Day three leader Sam Burns (right) with fellow-American golfer and defending champion Scottie Scheffler at Royal Birkdale on Saturday. Image courtesy theopen.com.
From a Correspondent
Royal Birkdale, England: Saturday was Moving Day at The Open.
And at Royal Birkdale, where big names charged, another record was equalled and spectators clambered over dunes, bushes and even each other for a glimpse of the action, the leaderboard moved too.
At the end of it, Sam Burns emerged with a two-shot lead and will tee off tomorrow as the man to beat.
The American is renowned as one of the best putters in the game but he put on a clinic with irons and wedges to shoot an outstanding 5 under par 65 and back up Friday’s record-equalling round of 62.
At The Open, experience often counts but no current major winner was within three shots of the lead – and, since 2013, only one man has come from further back to lift the Claret Jug.
On the face of it, that may rule plenty of players out but, in reality, many more will feel they still have a chance.
Burns, who is 10 under 200, will be well aware that morning conditions have been conducive to low scoring all week and the man he will play alongside demonstrated that in awesome fashion.
Record threat
Ryan Fox became the third player to shoot a round of 62 this week, equalling the record low score in a major, to leap to 8 under 202.
He shared second place with Si Woo Kim, while Ryan Gerard and Friday’s overnight leader Lucas Herbert were a shot further back.
Ludvig Aberg, Bryson DeChambeau and Jackson Suber were 6 under 204, while Tommy Fleetwood’s hopes of an emotional win just three miles from where he grew up were still alive, even five shots back.
Burns was not even supposed to be in The 154th Open but after a second stellar round in a row, he is 18 holes away from winning it.
The 29-year-old had expected to skip the trip to Southport because his wife was due to give birth to their second child but after baby Belle arrived early, Burns hopped on a plane.
It might turn out to be the best two weeks of his life.
Royal Birkdale was a sea of noise when he and DeChambeau approached the first tee, with birdies dropping everywhere around them as big names made an early charge.
Burns’ run
But Burns rolled in four birdies in the first eight holes – including a fabulous 15-foot putt on 4 – to reach nine under par.
A bogey at 9 checked his progress but a 30-foot birdie putt on 14 and another birdie on 17 saw him pull clear of the field.
After a opening 73, he has dialled into this course. Indeed, his total of 127 shots is the lowest second and third round total in Open history, beating Fuzzy Zoeller (1994) and Shane Lowry (2019) by three.
Burns will know a threat could emerge from anywhere, but he will be especially aware of Scheffler.
The four-time major winner was T11 on 4 under 206 – six strokes behind – after a frustrating level-par round of 70.
The pair go way back. They played junior golf together, room together on the road and Burns was even Scheffler’s best man at his wedding four years ago.
But while Scheffler’s career has been a fairy tale, with 23 titles in four years, Burns’ has been one of gradual progress.
With practice comes experience, but Burns insists he is also a better player. Watching Scheffler helps.
“It took a bit longer for me. It helped that I got to play a lot of golf with the best player on the planet and watch what he does,” Burns said.
“He’s far and beyond the best person that does that. He just makes so few mistakes, and he doesn’t take on unnecessary risks very often, if ever, and seems to always hit the correct shot in the moment.
“It wasn’t like I asked him about it or we talked a lot about it. It was just me observing.
“I think that had a pretty large impact on me the last couple years in the majors and just kind of watching how he prepares and the way he goes about it.”
Fantastic Foxy
The saying goes that early birds catch the worms. At Royal Birkdale, the Fox caught the birdies.
Ryan Fox was the latest to cash in on a calm Merseyside morning as he joined Herbert and Burns in the 62 club at men’s majors, which has almost doubled in size over the past two days.
Fox was electric down the front nine, peeling off five birdies to hit the turn in 29.
The New Zealander already has the joint-lowest back nine in Open history to his name, a 29 at Royal Portrush in 2019, and was just a stroke away from equalling the front-nine record too.
