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McIlroy Closes in on Third Major
Mistakes to Blame for Poor Showing, Says Woods
Fowler Looking to Put Early Pressure on McIlroy
Thongchai Fights Back for Third Straight 72
McIlroy Closes in on Third Major
HOYLAKE, July 19, 2014 (AFP) - A sensational double eagle finish from Rory McIlroy gave him a six-stroke cushion going into the final round of the British Open as he crushed a chasing pack of challengers who tried and failed to hunt him down during a rain-hit third round.
The 25-year-old Irishman, looking to add a third major to his collection and a first on British soil, started the day with a four-stroke lead.
But by the time he reached the 12th hole that had vanished and he was caught in a dogfight with American shot-maker Rickie Fowler, hungry to win his first major.
That was when McIlroy, who had been struggling off the tee, produced his best golf of the week at Royal Liverpool.
A birdie at 14 eased him back ahead, and with Fowler going off the boil, McIlroy struck what could prove to be two tournament-winning blows with magnificent eagles at the 16th and 18th.
That gave him a 68 and left him at 16-under for the tournament six strokes clear of Fowler who had eight birdies en route to a 68.
It was the biggest lead at the third-round stage of the Open since Tiger Woods at St Andrews in 2000. Woods eventually won by eight strokes on that occasion.
A further stroke back came Spaniard Sergio Garcia who had a 69 and Dustin Johnson of the United States with a 71. Frenchman Victor Dubuisson was next best on eight under after a 68.
"Rickie Fowler was getting close to me. I knew if I could hit good drives on 16 and 18 I would have a good chance of birdie, I didn't expect to hit eagles but there you go," said McIlroy.
"It is a good thing I have experienced this before, good and bad. Hopefully some of that experience I can take into tomorrow.
"My game plan all week has been to take care of the par fives and I want to do that again tomorrow."
It was already a remarkable day for the British Open because for the first time in its 154-year long history the field went out from both the first and 10th tees instead of just everyone going off the first.
That was due to a decision taken by tournament organisers the R&A to bring forward the start times and share them between 1 and 10 in an effort to complete the round in the face of bad weather forecast for later on.
As it was, the 72-strong field was greeted with torrential rain as they arrived at the historic links layout on the Wirral peninsula south of Liverpool.
McIlroy was the man to catch and when he bogeyed the first hole, the chase was immediately on.
Johnson, Garcia, Jim Furyk and Charl Schwartzel all made early surges, but McIlroy struck a timely birdie on the fifth and then a series of fine approaches and clutch putting allowed him to keep his nose in front.
Then Fowler emerged from the chasing pack with three straight birdies from the 10th. When McIlroy dropped a stroke at the 12th, the solo lead he had enjoyed from the first day had gone.
But with the rest of the pack scenting blood, McIlroy suddenly put his foot on the accelerator with his two eagles, leaving his stunned rivals in his wake.
Catching him on Sunday will be a momentous task for any player as the Irishman seeks to add the British Open to the US Open crown he won in 2011 and the PGA Championship title of 2012, both by eight strokes.
Fowler, however, insisted he was still in with a realistic chance.
"There is a fine line, so much can happen so quickly. I was six back going in to today, if I can get off to a good start and put pressure on, there is still a lot of golf to be played," he said.
"Being alongside him is an advantage tomorrow, we are going to have a good time, if I can put pressure on and make him earn it and see if we can get myself in the mix."
Phil Mickelson saw his chances of defending the title he won last year at Muirfield vanish as he shot a 71 to stand at one under for the tournament, while world number three Justin Rose ended the day at five under after a 69.
World number one Adam Scott had a fine 69 to tie for seventh, but at six under is too far back to pose a serious threat.
Woods, meanwhile, had another mixed day as he carded a 73 to stand at three over, 19 strokes off the lead.
That meant that any hopes of winning a 15th major title six years after his last one were gone.
But just making it through to the weekend was an achievement in itself for the 38-year-old American, who is trying to work his way back to top form after back surgery.
Mistakes to Blame for Poor Showing, Says Woods
HOYLAKE, July 19, 2014 (AFP) - Tiger Woods rued his mistakes on Saturday after another uncharacteristic third round score left him out of the running at the British Open, 19 shots behind runaway leader Rory McIlroy.
The American icon came to Royal Liverpool Golf Club with ambitions of winning for the second time on the par-72 layout and taking his haul of majors to 15, three shy of record held by Jack Nicklaus.
