The Open Leaderboard And Live Updates: Day 3 From Royal Troon As Thriston Lawrence Birdies The Postage Stamp To Go Fourth

Rose drops a shot on the first hole

He is now third.

Thomas completes his round 

It was a round of two halves, Brian: 31 out, 36 in for a 67. Scott and Im have the lowest scores today, with 66,

The leaders open their third round

Neither will be that happy with their tee shots…

Schauffele Makes birdies on 2nd and 3rd holes

Xander Schauffele is now T4. He was one of only two men coming into the tournament with top-10 finishes in the three previous Majors. He now stands as the only one capable of being in the top 10 of all this season’s Majors as the other chap was Bryson DeChambeau, who has not qualified for the weekend after shooting +9 over the first two days.

Justin Rose finds greenside bunker on 1st

He was playing his approach from 123 yards out. He starts his third round as he finished the second day – tied in second place.

Lowry gets a huge ovation on the first tee 

He acknowledges the applause and has a huge grin on his face as he goes to shake the starter’s hand. He is holding umbrella over himself as he does all this. It’s getting wetter.

Lawrence puts a bogey on his card on 13

That is his first dropped shot of that round and he goes back to six under for the day. He was wayward off the tee, but so much so that his second shot was from off the trampled down spectator area. But he was unable to find the green on the 478-yard par 4, and ended up leaving himself an 11ft par putt.

Lowest score to par in a round at Royal Troon is 8-under, which was achieved by Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson in 2016. 

Si Woo Kim has been talking about his hole in one

“It was between a 3- and a 2-iron so my caddie told me to hit it as hard as I can with a 3-iron.”

It is the longest hole in one recorded in the Open Championship, at 238 yards, and is the only known hole in one at the 17th in the last five Open Championships at Royal Troon.

Burmester starts his third round

He finds the middle of the fairway. Burmester was the leading LIV player after round two, and he tees off today in T5.

With 18 players in the tournament, this is LIV’s largest representation at any of this season’s Majors, and the majority of them have made it through to the weekend.

Those who have qualified alongside Dean Burmester are Joaquin Niemann, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Adrian Meronk, Laurie Canter, John Catlin, Andy Ogletree, Phil Mickelson and Abraham Ancer.

Those who missed the cut were Tyrrell Hatton, Sam Horsfield, Louis Oosthuizen and Henrik Stenson (+8, T93); Bryson DeChambeau (+9, T100); Cameron Smith (+12, T133) and David Puig (+13, T136).

Lawrence seven under par on first 11 holes 

He has made birdie on seven holes and par on the other four. He has moved up to fourth position.

Thomas finding back nine harder

He was out in 31 with five birdies, but his inward nine nine has three holes still to go and he has only added one more birdie and has just made his second bogey in three holes.

“One or two under would be a decent score today” for the leaders

So reckons Adam Scott when asked about what the leaders should be aiming for when they go out and hit what is expected to be the worst of the weather later on today. Scott was speaking after his round of 66 which is left him in as a clubhouse leader at present, and in T16 position.

CONDITIONS JUST STARTING TO DETERIORATE AT TROON

It has just started to rain at Troon as the skies darken and the breeze starts to pick up. It could help bring a lot of players back into the mix and prevent the leaders, who are yet to tee off, from getting away from the pack.

Lawrence turns for home after crushing the front nine

Thriston Lawrence has just turned back towards the clubhouse after completing the 10th with a par four. He remains fourth with a -3 total and -6 for the day. He then tees off on the tough 11th with the railway line down the right and finds the middle of the fairway impressively on the toughest hole on the golf course before teeing up a birdie putt with his approach.

FIRST BOGEY OF THE DAY FOR JT ON THE 13TH

Thomas has dropped his first shot of the day with a bogey on the 13th after going over the back of the green. He is now -1 in total and -5 for the day. 

THOMAS’ ROUND KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER

Justin Thomas continues to climb the leaderboard after getting to -6 for the day now with a birdie on the 12th. He is -2 in total and into a tie for fifth. His new putter seems to be paying dividends as he is seventh in strokes gained on the greens this week. Meanwhile Lawrence remains -3 in a fourth after reaching the turn in -6.

TAKE A BOW Si Woo KIM WHO HAS JUST HAD A HOLE IN ONE

Si Woo KIM has just aced the penultimate par 3 17th which is 238 yards long. He is now +5 in total. 

LAWRENCE MEANS BUSINESS WITH BIRDIE ON POSTAGE STAMP

That is first class from South African Lawrence, who is fourth on the leaderboard now and up to -3 in total after a birdie on the short par 4 eighth. He is -6 for eight holes today. Fantastic.

THOMAS NEGOTIATING THE BACK NINE SO FAR

Thomas, who is -1 in total, has turned for home and just made par at the tough 10th and 11th. While Lawrence is -5 after seven holes and -2 in total and has just reached the Postage Stamp. The South African is now in a tie for fourth.

CAMERON YOUNG ESCAPES FROM THE POSTAGE STAMP WITH A PAR

Cameron Young is +2 in total after reaching the turn in -2 which included this gutsy par on the eighth.

