Then he went out and shot 70, good enough to keep him in fourth place heading into the final round and placing him in the second to last pairing.
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It looks like a two-man race. “It’s the Open championship, some draws go your way and some draws don’t”.
Among those hoping to make an impression on day four will be Americans Bill Haas [six-under], JB Holmes [four-under] and Steve Stricker [three-under] whose third round 68 was only matched by Haydn Porteous, Brandt Sneaker and Stenson as the performance of the day. He started the day off by posting an Instagram video with his 5-year-old niece, which may have been the greatest video in Instagram history.
Johnston is quite a character. There was little chance of the Northern Irishman lifting the claret jug for the second time in three years.
The two were separated by more than one shot only once all day, when Mickelson holed a 20-foot birdie at the 13th.
It was even worse for Fowler.
“If I can do that and play hopefully even par on the back side would be nice”. Fowler took an 8 to drop to 1 over, and shot 76 for a 4-over 217 total. It was on Thursday, too. The last time he got this close was in 2013, when he was edged out of another British Open – by Mickelson.
Now, the tough part begins.
The Swede agreed it had been like a matchplay duel between the two, and was happy to “get in a couple of big punches” at the short holes on the back nine.
Mickelson dismissed the notion that Sunday would be a straight head-to-head, although Stenson suggested he would have one eye on the American, one on the course.
“The club head came loose on it earlier on the week”, he said sheepishly.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland hits a shot from the 3rd fairway during the third round of the British Open Golf Championship at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland, Saturday, July 16, 2016. The great players learn to adjust their ball flight, and after being stubborn about it, Mickelson came to terms with the idea.
Johnson, the U.S. Open champion in June, is 11 shots behind Stenson.
But for some reason on Saturday at Royal Troon, Phil couldn’t help himself.
Mickelson made his first bogey when he pulled an iron off the tee into the rough, missing a gorse bush by about two paces. Mickelson was soaked when he walked off the course, though he managed to get in eight holes before the rain arrived.
Mickelson had led at the halfway stage and still shot a one-under-par 70 on Saturday, but bogeys at the 14th and 17th holes allowed Stenson to overtake him.
Jessica Marksbury, digital editor, GOLF.com: It’s gotta be Stenson on Sunday.
The leaders have teed off in the third round of the British Open.
With the wind picking up, Spieth bogeyed nine and 10. On the evidence of this 72, which left him on level par in a tie for 18th, he would have been wiser to demolish his putter.
The inward nine is proving to be a real beast, however. Top-ranked Jason Day felt the wrath of Royal Troon. “Most important thing is to find a way to get the ball in the hole, and that’s what I did”.
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It is expected to stay mostly dry but overcast on Saturday afternoon, but winds are set to gust at up to 30 miles per hour (48km/h) throughout the day. He is 12 over par for the week at Royal Troon, his home club and where his father was club secretary.
