We’ve reached the halfway point of the British Open, and Shane Lowry has complete control of the leaderboard.
Lowry dropped to 7-under par after shooting a second-round 69 on Friday, giving him a two-stroke lead ahead of the move-in day at Royal Troon in Scotland. He also had some credit in the second round, as strong winds whipped up the afternoon swell and sent several big names home early.
Daniel Brown, who led the tournament after the first round, shot 72-over-par on Friday. Brown will start Saturday with a five-under-par finish for the week with Justin Rose, who tied the lowest round of the day with a 68-under-par on Friday. They are the first trio from the UK and Ireland to lead the British Open at the halfway stage since 1951.
Top seed Scotty Scheffler will start the day five strokes behind Lowry at 2-under par. Scheffler, who has already won six times this season on the PGA Tour, is coming off a playoff win at the Travelers Championship.
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After a difficult Friday weather, many golfers took advantage of the pleasant conditions for a short period at Royal Troon on Saturday morning.
Then the rain hit again.
Click on the image to read more about Saturday’s early wave at Royal Troon. (AP/Peter Morrison)
Lori extends lead to 3
Shane Lowry led by three at the start of the match after his first shot of the day on the par-5 fourth hole, as rain began to fall heavily at Royal Troon.
Brown steadies ship after early mistake
Daniel Brown made a mistake on hole No. 1 after a foul shot, but he managed to get back into the game, hitting a birdie on the third hole to move back to 5-under par in the tournament and into sole second place. Brown was unfazed by the moment more than two rounds into his major championship debut.
Russell Henley’s good run continues in round three
Henley hit 6-under par to 12 on the day, moved up to second place, and played excellently. Not everyone can hit an iron like that on their first shot… but what about the short putt? It’s a gift in regular weekend golf.
Justin Thomas heads to the tournament on Sunday.
Thomas shot 67 under par in the third round on Saturday. He started off strong with six birdies in the first 12 holes. After two birdies on the 13th and 15th holes, he managed to get his feet on the ground and win three straight birdies. He trails leader Shane Lowry by seven strokes heading into the final round.
Justin Thomas has returned to his normal Championship form after transfer day. (Warren Little/Getty Images)
Xander Schoeffel moves early Saturday
More red numbers on the hog as rain falls… 2 under today and 3 under for the tournament for Xander Schauffele.
Shane Lowry finds the bunker off the tee at No. 1.
With rain falling as heavily as it has all day, the leaders are at 7 under par, with Shane Lowry at the top of the standings and also second on the left sand hole of the first hole. Lowry will be looking to lift the Claret Cup for a second time.
Shane Lowry looks to lift the Claret Cup for the second time this week. (AP/Jon Super)
Russell Henley with sauce
Pass, pass, stop, go. That’s exactly how Russell Henley laid it out at the Postage Stamp. He went on to par and go out in 32. Henley is 2 under par for the tournament and 4 under par on the day at the turn. You’ll also notice that the rain has fully set in and changed the conditions for the players at Royal Troon.
Scotty Scheffler starts play in round three
The two-time Masters champion is playing in the British Open, and his tour has already begun. He enters the third round at 2-under par, five strokes behind Shane Lowry. Scheffler, who plays with Dean Burmeister of LIV Golf today, has six wins in 15 matches this season.
Scotty Scheffler seeks his seventh win of the year this week. (AP/Peter Morrison)
Justin Thomas slows down after hot start
After being out for 31 holes, Justin Thomas came back down to earth a bit. He birdied the first 12 holes, putting Thomas in touch with the leaders, who are due to start their rounds in the next half hour or so, but Boggess on 13 and 15 and a second wrong putt on 16 left Thomas scrambling to stay in touch with the leaders as his third round drew to a close.
Justin Thomas of the United States reacts to his putt on the 14th hole during his third round of the British Open golf championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland, Saturday, July 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Thurston Lawrence continues his role as a star in the series 9
Lawrence was 7-under on the day and 4-under in the tournament, just three shots behind Shane Lowry. The rain started to fall and umbrellas were scattered among the fans at Royal Troon, which could affect the players when the final sets begin to play.
This is exceptional golf from Threston Lawrence. He made 7 deep shots from 11 shots at Royal Troon and is quickly becoming a real contender for The Open! 🔥🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/tfbUR679qa
The LSU Tigers made one on the 8th hole to go 4-under on the day and 1-under for the tournament. Scoring conditions were more favorable in the early part of the day, but rain began to move into the area at Royal Troon.
Sam Burns scores some early birds to get into the red zone Saturday at Royal Troon. (AP/Jon Super)
Sometimes you have to turn the club around and make something up.
Robert McIntyre plays left-handed, but to avoid a near-impossible position coming out of the sand late in his third round, he opted to flip his club and try playing right-handed. He ended up missing a huge shot to the right… but managed to make par from that position.
Another bird for JT
The two-time PGA Championship winner finished 2-under par in the tournament after another 12-hole shot, and 6-under par on the day. The 2022 PGA Championship is his last win on Tour, and his best finish in an Open Championship was 11th in 2019.
Si Woo Kim scores a one-putt on the 17th hole.
This is the 10th British Open at Royal Troon, and to date no player has ever made a successful putt on the 17th hole. Well, that number has gone from zero to one with Si Woo Kim’s third-round winner. He made 5-putts in the tournament and a par the day after a shot he will remember for the rest of his life. Take a look:
DP World Tour star Threston Lawrence also moves up the leaderboard.
Among the players who scored the lowest points at the start of the day were names we have seen on Sundays in the majors before… Adam Scott, Justin Thomas, but also some lesser-known names like Threston Lawrence. The South African, a four-time DP World Tour winner, made 6-under par through the first eight holes and rose 24 places on the leaderboard to fourth.
Threston Lawrence takes full advantage of moving day at Royal Troon. (Warren Little/Getty Images)
Adam Scott makes his way to the top
Adam Scott has moved up 41 places in the standings today to 13th, one point behind after an excellent round of 5-under par so far.