Rory McIlroy, cast in the role of pursuer, could hardly have a tougher assignment in golf than that of trying to chase down Scottie Scheffler, the world number one who was a cut above everyone in tightening his hold on this 153rd Open Championship on the sun-kissed Dunluce links.
“I’ve got more than half a chance. I’ve got a chance,” insisted McIlroy, even though trailing Scheffler by six strokes through 54 holes.
Scheffler, looking for a breakthrough Claret Jug to add to his Masters and US PGA career Major wins, strode around the famed north Antrim links as if it were his own, signing for a 67 for a total of 14-under-par 199, four shots clear of China’s Haotong Li.
For McIlroy, a brilliant start – birdies in three of his opening four holes – had electricity charging through the air, from the packed grandstands to the sand hills and in the large spectator villages where giant jumbotron screens created its own atmosphere, so that he signed for a 66 for 205 to move to tied-fourth.
RM Block
McIlroy’s round featured so much that was good – an eagle on the 12th to go with four birdies – but also the weirdest incident that had probably ever came his way on a course, which led to his only bogey on the 11th. There, his approach from the rough saw not one ball but two emerge, discovering only after he hit the shot that his ball was over another embedded ball.
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“That is the most weird, ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. Then my ball came out really weird and spinny, just so strange ... making bogey on 11 is not the end of the world. It’s a tough hole.
“The eagle on 12 was one of the coolest moments, it’s one of the largest roars I’ve ever heard on a golf course. To get those shots back straight away was nice,” said McIlroy, who’d spent the morning watching the Lions match and with plans to view the movie Oppenheimer ahead of the final round.
Yet, he, more than anyone as the occupier of the world number two ranking, was aware of what chasing down Scheffler would require.
“I need to get off to a great start like I did today, and if I can do that, anything can happen. I’ve come from a few shots behind before at big tournaments and was able to win. If I can get off to one of those hot starts again, maybe Scottie feels a little bit of that a couple of groups behind, and you never know.
“Scottie is the best player in the world right now. I think it’s clear for everyone to see. He’s just consistently so good each and every week he tees it up, so it’s going to be a tall order to be able to catch him tomorrow. But I’m going to look forward to the challenge,” said McIlroy, so appreciative too of the huge galleries who roared every one of those 66 shots in the third round as if adding fuel to his desire.
This was an ideal day for links golf, with only sunshine and none of the heavy downpours of Friday, while the breeze was consistent.
Scheffler had a slow start, six straight pars, but once he clicked into gear with a birdie on the Par 5 seventh there was an ominous move further and further away from everyone so that he had those four shots over Li when his round finally ended in the giant horseshoe of a grandstand looped around the 18th green and down the fairway.
“I feel good and I did some good stuff. I was pretty patient most of the day but felt like I was hitting it really nice, just sometimes in championships it can be tough to make birdies, and today was one of those days where I just had to give myself some looks and was able to hole a few, ” said Scheffler.
“I’m just trying to execute, not overthinking things. I feel like I’ve been doing the right thing so far, and I’m looking forward to the challenge of tomorrow.”
