Should he be able to maintain the lead throughout the weekend rounds he would become just the 7th golfer to win The Open in wire-to-wire fashion-the last coming when Rory McIlroy did so at Royal Liverpool in 2014.
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That leaves Stenson leading a major all by himself for the first time.
It looks like a two-man race.
“It’s the Open championship, some draws go your way and some draws don’t”.
Johnston is quite a character. Johnson followed his opening-round 67 with a 70.
Johnson also struggled on the par-5 16th as he didn’t make precise contact with his third shot, a wedge, and left it a good 25 feet short.
It was even worse for Fowler. He hit back-to-back shots from the fairway over the wall that lines the right side of the hole, and onto the rocks next to the rail track.
Phil Mickelson makes the turn at the British Open still holding a one-stroke lead.
Now, the tough part begins.
Trailing by three strokes at seven-under-par is Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen and American Keegan Bradley. Rory McIlroy, one of the biggest hitters in the world, had a drive that went only 230 yards after getting caught up in the gusts.
Of the 20 players who broke par, all but four went off in the morning and at least had a stretch of decent weather.
The R&A’s director of rules Grant Moir told Sky Sports: “We’ve moved one hole position on the third to give more green to work with”.
Defending champion Zach Johnson produced a brilliant chip-in for birdie, while Kaymer features again as he holed a huge putt from off the green, although the German’s progress was later halted by a triple-bogey seven at the 10th. And, of course, a final-round meltdown at the Masters cost him a chance to capture his second straight green jacket. He wound up with the dreaded snowman – a quadruple-bogey 8.
Phil Mickelson wore a black rain suit that he didn’t need until he approached the far end of Royal Troon and already had stretched his lead.
The Venezuelan Olympic qualifier pumped his fist after finishing with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth on Grand National’s Lake Course. He knew his near miss at a record-breaking 62 on day one wasn’t a fair-weather fluke. Kim, tied for the first-round lead with Mirim Lee and Haru Nomura, had a 68.
The leaders have teed off in the third round of the British Open. I’m happy with the way I played the course. So you can be aggressive on the front nine. Alison Lee birdied the last three holes for a 66.
The inward nine is proving to be a real beast, however.
Friday’s action at Royal Troon was a tale of two halves, with the morning starters enjoying friendlier – albeit rainy – conditions and those teeing off in the afternoon forced to contend not just with the rain, but the blustery, unpredictable wind and freezing cold as well. He made four birdies on the front side to briefly climb onto the leaderboard, only to take four bogeys on the back to finish with an even-par 71 and a 1-over 214 for the tournament.
J.B. Holmes and Patrick Reed are also playing well on the outward leg, but they’ve still got the toughest holes to go.
Mickelson is playing to further his considerable reputation and a second Open win at age 46 would clearly add considerably to the position he holds in the game today. He plays on the senior circuit now.
A seven-shot spread from Mickelson’s ten-under to three-under par covers the top 14, and, much to everyone’s surprise, the top three in the world, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, are not among them. Duval, who shot 82 on Thursday and had no chance to make the cut, has been rehabbing a wrist injury.
The left-hander’s round on Friday featured his first two bogeys of the week, at 12 and at 15, but there were four birdies.
He putted for eagle on three holes, including the par-4 seventh that was downwind.
It would help even more to get the luck of the draw.
The wind is strong and the greens are slower for the third round of the British Open. Many players had to endure an afternoon of gusts that topped 30 miles per hour and rain so heavy at times it was hard to see.
The wind and cool air was back to its prevailing direction, meaning the outward nine was playing downwind.
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The only thing he couldn’t do was shake Henrik Stenson.
