After the third round he leads the American at -12 followed by his compatriot Young at -7 and by the number 3 in the world author of a 63. The Northern Irishman is lost in the final, the blue remains under par
When it comes to charm and tradition, the Open is second to none. Its color has always been yellow. From the road signs that accompany spectators for miles towards the destination to every possible detail once inside. So is the leaderboard of the best, the one that updates the positions between the holes for spectators and players, the one that stands out on the large stand at 18 and in the press room.
Migliozzi is there
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Among the best scores (those in red below par, only 24) is that of Guido Migliozzi (-1 for the tournament, 24th in the leaderboard) who has conquered a stable position on the dream board since the beginning of this match. Today he earns a shot immediately, but loses it on hole 3 where he goes long with the second shot (“from the rough it started strong and without spin crossing the whole green“, he says) and still long on 4 and 11; in the middle the perfect hole at 7, with the second from 160 meters 90 centimeters from the rod. He’s still a birdie but it will be his last. He doesn’t take advantage of the par 5s and some feasible putts, for a par round which he comments as follows: “I didn’t play the best golf of the tournament, a round that was not easy to manage, with good shots at the beginning but then I struggled to gain momentum. Today the course was less difficult, softer and with slower greens, we could score and instead I lost ground. In the end, however, I gladly bring home this par, I want to do a good lap tomorrow, gain some positions and enjoy Sunday at the Open Championship”.
Rahm show
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The professional from Vicenza plays chased by Rory’s army (in the game behind) who goes crazy for every shot from the Northern Irish champion. “Many shouts for Rory, many people, after all it is the Saturday of the Open in the top positions; beautiful, but it is not easy to maintain concentration”. The forecasts are wrong, little rain, no wind and decidedly hot. Mild conditions for a links on England’s west coast, but only one player really takes advantage of it and he’s number one in the world. The Spaniard Jon Rahm was a long way from the leaders, but with an impressive pace in the return holes (played in 30 strokes with six birdies) he scores a 63 which propels him high, in third position at -6 (207 strokes in total).
Harman leader
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While the amateur Christo Lamprecht disappears in last place (from the first won on Thursday), the American Brian Harman is not a meteor, expected to face direct confrontation with Tommy Fleetwood in the last game. But if he gets off to a bad start and immediately misses two shots, he gets his score back to -10 mid-round and then stuns his opponent with two more birdies. The English idol chasing the first major finishes little in the first nine and nothing in the second, retreating in the standings (137, -5). In the end the closest to the top is Cameron Young who presents a hopeful 66 (he is second at -7). But if last year in St. Andrews the New Yorker closed with an eagle and a 65 to finish just one shot behind the Champion Golfer Cameron Smith (recovering 3 shots in the final), now the gap with Harman (who ends up in 69 at -12) is five. Certainly not an impossible feat. One statistic impresses in Harman’s overall score: compared to the field average he earned 16.13 shots, of which 9.28 on the green. After all, the left-handed player from the beginning of the tournament had defined his putter as “very hot” (only 25 in the first round). The most beautiful shot of the day, however, is wood 3 played on the 5th (par 5) from 335 metres, he says. A good day for Viktor Hovland (66), Antoine Rozner (67), Jason Day (69), Sepp Straka (70), all quarters at -5 with Fleetwood. McIlroy’s 69 is not enough to keep him in the slipstream: after an initial attack he gets lost in the rough and missed putts. Credit for Alex Fitzpatrick’s 65.
July 22 – 10.51pm
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