It was a day when there were five-under and six-under-par scores at Royal Portrush, so, while Christiaan Bezuidenhout’s two-under 69 was not eye-catching, it kept him in the race for a top-20 finish in the Open Championship.
Bezuidenhout had to wait until the easiest hole on the course, the par-five 12th, to register his only gain of the day. And he made it count as he reached the green in two and converted the 12-footer for eagle. That moved him to four-under-par for the championship and a share of 22nd with six other players – and just one stroke away from getting into the top 20.
The eagle came with a 327-yard tee shot, and he hit his approach straight at the pin.
His round as a whole was a model of conservative play as he managed to stay out of all the bunkers while he was inside the top 20 in the field for accuracy, hitting 64.3 percent of the fairways. He was the second-best player in the field for greens in regulation, hitting 16 of the 18 for an 88.9 percent record. And he only had to hole 45 feet of putts through the round, with none outside 20 feet presenting themselves during the round.
If he’s able to sink some more between five and 20 feet in the final round if the opportunities present themselves again, he could be on track for a strong finish.
Behind him, Thriston Lawrence had a good round after opening on the challenging first hole with a bogey. He made birdie on the second, and then picked up three more shots on the homeward nine on 10, 14 and 18 for a three-under 68. He starts the final round in a share of 34th.
Dean Burmester had a horrible front nine with six bogeys. He stopped the rot with three birdies on the back nine, but he slipped to a share of 66th on five-over for the championship.
World number one Scottie Scheffler sits in pole position to claim his first Open Championship title after stretching his lead to four shots with a flawless third-round 67.
Scheffler, who won his third major crown at the US PGA Championship in May, went into the day with a slender one-stroke advantage before being caught at the summit after opening his round with six straight pars.
But he regained the outright lead in style with an eagle on the seventh and never surrendered it again as birdies at the eighth and 16th moved him to 14-under-par.
Chinese star Haotong Li was his nearest challenger on 10-under after mixing four birdies with two bogeys in his 69, with Matt Fitzpatrick another shot back in solo third.
Home hero Rory McIlroy was among the group on eight-under following a stunning 66 which featured one of the shots of the day, a monster eagle putt on the 12th which sparked wild celebrations from his adoring fans.
There was also a memorable moment for John Parry, who produced the first hole-in-one of the 153rd Open, with his tee-shot at the short 13th taking three bounces before disappearing into the hole.