A bogey at 13 was his only blemish and could easily have derailed his round. But a bounce back birdie at 14 kicked the party back into life, and further birdies at 16 and 17 had the world back on ’61 watch’.
One more and he would have made history.
Like Herbert and Burns on Friday, Fox’s 18th hole was dramatic.
He found the fairway bunker off the tee, but connected beautifully in the sand and scrambled his second shot onto the green.
Almost 50 feet from the hole, the recovery mission was far from done, but Fox two-putted to save par and complete an extraordinary round.
“I feel really good,” he said.
“Being picky, I’d want a couple of drives back today maybe, but outside of that, I feel like I didn’t really miss a shot.
“I had a couple of great shots down the stretch, putted really nicely. But it feels like, when you’re out in the morning, when the wind’s down around here, there’s almost some pressure on to shoot a score.
“I would have taken 62 on a Saturday, that’s for sure.”
Eyeing history
There has never been a South Korean winner of The Open but Si Woo Kim has given himself a chance at making history.
Despite being troubled by an Achilles injury, he moved into a share of the lead on eight-under-par when he holed from 20 feet on the 10th green.
That was where he finished, responding to a bogey at the 11th with a very well-timed birdie at 17 to stay very much in contention.
Overnight leader Herbert lacked the spark which saw him blitz his way to a record-equalling 62 on Friday and will begin his final round three off the lead.
The Australian hit just five of 14 fairways and carded three bogeys in a one-over-par 71. It could have been worse, with Herbert wayward off the tee on 17 and 18 but doing brilliantly to save par on both occasions.
Back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 brought debutant Ryan Gerard back into contention at seven-under-par as he signed for a one-under-par 69.
There is also a Scandinavian challenge spearheaded by Aberg and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
A bogey at the 1st was the only blemish for Aberg, who went on to record four birdies in his 67 to move to six-under.
Denmark’s Neergaard-Petersen also went three-under on Moving Day after an eventful round which included four birdies, three bogeys and an eagle at 17.
Local lad fades
Fleetwood was cheered down every fairway and serenaded around every green but was ultimately left slightly frustrated by a disappointing finish that leaves him five shots back.
He started the afternoon on four-under-par and played steady, mistake-free golf for much of his round.
Birdies on 5, 7 and 11 – the second of which was a stunning 30-foot putt that was greeted with an roar that reverberated around this 137-year-old golf club – saw him bounce up to seven-under.
At that stage, he was one off the lead but the wind picked up on the back nine, and Fleetwood struggled to combat it.
A pushed tee shot on the par-3 15th missed the green to the right and, while his chip shot was superb, he missed the seven-foot par putt.
On 18, he drove into a fairway bunker, splashed out into the fairway and then pulled his approach shot left. He did well to get down in two but that was another shot gone. A round 69 leaves him five strokes back.
The 35-year-old is the leading British player in the field on what proved to be a tough day for home hopefuls.
The Southport star’s every shot has been roared on all week and the atmosphere reached fever pitch on Saturday afternoon.
“There’s no pressure on me at all really, except for my own expectations, and of course it’s a really beautiful thing that the town is so hopeful for me and they want me to do well,” Fleetwood said.
Incredible crowd
“I can’t ask for any more from thousands and thousands of people out there. The crowd have been incredible. They’ve made a massive difference to me.
“Whatever happens tomorrow, with yesterday evening, the first tee every day, today when I was in contention, that’s stuff that I’ll have for life.
“How many people in the golfing world get to experience that with the crowd that much on your side?
“It’s been a very special week for me no matter what. If I can get it tomorrow, I could make it even more special. We’ll see.”
Robert MacIntyre (-3), Matt Wallace (-2) and Alex Fitzpatrick (-1) all shot over-par, though Dan Brown jumped to T11 after a gritty 69 took him to 4 under 206. (courtesy theopen.com)
Also read: Herbert leads at Royal Birkdale with record-equalling second round
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