We’re still a few hours away from the leaders getting out on the course for their third round, but the conditions so far at Royal Troon on Saturday are presenting the kind of windswept Open test you might expect. The gusts have come and gone in the morning wave, opening up some windows for early players like Jordan Spieth and Brandt Snedeker to get on a birdie run on that easier front nine. But NBC’s Johnny Miller said he figured par would be closer to 75, not the actual 71 on the scorecard, with the winds picking up off the Firth of Clyde.
British Open leaderboard: Jordan Spieth’s early run stalls out at Royal Troon
There were some good scores to be had early on the front nine at The Open on Saturday.
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Spieth sounded resigned and realistic about his chances on Friday night after walking off the course on the hard luck end of the draw. Make no mistake, Spieth did not have his best stuff through the first 36 holes. He struck the ball beautifully on Thursday in perfect conditions, but putted uncharacteristically awful. Any hope of getting back in it in the second round was blown away when he got the wrong side of the draw with the wind and rain eliminating almost the entire afternoon half of the sheet on Friday. So Spieth walked off the course saying the championship, with Phil Mickelson 14 shots ahead, was almost certainly gone.
With the chances of a Claret Jug extinguished, the golden child showed up on Saturday morning and raced through his third round with Brandt Snedeker. The duo made the turn in an hour and 43 minutes, and then got into the house in a clean three hours and 31 minutes
At the start of the round, it looked like Spieth might make a bit of run to at least move near the first page of the leaderboard, but still far off from the Mickelson number. He opened with a short birdie putt and then added three more in his first seven holes to get to 1-over for the championship. It could have been better, as he just blasted a birdie putt from about five feet completely past the hole at the par-5 fourth. That same mistake would creep up on both the 9th and 10th holes, where he shockingly missed consecutive par putts from about four feet. Any of that positive movement from the start was then totally erased with a double bogey on the 11th, where his ball found an unfortunate spot between a tree and the stone wall that lines the property.
Jordan would finish with a 1-over 72 — it could have been better, but this weekend was probably just about getting through this final 36 holes as quickly as possible without embarrassing yourself. At 5-over, he’s tied for 66th and will have another early tee time on Sunday. Here’s your leaderboard:
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Royal Troon’s Postage Stamp Hole
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