A record crowd descended on St Andrews this afternoon for the climax of the 150th Open Championship, with overnight leaders Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland the last to tee off.
Tied at -16, four shots clear at the top of leaderboard, the final pair went off the first at 2.50pm and will have been looking over their shoulders at the chasing pack.
The co-leaders will no doubt have noticed, as they set off under cloudy skies, the low scores of early starters Sadom Kaewkanjana of Thailand and Mexico's Abraham Ancer who were in the clubhouse with matching scores of seven-under 65s.
The superb rounds rocketed the pair up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth but still a distant five strokes behind McIlroy and Hovland.
Let's go 🤝 #The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/BaKpQpOJOP
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 17, 2022
For American Cameron Young and Australia's Cameron Smith, who started their challenge from just four behind, the message will have been received -- the Claret Jug is still within reach.
Paired together for Saturday's third round, four-times major winner McIlroy and Hovland, one of golf's emerging young talents, thrilled the crowds with a spectacular display of links golf.
More of the same was expected on Sunday as the 33-year-old Northern Irishman bids to end an eight-year major drought while the 24-year-old Hovland looks to become the first Norwegian to win a major title.
