Saturday At The 153rd Open
Scheffler takes four-stroke lead into Sunday after a raucous Saturday sees McIlroy excite the crowd. Plus, Quotables, Tee Times and Weather.
Round Three By The Numbers
7,289: Third round yardage (7,381 yard max)
69.971: scoring average (71.812 in Rounds 1-3)
-14: Leading score (Scottie Scheffler)
65: Low round by Russell Henley
8: Birdies by Scheffler
3: Birdies in three days by Scheffler at Calamity (16th)
32: Birdies on 16 by the field through three rounds
1st: Scheffler in Strokes Gained Putting
29: Lee Westwood’s back-nine record-tying score
7: Scores of 3 in Westwood’s back nine
34: Rounds in the 60s on Saturday
19: Rounds over par
11 ft. 0 inches: Saturday green speed
0.392 inches: average green firmness (0.012 inch less firm than yesterday)
8.8mm: Rainfall on Friday
Calamity scheduled a rematch with Scottie Scheffler on Saturday at Royal Portrush.
Guess who won?
The overnight leader had eagled the seventh and birdied the eighth but started (his version) of leaking oil by reeling off pars. He mixed in two miracle saves from awful lies, then did the unthinkable: Scheffler birdied the vaunted, disaster-laden, second-biggest-Portrush-historic-monument west of Giant’s Causeway. For the third straight day.
Hey “Calamity,” at least the 11th and 14th holes put up a fight against the reigning PGA Champion. Sheesh.
A couple of heinous lies at those two back-nine par-4s merely reduced the Open Championship’s leader to a hard-earned par saver before his unthinkable third-straight two at No. 16.
Thanks to a pair of closing pars, Scheffler’s cushion is at four strokes over Haotung Li following a bogey-free 67 on top of Saturday’s 64. (Shane Lowry also went bogey-free in the 2019 third round, went on to win by six, and now he’s telling the place to *&^% off. Funny how life works.)
Scheffler’s post-round comments were a study in, well, something.
“If you look at the first six holes, I felt like I did some things good enough to make a few birdies and wasn't able to capitalise, and then all of a sudden on 7 and 8 I get three shots in two holes,” he said of his eagle and birdie at the two holes added in advance of the 2019 Open. “It's more just a matter of trying to make the best of the opportunities that you can get, and sometimes I'm good at it, sometimes not as good.”
Scheffler’s post-round session was one of the least scintillating you’ll ever read for a player about to check off a third Career Grand Slam leg. In his defense, the chat with writers was restricted to a standing session in the “mixed zone” about twenty yards from the real interview room. Such standing sessions are a crapshoot for press and players, cut increasingly shorter because today’s agents are allowed to hover around after the round and attempt to justify their 20 percent by protecting their man. It’s all quite pathetic.
Scheffler received no questions in the abbreviated press session about his dominant play on the world-famous par-3. Maybe tomorrow.
Not that the day lacked buzz or jaw-dropping visuals to make up for Scheffler’s apathetic post-round comments.
Showers stayed away. Warm temperatures kicked in and hung around, unlike Thursday. And the feel good weather combined with the kind of clouds only Rountree could love, creating surreal vistas across the rota’s most ecologically rich site. With only light breezes all day, the door opened for some brilliant moments from multiple players attacking a course filled with so many fun holes. It helped that more players broke 70 than signed for a score over Portrush’s par 71.
Russell Henley posted the low score of the day at 65, wile McIlroy, defending champion Xander Schauffele and noted golf property vandal Wyndham Clark were among a group shooting 66. But the place went next-level bonkers several times during Rory McIlroy’s early afternoon run.
“That was a lot of fun,” McIlroy said. “There was a few moments on the course, the eagle putt on 12, a couple other long putts, even the putt on 1, some of the loudest roars I've ever heard on the golf course.”
I can attest to the one on 12. It was incredible.
The release of energy from the huge crowd probably had as much to do with McIlroy’s bogey at the 11th and their golf knowledge. He was facing a potential three-putt at the 12th and the end of his chances. McIlroy had slightly overcooked a 159-yard approach to set up what looked like a difficult two-putt. The 56-footer needed to be dropped at the tier’s edge. Anything hit too hard would sail by the cup. McIlroy executed it to perfection and threw in a good read to make send the ball into the hole for an eagle. Video doesn’t capture the roar that erupted:
McIlroy’s bogey on No. 11 included one of the strangest things he or anyone has seen on a tournament golf course. After impact with his shot from the rough, another ball popped up from deep in the fescue and soil. You can see his ball in the upper left and the mystery visitor below. Thankfully, he was not hurt.
“That is the most weird, ridiculous thing I've ever seen,” McIlroy said. “Then my ball came out really weird and spinny. Yeah, just so strange.”
McIlroy enters Sunday’s final round six back of Scheffler and realistic about the prospects of catching someone who has converted nine straight 54-hole leads.
“It's going to be tough to catch him tomorrow if he keeps playing the way he does,” McIlroy said of Scheffler. “But if I can get out tomorrow and get off to a similar start to what I did today, get the crowd going, hopefully he tails out a couple groups behind me, and you never know. But I just need to go out and play another really good round of golf tomorrow and see what happens.”
Quotable
Scheffler on the possibility of winning the third leg of the career slam. “It would be nice, but I'm not going to be thinking about that tonight. I'm going to be going home, trying to get some rest and get some recovery and then get ready for tomorrow.”
McIlroy on the course setup. “There's some really tricky hole locations. Hard to get it super close. I holed a couple of really nice long putts. You've just got to pick your spots where you're aggressive and try to make birdies on those holes, and then there's some holes that are difficult, and if you make par you're happy and you move on to the next.”
Robert MacIntyre (70/T9) on his club toss and overall turbulent Saturday round. “I think it's fair game to lose the plot every now and again. I feel like we've made the wrong decision off the tee on 14, which then made the second shot on 14 really difficult as a left-handed golfer. Just try to hold that wind. Obviously in that bunker, bunker's dead, first job get out of the bunker, then hit it over the top. I've lost the plot on both of them, after both of them shots, a bit of anger came out.”
MacIntyre on the tournament golf he prefers. “The tougher the test, the more I feel I can keep that discipline. The more there's a birdie fest and a shootout, that's when I lose it properly.”
Lee Westwood (69) after his I've always said it would be nice to play more links golf. “I think it's the best form of golf, the purest really. It's how golf courses originally were laid out, right? The R&A always get the Open Championship course wherever you're playing in fantastic condition. Portrush is pretty spotless this week.
Xander Schauffele (66/8th) on his round. “Had a nice phone call with Chris [Como] last night. Yesterday felt terrible. Even with some of the shots coming in, I felt like I was luck boxing my way through the back nine, somehow making contact and then sitting it somewhere near the hole and getting it in. Today felt like I was in more control. Obviously, the weather was much nicer and sort of what we're used to on the PGA Tour. But it felt like I could control my golf ball a lot more.”
Tyrrell Hatton (68/T4) on what he’s playing for Sunday. “It's nice to be high up on the leaderboard in a major. Certainly tomorrow is the last round for me to earn Ryder Cup points. Yeah, there's a lot to play for tomorrow. I'm hoping that I can go out there and play a really good round of golf. I'd love to make the Ryder Cup team automatically and not rely on needing a pick.”