However, a fine opening round of three under 69 that put the 38-year-old in contention, was wasted on Friday when a 77 meant that he barely made the cut, with a last gasp birdie, just to stay in the tournament.
That was followed by a round of 73, that extinguished his hopes on Saturday, and left the Florida native scratching his head as to why his putting touch had deserted him.
"I made a lot of mistakes, I've made two doubles (bogeys) and two triples but on top of that I missed a lot of shots for opportunities for birdies and consequently I'm three over.
Many onlookers doubted Woods' chances coming into a tournament he won in style at Hoylake in 2006, the 12th of his 14 majors, but he has not won a major since the 2008 US Open.
Recent back surgery left him with only two competitive rounds of golf at the Congressional earlier this year, where he missed the cut, although he remained happy to be back playing at the highest level.
"I'm starting to get the flow of the round, the flow of playing again but I've just made too many mistakes," said Woods.
"You can't run up high scores like that and expect to contend, especially when the conditions are this benign. Most of the scores are three-under par or better. I certainly didn't do that.
Woods played his round with a black ribbon attached to his hat in tribute to renowned golf coach Bob Torrance, the father of Sam, who passed away on Friday at the age of 82.
"I've known him a lot over the years, even from my amateur days when I came over here. He's been fantastic to me and we had a lot of great conversations about golf.
"It was always fun picking his brain about the game, how it's evolved and how he believes it should be played. I'm going to miss him very much".
Fowler Looking to Put Early Pressure on McIlroy
HOYLAKE, July 19, 2014 (AFP) - American Rickie Fowler will lead the pack trying to reel in runaway leader Rory McIlroy at the British Open on Sunday, a challenge he says he is looking forward to against his Florida neighbour.
The Californian-born Fowler briefly drew level with Northern Ireland's McIlroy before a late trio of bogeys set him back and left him six shots adrift going into the final round.
Spaniard Sergio Garcia and fellow American Dustin Johnson are a further shot back with Frenchman Victor Dubuisson alone on eight under and a further shot back.
Fowler, 25 and the same age as McIlroy, piled on the early pressure during Saturday's spectacular third round, and a run of seven birdies in 12 holes before his late problems, gives him reason for optimism.
"I'm really looking forward to it, definitely, like I said, pulling off the start I had today (four birdies in six holes).
"Because playing with Rory, being six back, same position I was today. If I'm able to go out and get off to a good start, maybe I can put a little bit of pressure on him, because he's definitely in control of the golf tournament right now," said Fowler.
"We both live down in Jupiter, Florida. He spends a bit of time down there. And we first played against each other at the Walker Cup in '07 and it's kind of gone from there. So I'm looking forward to it tomorrow. It's going to be a good time.
"We're good buddies and at the same time we both want to beat up on each other as bad as possible so we'll have fun throwing shots back and forth and it will be fun to see if I can go out and put a bit of pressure on him and make him earn it a bit,
"I'll see if I can get myself in the mix, and maybe we'll be able to throw some blows back and forth.
Garcia, who like Fowler, is also looking for a first win at a major knows the odds are stacked against a comeback but didn't write off his chances.
"If Rory plays the way he's been playing, it's difficult to see anybody catching him when he's playing like that.
"But the only thing I can do is play well, try to put a little pressure on him and see how he reacts to that.
"If he's playing that well, he deserves it and if he plays that well tomorrow (Sunday), he'll be a more deserved champion.
"The only thing I can do is keep at it and keep putting myself in these situations, and hope one day that it will be my turn."
Thongchai Fights Back for Third Straight 72
HOYLAKE, July 19, 2014 (AFP) - Thai star Thongchai Jaidee overcame a disastrous start to post a third successive even par 72 at The Open Championship on Saturday.
The triple Asian Tour number one endured the worst of the morning weather at Royal Liverpool to drop a bogey and double bogey in his opening two holes and was three over through the seventh.
But the 44-year-old, who is ranked 34th in the world, showed his quality by sinking four birdies over his last 11 holes for a three-day total of 216.
"At nine (in the morning), there was so much rain," said Thongchai after his round.
"I hit it good, found the fairway on the first and second holes but then missed it on the wrong side of the greens with the approach shots.
"Found the greenside bunker on the first and with the pin being so tight, I had no chance and made a good bogey. On two, my first putt couldn't get up to the green and made a six there."
A chip-in birdie on eight sparked a revival as he went on to birdie 10, 11 and 18 to get back to even par for the year's third Major.
