SANDWICH, England: South African Louis Oosthuizen stayed clear of a chasing pack led by Jordan Spieth in a gripping British Open third round played in bright sunshine at Royal St George’s on Saturday (Jul 17).
Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion, parred the first six holes before birdies at the seventh and ninth moved him to 13 under par, two ahead of American Spieth who conjured up four early birdies to boost his bid to lift the Claret Jug for the second time.
American Collin Morikawa dropped back with two bogeys but he birdied the seventh and eighth holes to return to nine under, level with South African Dylan Frittelli, a lurking presence on the leaderboard throughout the tournament
Canadian Corey Conners picked up three shots in a row to get to eight under, one ahead of German Marcel Siem and American Scottie Scheffler.
U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm of Spain remained in contention at six under but American world number one Dustin Johnson’s challenge faded as he dropped five shots to slip back to two under.
Among the early starters, Rory McIlroy, a four-times major champion, took advantage of the benign conditions to pick up five birdies on the front nine but the Northern Irishman struggled over the closing holes on the way to a 69 that left him one under par.
“Sort of a tale of two nines,” McIlroy told reporters. “I played great on the front nine, hit some really good iron shots and converted some putts and really got it going.”
McIlroy, 32, won his last major in 2014.
“It’s just a matter of trying to keep that going and try to turn those nine-hole stretches into 18-hole stretches, and then those 18-hole stretches into whole tournaments,” he said.
Bryson DeChambeau made a double-bogey six at the ninth hole and although he collected two birdies on the back nine, the long-hitting American signed for a 72 to drop back to three over par.