Brown chips it beyond the hole, further left for par and he misses. Lowry leads by three as he fires in the par putt.
Better shot into the green by Rose at the second, middle of the green but leaves putt short. Scheffler has his full grey rain gear now, it’s fairly lashing down and he gets the spin at the third to set up birdie chance to go to -3.
Good shot by Lowry, he manages to make the green from the pot bunker with a wedge and hits it into the middle of the green. Safe. Playing partner Brown got unlucky and his ball was just above the bunker with no easy stance. He hits it over the green at the first.
Justin Rose bogeys the first after a poor approach and failed to get up and down from the bunker.
Scheffler parred the first hole and is middle of the green for the second. PGA Champion Schauffele makes a move and birdies the third to go with the second to get to three under.
On the tee from Ireland, Shane Lowry, the announcer says to big applause. It’s a poor opening tee shot by Lowry, who pulls his iron into a bunker.
One player who will be cheering on Shane Lowry is Rory McIlroy, who disappointingly missed the cut yesterday. Pádraig Harrington is going well today, -2 for the day and +1 for the tournament, tied 20th after 10 holes. Tom McKibbin is +10 and Darren Clarke is +11.
Shane Lowry walks to the tee, coach Neil Manchip with last words of encouragement.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the third round of the Open Championship from Royal Troon. Shane Lowry led by two shots overnight after rounds of 66 and 69 on Thursday and Friday. He got the better of the weather, no doubt, but he has been striking his ball beautifully and of course brought back memories of how he crafted his way around Portrush in 2019 in the wind and the rain.
It is not quite as windy as Friday, and there are a few of the players out earlier making hay. Still Lowry is well in control of the tournament if he can keep up his form from the previous two days. His playing partner Daniel Brown has been the surprise package so far, the Englishman with no form to speak of before the tournament, while veteran Justin Rose knows his way around a links course. Further back, world number one Scottie Scheffler will be a dangerman with six victories this year and a Masters win, he will be looking to add to his collection.
Lowry tees off at 3.45pm.
Leaderboard:
-7 Shane Lowry
-5 Daniel Brown, Justin Rose
-3 Thriston Lawrence (13)
-2 Scottie Scheffler (1), Dean Burmester (1), Russell Henley (9), Xander Schauffele (2), Billy Horschel
