Though the morning was relatively calm at Royal Troon, things looked pretty miserable out on the course late in the afternoon in Scotland.
Despite the pouring rain, which sent just about everyone scrambling to hang in there, Billy Horschel will head into the final round of the British Open with the solo lead.
Horschel, thanks to an incredible short game performance on the back side, fired a 2-under 69 to get to 4-under for the week. That, after Daniel Brown made a double at the 18th, was enough to give him a one-shot lead over the field.
With his hat backwards for much of the day, Horschel made a big move on the front nine. He closed that half of his round out with four birdies in his last six holes to jump right into the mix. As he started making the turn, however, the weather kept getting worse. Horschel largely hung in there, except for a bogey at the par-4 11th, and he came up with a huge up-and-down par save from the side of a deep pot bunker at the 14th to maintain a share of the lead.
Horschel pulled it off at the 16th, too, with his ball plugged in a bunker, and somehow chipped it closer than he did at the 14th. That was his fourth straight up-and-down save.
Horschel nearly chipped in at the 17th, too, before he bogeyed the 18th to finish with his 2-under 69. That brought him to 4-under.
Brown’s round was all over the place. He opened with a bogey at the first, but then he made the turn at 1-under on the day. He teed off at the 18th with a one-shot lead in the final group, but he went bunker-to-bunker down the fairway before he had to settle with a double at the 18th.
Brown finished with a 2-over 73 on the day, which dropped him back to 3-under on the week. The 29-year-old is playing in his first ever major championship, and he held the overnight lead on Thursday. If Brown wins on Sunday, he’ll be the first Englishman to win the British Open in his debut since Horace Rawlins did so in 1895. Four others are tied with Brown at 3-under, and Scottie Scheffler is alone in eighth at 2-under.
Horschel has won eight times on the PGA Tour in his career, including earlier this season at the Corales Puntacana Championship. He’s never won a major championship, however. He came closest at the U.S. Open in 2013, where he finished T4, and he’s never finished better than T21 at the British Open.
He has never led a major championship after 54 holes.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