MACINTYRE Provides plenty of drama on the 18th

Leftie MacIntyre has just played a right-handed shot from the side of a bunker for his second shot on the 18th. Bob, the local fans’ favourite, is +1 for the day and +6 in total. His approach missed the green on the right where he reverts to playing left-handed and stiffs his chip. He signs for a 72 and is +6.

Thriston LAWRENCE and JUSTIN Thomas the only two in the red

Just two players are in the red numbers under par at the moment – Lawrence and Thomas. JT has just turned for home on the 10th where he has negotiated a par to stay -1 in total while Lawrence is -5 for six holes and -2 in total now after a fourth successive birdie at the 6th.

ADAM SCOTT DROPS HIS FIRST SHOT ON THE 15TH

Scott has had a superb round with five birdies but he has just dropped his first shot on the 15th with a bogey after missing a short putt and is back to +1 in total for the tournament. John Catlin has also dropped a shot on the back nine and is +1 in total too.

JUSTIN THOMAS IS ON A HOT CHARGE 

Justin Thomas is a streaky player and he is on a streak right now. He is the first player to move into the red today after making his fifth birdie of the day on the eighth to move to five-under for the day and one-under in total. He now has to save par at the ninth after missing the green on the right but he gets up and down.

FINE ROUND FROM IM WHO CARDS A 66

Sungjae Im is in the clubhouse at +1 after a superb 66 having finished with a lengthy birdie putt at the last. His playing partner Shubhankar Sharma is just a shot back on +2 after a thrilling round of 67 with eight birdies. These two must have been worth following for fans at Troon.

Thriston LAWRENCE makes promising start

DP World Tour viewers will know Thriston Lawrence has plenty of game with the ability to shape the ball and keep it low in the wind. The South African is -4 after five holes today and -1 in total. 

BATTLE FOR THE SILVER MEDAL IS HOTTING UP 

American Tommy Morrison is +9 in total after finishing with four birdies in his last five holes. Spaniard Luis Masaveu is also +9 with two holes left. Norway’s Jacob Skov Olesen is at +4 but he is on the course at the tenth with the tough back nine to negotiate.  Out in front is Calum Scottwho  is +2 in total after six holes today. 

Shubhankar SHARMA providing plenty of entertainment

Sharma, from India, has made seven birdies today and is -3 for his round and back to +3 in total. 

MACINTYRE OVER THE BACK OF THE 14TH

MacIntyre has stopped the rot with successive pars and given his huge support more to cheer about. He hit a decent shot into the par 3 14th but it rolled over the back from where he will hope to get up and down with his fantastic short game which he does to stay +3 in total.

Cameron young back competing again

Young, who came runner-up at the 150th Open at St Andrews, is still searching surprisingly for his first PGA Tour win. He is -1 through three holes and +3 for the tournament so a very long shot for the Claret Jug unless his erratic putter catches fire. 

American John Catlin catches the eye with fine start

Catlin is one of the players on the course who has made the most of benign conditions on the front nine to get to -4 through seven holes to get back to even for the tournament. He then got up and down from the sand on the Postage Stamp to impressively save par.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER ARRIVES AT TROON

Reassuringly, Scottie Scheffler has just arrived at Royal Troon and stepped out of a courtesy car from the rear passenger seat. No repeat then of the fiasco at the US PGA Championship which ended up with the world No.1 in a jail cell. 

BAD START TO BACK NINE FOR MACINTYRE 

After a two-under front nine, local favourite Bob MacIntyre is back to +5 again after bogeys on the 10th and 11th.  He has then found the green side bunker of the 12th with his second and it doesn’t take an expert lip reader to work out Bob is cursing. He does however avoid a third successive bogey after a brilliant bunker shot.

Matteo MANASSERO continues to make progress

Manassero, who won the silver medal at the Open as the low amateur in in 2009, is back on the rise after a spell in the doldrums. He is now +2 for the tournament in total after successive birdies at the second and third today. He is also on the par 5 fourth in two where he can make further gains as he gets his third straight birdie. 

ADAM SCOTT HAS UNFINISHED BUSINESS WITH THE OPEN

Adam Scott,44, is one of the most consistent pros on tour and he has stated he still has unfinished business with the Open after blowing up at Lytham in 2012 when Ernie Els won following the Australian’s late collapse. Scott has made a decent move today and is +1 in total after reaching the turn in -4 today.

TODAY’S PIN POSITIONS 

IM’S the man on the front nine 

Sungjae Im completed the front nine in five-under-par. He chipped in on the 9th to record the best front nine of the week of 31 and is now at one-over for the Championship after three successive pars on 10,11 and 12.

MAX HOMA CONTINUES TO PROGRESS UP LEADERBOARD

American Homa finished his second round in style with a lengthy birdie putt on the the 18th last night to make the cut on the +6 number. He has continued that momentum today with two more birdies to get to +4.

PLENTY OF SUPPORT FOR SCOT BOB MacINTYRE who is in action

After making the cut with a barnstorming comeback yesterday, MacIntyre has delighted the Scottish fans by picking up another couple of birdies today in benign conditions to reach the turn at -2 for his round and +3 in total. 

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST 

Welcome to the weekend at Royal Troon. We’ve got a thrilling day ahead where there’s rain forecast.

Will Shane Lowry extend his lead or will the 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year be caught?