America’s Billy Horschel leads The Open heading into Sunday’s final round after carding 69 in horrible conditions at Royal Troon.
English major debutant Daniel Brown had the lead heading up the 18th but a double bogey after finding a greenside bunker saw him slip back to three under alongside Thriston Lawrence, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele.
Scottie Scheffler is one further back on two under, while Shane Lowry – who led after two rounds – had a day to forget, carding 77 to slip from leading on eight under at one stage on Saturday to finish on one under.
Follow reaction after the third round of the 152nd Open Championship below:
The Open Championship 2024 – live updates from Royal Troon
- The 152nd Open Championship continues at Royal Troon in Scotland
- Leaderboard: -4 Horschel; -3 Brown, Rose, Schauffele, Lawrence, Henley, Burns; -2 Scheffler; -1 Lowry
- Dan Brown double bogeys the 18th to hand Billy Horschel the lead
- Shane Lowry slips down the leaderboard after carding 77 in the rain
- HOLE IN ONE! Si Woo Kim aces the 17th with a brilliant shot
- Round 4 tee times: Dan Brown paired with Scottie Scheffler on Sunday
Major debutant Dan Brown will play with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler on Sunday at The Open as they try to chase down the overnight leader, Billy Horschel, at Royal Troon.
Horschel finished a wet and wild third round on four under par to take the outright lead after Brown double bogeyed the 18th, which dropped the Yorkshireman back alongside Thriston Lawrence, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele on three under par.
Scottie Scheffler is eighth on the leaderboard on two under, while Shane Lowry – who at one stage on Saturday led The Open on eight under – had a day to forget, carding 77 to finish on one under. Justin Thomas, Adam Scott and Matthew Jordan are on level par heading into Sunday’s play.
Lawrence and Horschel will be last to tee off, at 2.25pm.
The Open 2024 tee times for round 4 on Sunday
Early starters make hay as wind drops on day three of Open
21:20 , Lawrence Ostlere
Birdies were the order of the day in benign conditions on the third day of The Open as the chasing pack sought to take advantage early on.
With winds dropping from Friday’s 25mph gusts to a more gentle steady breeze, Royal Troon’s front nine was at its most vulnerable and offered plenty of opportunities.
South Korea’s Sungjae Im seized the chance with five birdies to turn in 31, the lowest score of the week on the front nine but dropped a shot at the 14th to sit two over.
Daniel Brown in contention on stunning Open debut
20:54 , Lawrence Ostlere
Qualifier Dan Brown wrote another chapter in his incredible Open Championship story to set up a thriller of a final day at Royal Troon.
Brown, who birdied the 36th hole in qualifying to secure his major debut, defied miserable conditions to leave himself 18 holes away from a fairytale triumph.
The world number 272 held the outright lead until an unfortunate double bogey on the 18th, but a third round of 73 left him just a shot behind American Billy Horschel.
Horschel, who famously followed a 67 with an 85 in similar weather the last time Troon staged the Open in 2016, only put his rain jacket on between shots as he scrambled his way to an astounding 69 to finish four under par.
That gave the 37-year-old a slender lead over six players, with Brown joined on three under by compatriot Justin Rose, US PGA champion Xander Schauffele and a trio of players who had exploited ideal early conditions.
