The Land of Cakes or the land of misery? The day that started with moderate conditions, ended with an exceptionally grueling one, challenging the golfers in Scotland on Saturday. As the penultimate round of the Open Championship concluded, many players are in the top 10 of the leaderboard. Billy Horschel took a one-stroke lead but is being closely followed by six players at T2.
The wet, and windy conditions made the back nine at the South Ayrshire a vogue for the players. From the world’s no.1 player to the defending champion, almost everyone struggled through so much that only nine players could make an under-par in the third round.
Golfers drop irrefutable bombs on the Royal Troon
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Scottie Scheffler, who is just two strokes away from Billy Horschel at -2 on the leaderboard, was among the significant players who had the worst time on the course. The back nine challenged the players with several difficult par-3 and lengthy par-4s, making it tough to reach in two shots. Scheffler carded only two birdies but was undone by two bogeys. After ending the round at T8, Scheffler dubbed his time at the Royal Troon to be the worst. At the post-round presser, he said, “I think that was probably the hardest nine holes that I’ll ever play. I shouldn’t say ever, but it’s the hardest that I’ve played to this point, I think.”
On the other hand, Dustin Johnson, who teed off with fellow LIV Golfer Brooks Koepka, too shared his frustration. Despite carding a birdie off the fringe on the 14th hole, his back nine also included a double bogey that took him to an over par. Brooks Koepka on the other hand, had a 7-over score. He said, “The back nine, that’s the hardest nine holes I think you could ever play in golf right now, into the wind and rain. It’s so long I could barely reach the par-4s, I had to smash 2 to get there, same with Brooks. That’s how long it was playing.”
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Shane Lowry, who entered the Saturday round with a lead was not very happy about his performance either. He was in the final pairing with Daniel Brown and carded a 6-over to fall three shots behind the leader. He carded a total of five bogeys in the back nine, and well, also had a double bogey on the eighth hole. Expressing his disappointment, Lowry said, “Have to question why there wasn’t a couple of tees put forward today… I think 15 and 17 — like 15 is 500 yards playing into that wind. Yeah, they keep trying to make holes longer, yet the best hole on this course is 100 yards.”
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Matthew Jordan, Adam Scott, and Xander Schauffele too were among the seventy players struggling to get momentum at the Royal Troon on Saturday. But the question is, how will the final round look like on Sunday, after being a nightmare in the penultimate round?
Mother Nature to be calmer on Sunday at The Open Championship
After relenting rains on Saturday, there is only minimal rain expected for the final round at the Royal Troon. Although winds are expected to remain steady most of the day with a speed of 10-14 mph, there might be interrupting gusts coming in over 20 mph, then and now.
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Although the forecast says, “Dry with brighter spells developing”, There might still be light showers in the afternoon, with better conditions during the early evening. The rainfall will be as faint as 0mm, 10% less than 0.5 mm.
Will the weather gods go easy after a brutal third round for the golfers? Stay tuned to find out!
