Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland will take a share of the lead into the final round of the 150th Open at St Andrews after ending Saturday level on 16 under par.
The duo went out together in the penultimate pairing on Saturday afternoon after sitting at 10 under overnight, three shots behind Australia’s Cameron Smith, the leader at the halfway stage on 13 under par.
McIlroy, the Open champion in 2014, posted his second 66 of the week with five birdies as well as a sensational eagle two at the 10th, where he chipped in from a greenside bunker.
Rory. McIlroy.#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/ZgVKfXf8ie
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2022
The one blemish on his card was a bogey at the difficult 17th.
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Hovland, the world No 9 who has never enjoyed a top-10 finish at a Major, recorded an outstanding six-under-par 66 with six birdies – including four in a row from the third – and no dropped shots.
Sunday risks becoming a straight shootout between those two, who sit four shots clear of nearest challengers Smith and Cameron Young of the United States.
Smith and Young went out in the final pairing of the day on Saturday, but Smith bogeyed the 1st and never got going in a one-over-par round of 73.
That left him at 12 under for the championship, level with Young, who had a 71.
Kim Si-woo of South Korea and world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, The Masters champion, will both go into Sunday at 11 under, while Dustin Johnson is at 10 under.
Tommy Fleetwood shot a fine 66 to sit at nine under alongside his fellow Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick, the US Open champion, and Australia’s Adam Scott.
Dylan Frittelli is the best-placed South African on six under after shooting a third-round 69, followed by Dean Burmester (five under), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (four under), Thriston Lawrence (three under) and Garrick Higgo (one over).
Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Harding, Zander Lombard, Shaun Norris and amateur Aldrich Potgieter all failed to make the cut, while Erik van Rooyen withdrew from the tournament before the first round due to a neck injury.
