American Billy Horschel has emerged as the man to beat heading into the final round of a wild British Open at Troon, but Australian Adam Scott has worked back to within range on a miserable day which proved the undoing of overnight leader Shane Lowry.
Americans have a trend of winning at Troon and with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler also within striking distance, the prospects of the Claret Jug returning to the Land of the Free are strong, though Scott is among those aiming to finish off strongly.
Elsewhere, a South Korean was unaware he had scored a hole-in-one until alerted by the crowd, while a former PGA Tour player is rebuilding his life on the other end of the bag.
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DID STENSON BREAK THE CURSE OR WILL THE AMERICANS RISE AGAIN ON SUNDAY?
Leading into the British Open, there was a clear theme when it came to considering likely contenders for the prestigious event – Americans almost always win at Troon.
With Billy Horschel leading and Scottie Scheffler among Americans within range, the trend may repeat again in 2024, though Australians will be hoping Adam Scott can pull off a Sunday after miracle after he surged back into contention.
Horschel, who won the FedEx Championship in 2014, said he has envisioned winning the Open as he seeks to improve on his best finish to a major, which was 4th in the US Open back in 2013.
“I love it. I’ve worked my entire life to be in this position,” he said.
“Listen, I’ve been in the lead many times going into a final round. Obviously this is a major. It means a little bit more. We all know that. We know what this means to everyone.
“I know what it means to my legacy in the game of golf and what I want to do and accomplish. But I’m excited to be here. I’ve wanted to be here my entire life. I’m finally here. I’m embracing it.”
The 2024 British Open is the eleventh played at the tiger that is Troon on the Firth of Clyde. The first, played in 1923, was won in thrilling fashion by England’s Arthur Havers after he held a bunker shot on the last.
A similar shot might be needed on Sunday and English players Daniel Brown and Justin Rose are in contention as well.
South African great Bobby Locke won the next Open at Troon in 1950 and Thriston Lawrence, who is sitting in a tie for second, will be looking to emulate his deeds after a superb effort on Saturday.
But from then on Americans dominated the event when stringing together seven in succession, beginning with Arnold Palmer’s success in 1962.
Tom Weiskopf (1973), Tom Watson (1982), Mark Calcavecchia (1989), Justin Leonard (1997) and Todd Hamilton (2004) followed before Swede Henrik Stenson edged Phil Mickelson in an exceptional final round dual to break the American dominance.
But Horschel played superbly in tricky conditions that brought down overnight leader Shane Lowry, among others, while Scheffler and Xander Schauffele are among the Americans well in contention.
“I’ve just always embraced the toughness of anything. I’ve always enjoyed it. I think that’s the best way you can do to have a chance to play well,” Horschel said.
“I enjoy hitting little bunt shots. I get tired of golf where you’re making full swings and you lean into a certain number and it stops. I like when you have to be creative and find a way to get around the golf course, and I think I’ve always done that well for the most part. So I think that’s why I’ve always enjoyed days like this.”
ONE OF THE GREAT DESIGNS IN GOLF
As major champion after major champion saw their hopes blown away on Thursday and Friday, among the curiosities was the fact most could not handle the tricky conditions. And it got no easier on Saturday, with Scottie Scheffler saying it was the biggest test of his career.
“I can think of a couple days with some crazy high winds that may have been more challenging, but overall the back nine, I think that was probably the hardest nine holes that I’ll ever play,” he said.
“I shouldn’t say ever, but it’s definitely the hardest that I’ve played to this point, I think.”
As an example of how difficult it was, Daniel Brown and Shane Lowry were among those to opt for a driver on the 220m Par 3 17th hole named ‘The Rabbit” as the back nine proved especially difficult.
“It was hard. Yeah, playing a par-3 hitting drivers is not much crack. Roll the ball back, huh?” Lowry said.
What was it about Troon that made it so incredibly difficult to play when the wind was up?
Mickelson featured in one of the great final day duals in golf when Troon last hosted The Open when edged by Stenson but the famous course still surprises him.
The left-hander, who was the last man on the course on the eve of the tournament on Wednesday, sits at +6 and will not be a contender on Sunday, but is enjoying the challenge.
“I’ve played this course in all different winds, and it’s like playing the course for the first time,” he said.
“Every time you get a different wind. It’s incredible. It’s just one of the best designs in the world.”
After shooting a 5-under 66 on Saturday, Scott said the challenge this week had been the fact the wind seemed to blow from a different direction to usual.
Instead of playing downwind on the front nine and then into the breeze on the back, it was blowing across the course, making it extremely difficult to play with any confidence.
“It really is just the wind. I think it blew, for the first two days, not from the prevailing direction,” he said.
“Most courses are built for a prevailing wind. When it blows the other way, nothing really matches up very nicely.
“It was really (fierce on Friday). If you didn’t start the ball on your intended line, it was going so far offline (that) it was very hard to hit a fairway, let alone hit a green.”
