Scott hot but Day cools on British Open ‘moving day’

Glenn Moore | July 21, 2024

Saturdays at golf’s majors are known as ‘moving day’ and Adam Scott has taken the aphorism to heart to hold the the clubhouse lead for two hours in the British Open’s third round at Royal Troon.

Scott started at five over par, 12 shots behind overnight leader Shane Lowry, but birdied the first two holes as he set the tone for a four-under 32 to surge 41 places by the turn. 

The back nine was a stiffer test, but he finished with a five-under-par 66 to head the early finishers with an even score after 54 holes.

That was good enough for a solo clubhouse lead for 90 minutes before Justin Thomas joined him after recording a four-under round. Half-an-hour later Thriston Lawrence went past them both after a round that began in electrifying fashion with six birdies in the first eight holes.

Then, however, conditions worsened and the South African carded one birdie and one bogey over the closing ten to finish with a 65 leaving him on three-under.  

The steady rain was unhelpful to Scott’s fellow Australian former world No.1 Jason Day who began on one under but bogeyed the first two. The Queenslander fought back, with a birdie on the fourth despite finding a greenside bunker with his approach.

At the top of the leaderboard Shane Lowry began well, extending his lead by a shot to be eight-under after five.

That put him three clear of playing partner Dan Brown, the unheralded Englishman, who bogeyed the first but birdied the third. 

Coming up fast was Russell Henley, the American being six-under after 14 to draw one shot behind Brown and level with veteran Englishman Justin Rose who had dropped back from five-under to four-under after five holes.

Conditions were significantly easier for the early starters than on the opening two days as the treacherous wind dropped but it was still not easy with more than half of the first 20 finishers failing to make par for the round. 

Scott looked comfortable though. He rolled in a birdie putt from 14 foot at the first and dropped a near 17-footer at the second. He then scrambled well to par the fourth after landing in a fairway bunker and having to chip out sideways. 

A superb tee shot to within five feet at the par-3 fifth delivered a second birdie and the 44-year-old took advantage of a free drop at the seventh to land another, via an 18-foot putt.

Another fine tee shot brought a successful 11-foot birdie two at the 14th while the South Australian also birdied the undemanding 16th. Unfortunately sandwiched in-between he dropped a shot at the 15th missing a par putt from less than four feet, the only putt he missed from less than 10 feet during the round.  

Scott headed inside with impeccable timing as the rain arrived on Scotland’s Ayrshire coast, and the wind picked up.