Jason Day has rebounded brilliantly from a grim Saturday afternoon which dashed his hopes of British Open success to record a superb front nine on the final day at Royal Troon.
The former world No.1 walked off the 9th hole sporting a big grin after recording his fourth birdie in a blemish-free morning that has seen him move to a tie for 11th.
The 2015 US PGA champion started the day at 4-over but is now square with the card, with the precision of his approaches from the fairway to the green on point in breezy conditions.
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His approach to the seventh, in particular, was exact and left him with a birdie putt of just over one metre, with Day’s 32 the equal best for the day to date for the front nine.
Day, who finished runner-up at Royal Liverpool in last year’s Open, birdied the 6th, 7th and 9th holes for the first time this week to give himself hope of a top 10 finish.
He is not the only big name making a move on Sunday morning, with Spanish star Jon Rahm 2-under after three holes in an early push that has taken him into the top 10.
Adam Scott will start at even with the card, four shots behind leader Billy Horschel, when he tees off at 10.45pm AEST.
New Zealander Ryan Fox has recorded the lowest score of the completed rounds today, with a 4-under 67 taking him to 5-over for the tournament.
He and Canadian Corey Conners, who shot a 68, are the only golfers from the 22 completed rounds to date to shoot under card on Sunday.
FULL OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD
Heading into Sunday’s final round, American Horschel led the British Open at four under par after torrential rain and a swirling wind at Royal Troon blew the challenge for the Claret Jug wide open.
Scott remains in the hunt, four shots off the leader, knowing he needed “one hell of a round” to move into contention on Saturday – and he got it, with a brilliant 66.
Horschel leads by one from a group of six, featuring USPGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele, English duo Justin Rose and Daniel Brown, South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence and Americans Sam Burns and Russell Henley.
World number one Scottie Scheffler is just one shot further back at two under after battling to an even par round of 71.
A total of 12 players are within four shots of the lead for what promises to be a fascinating final round.
Overnight leader Shane Lowry had a day to forget as the 2019 champion crumbled in the sodden conditions to collapse from eight under par after seven holes to one under by the end of his round.
Full Wrap Day 3: Wet weather Open chaos | 02:51
Horschel was one of the big movers in a round that had allowed for lower scoring earlier in the day before the wind and rain picked up.
Starting at two under, Horschel produced a sublime four-under 32 on the front nine thanks to birdies at four, six, seven and nine.
A bogey followed at 11 before another dropped shot at the last but he remains in prime position to land his first major.
“I’ve worked my entire life to be in this position,” said world number 62 Horschel.
“I know what it means to my legacy in the game of golf and what I want to do and accomplish.”
Brown, ranked 272 in the world, had been set to lead heading into the final round until dropping three shots in his last two holes.
But he and Rose remain in the hunt to become the first English winner since Nick Faldo in 1992.
“I’m a little bit disappointed with how the last two holes went because I did so well so get to where I got to, and yeah, it’s a bit nasty to finish like that,” said Brown.
Lowry began the day with a two-shot lead and extended that to three with a birdie at the par-five fourth.
However, the Irishman’s round began to come off the rails with a double bogey at the 130-yard Postage Stamp eighth.
Worse was to come as five bogeys in eight holes on the back nine dropped Lowry back into ninth.
Fresh from his maiden major win at the USPGA, Schauffele is eyeing another. The world number three moved to five under at one stage before bogeys at 11 and 18 knocked him back to three under after a round of 69.
“I’ll let myself dream tonight,” said Schauffele.
Scheffler is also right in the mix to claim his third major and win for a seventh time in 15 starts this year.
A birdie at the third got the American off to a fine start but he then played the next 13 holes in two over before picking up a shot at the 17th to remain ominously poised.
“The back nine, I think that was probably the hardest nine holes that I’ll ever play,” said Scheffler.
Lawrence, Burns and Henley made the most of the benign early morning conditions to shoot through the pack to three under.
Lawrence and Burns posted six-under 65s, while Henley made 66 to move into contention before the leaders had to face the worst of the weather.
Two-time major champion Justin Thomas and former Masters winner Adam Scott also impressed to move to level par and remain on the fringes of the battle for the Claret Jug.
One of the loudest cheers of the week so far was reserved for Si Woo-kim after he produced the longest hole-in-one in British Open history on the 17th that brought him back to five over for the tournament.
“I was not doing very well, and then I was feeling terrible for my shots the last couple days. Then finally I got the best golf shot I’ve ever had this week,” said the South Korean.
MORE NEWS
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Talking Points: Brutal course kills Open dreams as players complain… and ace stuns
TEE TIMES (AEST)
4:35pm: Darren Fichardt +15, Andy Ogletree +13
4:45pm: Luis Masaveu (A) +13, Younghan Song +11
4:55pm: Darren Clarke +11, Tom Mckibbin +9
5:05pm: Ryan Fox +9, Hideki Matsuyama +9
5:15pm: Aaron Rai +9, Rickie Fowler +9
5:25pm: Tommy Morrison (A) +9, Corey Conners +8
5:35pm: Brooks Koepka +8, Marcel Siem +8
5:45pm: Jeung-Hun Wang +8, Matthieu Pavon +8
6:00pm: Thorbjorn Olesen +8, Jorge Campillo +8
6:10pm: Matt Fitzpatrick +8, Richard Mansell +7
6:20pm: Rasmus Hojgaard +7, Kurt Kitayama +7
6:30pm: Nicolai Hojgaard +6, Jordan Spieth +6
6:40pm: Jacob Skov Olesen (A) +6, Alex Cejka +6
6:50pm: Phil Mickelson +6, Robert Macintyre +6
7:00pm: Harris English +6, Guido Migliozzi +6
7:10pm: Joaquin Niemann +5, Mackenzie Hughes +5
7:25pm: Tom Hoge +5, Adrian Meronk +5
7:35pm: Austin Eckroat +5, Brian Harman +5
7:45pm: Davis Thompson +5, Si Woo Kim +5
7:55pm: Matt Wallace +5, Abraham Ancer +5
8:05pm: Max Homa +5, Jason Day +4
8:15pm: Sepp Straka +4, Eric Cole +4
8:25pm: Emiliano Grillo +4, Cameron Young +4
8:35pm: Joe Dean +4, Ewen Ferguson +4
8:50pm: Dean Burmester +3, Patrick Cantlay +3
9:00pm: Gary Woodland +3, Mk Kim +3
9:10pm: Padraig Harrington +3, Brendon Todd +3
9:20pm: Calum Scott (A) +3, Matteo Manassero +3
9:30pm: Dustin Johnson +2, Collin Morikawa +2
9:40pm: Jon Rahm +2, Alex Noren +2
9:50pm: Laurie Canter +2, Chris Kirk +2
10:00pm: Sean Crocker +2, John Catlin +2
10:15pm: Daniel Hillier +2, Shubhankar Sharma +2
10:25pm: Byeong Hun An +1, Sungjae Im +1
10:35pm: Matthew Jordan E, Justin Thomas E
10:45pm: Adam Scott E, Shane Lowry -1
10:55pm: Scottie Scheffler -2, Daniel Brown -3
11:05pm: Justin Rose -3, Xander Schauffele -3
11:15pm: Russell Henley -3, Sam Burns -3
11:25pm: Thriston Lawrence -3, Billy Horschel -4
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