Scott also pondered whether the R & A had toughened Troon after Stenson, who won the 2016 Open with a score of 20-under, and Mickelson tore it apart eight years ago.
“Probably. There are new tee boxes out there since ‘16, several on the front nine,” he said.
“The 5th may be the biggest (change by) moving the direction of the hole, making that quite difficult. But I think we’re used to it. Most courses seem to be protecting themselves from getting torn up.”
KOREAN ACE ADDS TO HIS HOLE IN ONE HAUL
Si Woo Kim had a good way to describe the gusts that terrorised most golfers on the first two days of The Open when stating it was a “hurting” wind. Few would disagree with that.
But he had reason to celebrate when scoring the first hole-in-one for the tournament on the “The Rabbit”, which was playing easier in the early afternoon before the rain and wind arrived.
After using a three-iron off the tee, the 29-year-old’s ball bounced like a bunny when landing short of the green before honing for the hole, catching the surprised Kim unaware.
“My caddie told me I’d better hit hard with a 3-iron, so I did and as soon as I (made good) contact (I felt like) that must be maybe inside 20 feet,” he said.
“(But then) people were yelling at me. I didn’t realise the ball (had gone) in. It was amazing.
“I have had plenty of holes-in-one in my life, maybe over ten times, (and) at tournaments six to eight times, but I think this is the most memorable hole-in-one.”
The eagle enabled Kim to finish the day square with the card and 5-over heading into the final day and, while he has not played brilliantly, he said it made the visit worthwhile.
“I was not doing very well and I was feeling terrible (with my) shots the last couple days,” he said.
“(But) then finally I got the best golf shot I’ve ever had this week. That goes in, and that makes it more special, especially at the major and The Open here.”
THE UNLUCKY AUSSIE ALTERNATE
A month after clinching his second PGA Tour victory, in-form Aussie Cam Davis had reason to feel angry as he watched Troon get the better of many of his peers leading into the cut.
For the second year in succession, Davis arrived for The Open and found himself the first alternate for a spot, but once again missed out on a start to his disappointment.
Davis, jumped to 37 in the world (currently 41) after his success in June, missed out under a key criteria, with his rankings bump coming too late to squeeze into the top 50 exempted by the R & A.
But he is frustrated that Open officials sent around two groups with only two players in it for the opening round on Thursday, rather than the three involved in 51 other groups.
“Their reasoning is they say 156 is their number they’re trying to reach and anything over that is more than they want,” Davis told Golf Digest.
“At the moment it is sounding like it’s entirely a personal preference for them, rather than actually a number they have to reach. The fact the field was set, they had a certain set of numbers, they had tee times set for those people and someone has withdrawn and they won’t let me take that spot, I feel like is not super fair treatment of someone who has made their way out here and a tee time has opened up.”
Adding salt to the wound for Davis, who is exempted from the US Masters and PGA next year as a result of his recent triumph, is that ambition did not meet reality for some.
Former champions Ernie Els and John Daly withdrew after his first round, while Romain Langasque pulled out after the Postage Stamp on Thursday.
Much has been written about Tiger Woods, who declared he would be back for next year’s Open despite missing his third cut at major level in 2024.
But Daly is another who is clearly non-competitive at major level anymore.
In 63 starts since the last of his two major wins in the 1995 British Open at St Andrews, he has failed to finish the opening two rounds on six occasions.
The “Wild Thing” no longer has the physical fitness to be a factor and has not recorded a top 10 finish in a major in nearly three decades, while missing 38 cuts from those 63 starts.
He withdrew after scoring an 11-over 82 in his first round citing a knee injury.
FROM THE WILDERNESS TO TROON: WILLY WILCOX ON THE PATH TO REDEMPTION
As Sung-jae Im zoomed through the front nine on Saturday morning in a 5-under 31, his caddie carried his bag with the earnestness of a man making the most of his chance.
But had things not panned out differently for Willie Wilcox, the American might well have been among the leading contenders himself heading into the final day of The Open.
The 38-year-old, who shot a 59 on a secondary tour in 2013, earned his PGA Tour card a year later and recorded a couple of top-10 finishes that year to retain his spot.
But by that stage he had a significant opioid addiction and, as he told The Times this week, was finishing tournaments and heading straight to heroin dens as his career waned.
“In my rookie year on the PGA Tour, I would say my habit was $250 (A$375) a day on OxyContin, Percocet, a couple of beers, a couple of Xanax. (But) you couldn’t smoke pot or the Tour would suspend you,” he said.
Wilcox, who turned to heroin in 2011, qualified for the 2015 FedEx playoffs but his grip on his game began to fray as his addiction worsened away from the links.
“I’d have 10,000 people screaming because I’d made a 40ft putt and I’d earn $500,000 (A$750,000) and then I’d be in a heroin den two hours later with homeless drug addicts,” he said.
Wilcox, who retired in 2021 and doubts Im knows the extent of his prior issues, said the South Korean offered him a chance to carry his bag at the US Open last year and he was glad to have a chance to get back on the links.
Source Agencies