"After the chip-in on the eight, the game changed a bit. It was solid after the turn. There was no wind and the greens were softer. You could hole a lot of putts. Even par is okay after the start that I had," said Thongchai, who won in Sweden last month.
The Thai could not recall the last time he shot three consecutive 72s but is hoping to move into red numbers in the final day.
Thongchai, whose best Open outing was tied 13th in 2009, said he needed to improve on his scoring at the par fives where he is only one-under of them this week.
"I can't remember when I have had three 72s. I think I was much younger ... it was probably during my amateur days. I think I've learned a lot in my golf to be able to come back. When I was young, I maybe wasn't able to concentrate to come back," he said.
"You can't expect to be under par tomorrow. It depends on your game that day and how you feel. I think the back nine has more birdie chances, with the three par fives being reachable.
"You can make a score on those holes. This week, I've not played well on them. Not too many birdies there."
Thongchai was caught by surprise by the R&A's decision to break tradition and play the third round off the first and 10th tees, the first time in Open history due to thunderstorms that were being forecasted on Saturday.
"We got the tee time late last night. I saw it on the internet at about 10.30pm. Luckily, someone called me to say that I was the second group off," he said.
Collated third round scores in the 143rd British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Saturday (par 72):
200 - Rory McIlroy (NIR) 66 66 68
206 - Rickie Fowler (USA) 69 69 68
207 - Dustin Johnson (USA) 71 65 71, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 68 70 69
208 - Victor Dubuisson (FRA) 74 66 68
209 - Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 68 73 68
210 - Robert Karlsson (SWE) 69 71 70, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 71 67 72, Jim Furyk (USA) 68 71 71, Adam Scott (AUS) 68 73 69, Matteo Manassero (ITA) 67 75 68
211 - Marc Warren (SCO) 71 68 72, Justin Rose (ENG) 72 70 69, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 74 69 68, Marc Leishman (AUS) 69 72 70, Jimmy Walker (USA) 69 71 71, Darren Clarke (NIR) 72 72 67, Ryan Moore (USA) 70 68 73
212 - Stephen Gallacher (SCO) 70 72 70, David Howell (ENG) 72 70 70, Byeong-Hun An (KOR) 72 71 69, Branden Grace (RSA) 71 72 69
213 - Chris Kirk (USA) 71 74 68, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 68 70 75, Keegan Bradley (USA) 73 71 69, Shane Lowry (IRL) 68 75 70, Kristoffer Broberg (SWE) 70 73 70, Brian Harman (USA) 72 73 68, George Coetzee (RSA) 70 69 74, Jordan Spieth (USA) 71 75 67
214 - Ben Martin (USA) 71 73 70, David Hearn (CAN) 70 73 71, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 70 68 76
215 - Phil Mickelson (USA) 74 70 71, Bill Haas (USA) 70 72 73, Angel Cabrera (ARG) 76 69 70, Kevin Streelman (USA) 72 74 69
216 - Kevin Na (USA) 76 70 70, Hunter Mahan (USA) 71 73 72, D.A. Points (USA) 75 69 72, Kevin Stadler (USA) 73 72 71, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 69 74 73, Gary Woodland (USA) 75 69 72, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 72 72 72
217 - Zach Johnson (USA) 71 75 71, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 70 71 76, Luke Donald (ENG) 73 73 71, Martin Kaymer (GER) 73 72 72, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 74 72 71, Chris Rodgers (ENG) 73 71 73, Matthew Jones (AUS) 71 74 72
218 - Paul Casey (ENG) 74 71 73, Chris Wood (ENG) 75 70 73, Jason Dufner (USA) 70 74 74, Matt Kuchar (USA) 73 71 74, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 75 69 74, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 72 73 73
219 - Brooks Koepka (USA) 68 77 74, Tiger Woods (USA) 69 77 73, Matthew Every (USA) 75 71 73, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 75 71 73, Stewart Cink (USA) 71 75 73
220 - Koumei Oda (JPN) 69 77 74, Rhein Gibson (AUS) 72 74 74, Brendon Todd (USA) 73 73 74, John Senden (AUS) 71 74 75, Jason Day (AUS) 73 73 74
221 - Billy Hurley III (USA) 73 72 76, Tom Watson (USA) 73 73 75, Ryan Palmer (USA) 74 71 76, James McLeary (SCO) 73 73 75
222 - Charley Hoffman (USA) 74 72 76