With 17 players at six under or better after Day 2 of the 150th Open Championship, and four of those players in double digits, the scoring has been close to what we expected early in the week: low. While the Old Course still can provide a stern mental test, especially with the tricky pin positions this week, the lack of wind or rain is allowing the world’s best to tear up golf’s most famous links.
The early portion of Saturday’s third round is producing more of the same, with the wind again down and the sun beating down on the already baked-out, racetrack-like fairways at St. Andrews. The favorable conditions are already yielding a ton of low scores, which should have the leaders salivating as their afternoon tee times approach.
(Scroll down for the Open live latest updates)
Of course, those leaders will have to patiently wait, with the first marquee pairing of Dustin Johnson (-9) and Scottie Scheffler (-8) not teeing off until 10:35 a.m. ET. Ten minutes later, Viktor Hovland (-10) and Rory McIlroy (-10) will do battle in the penultimate pairing. And finally, at 10:55 a.m. ET, 3:55 p.m. local time, the Camerons Smith (-13) and Young (-11) will begin their third rounds.
Even without the presence of Tiger Woods, who missed the cut on Friday and appeared to say a tearful goodbye to the Old Course, it should be an electric weekend in Scotland. Follow all the Saturday action right here in our live blog where we’ll provide minute-by-minute updates from St. Andrews.
Open Championship 2022 latest updates (all times in eastern):
8:26 a.m.: DeChambeau cleans up his fourth birdie of the day to go with his one eagle and he’s now at seven under with another prime birdie opportunity coming up at the 14th. The way he’s hitting it, an eagle is very much in play, too. If that happens, things would suddenly get very real.
Just one shot back of DeChambeau is Tommy Fleetwood, who has quickly moved to six under for the tournament with three birdies in his first five holes. The Englishman has just one previous top 10 in the Open, a solo second finish at Royal Portrush in 2019.
8:17 a.m.: Oh MY! At the 13th, where most players would sign for par (it’s the second-hardest hole on the course this week), Bryson DeChambeau nearly holes out for eagle, leaving him with a kick-in birdie to get to seven under. Something special could be brewing.
8:11 a.m.: After driving the green at the 351-yard 12th hole, Bryson easily two-putts for birdie to reach six under. He now sits in a tie for 13th, just two shots out of being inside the top eight. Up ahead at 18, Molinari fails to make birdie and shoots six-under 66, putting him in the clubhouse at six under. His playing partner, Dean Burmester, finished with a 67 and sits at five under. Moving day has quickly become a game of limbo. How low can you go?
All the way back at No. 1, Will Zalatoris starts his third round with a birdie to quickly get to five under. Would anybody be shocked if he finds his way into one of the final three or four groups tomorrow? The guy absolutely feasts in these majors. At No. 2, he just found the putting surface and has a decent look at birdie coming up.
8:01 a.m.: One of the other big movers, Francesco Molinari, just made one of the better pars you’ll see all week at the Road Hole, having missed the green wildly left and then getting up and down to keep it at six under for the day. If he birdies 18, he’ll match Kevin Kisner’s 65, which would mark his lowest round in a major since Saturday at the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie, where Molinari won.
7:53 a.m.: Kevin Kisner, knowing full well he needs a miracle to have a chance on Sunday, summed it up nicely in his post-round interview. “I hope the wind blows like hell and they all shoot over par this afternoon,” Kisner said. You never know, right?
Don’t look now, but Bryson DeChambeau is starting to creep his way up the leader board. Through 11 holes he is four under for his round, five under for the championship. With the short par-4 12th and the par-5 14th coming up, DeChambeau has a good chance to make a serious run at eight or nine under.
7:38 a.m.: Kisner’s final birdie effort just misses and he settles for a par at the 18th. If there were ever a disappointing 65, that might be it. He had to have 62 or 63 on the brain for awhile there. He now sits in a tie for eighth, six shots off the lead, and there’s a strong chance he’s 10 or more back by day’s end.
7:24 a.m.: Kisner finally cools off with a semi-predictable bogey at the 17th after he missed the fairway. While it’s no guarantee, he should be able to get it back at 18 to post 64. But 63, and definitely 62, are now out of the question.
7:10 a.m.: Goodness. Kisner rolls in yet another birdie at the par-4 16th, suddenly bringing 63 (or 62) into play. He did just pull his drive into the left rough on the Road Hole, which will make par difficult, let alone birdie. But with the 18th being drivable, an eagle is not out of the question on the final hole. What a Saturday charge (so far) from the four-time tour winner.
6:57 a.m.: Kisner is hardly alone in going low on Saturday morning at St. Andrews. His playing partner, Barbasol winner Trey Mullinax, is six under through 15, making that pairing a combined 13 under on the day. South Africa’s Dean Burmester started his round birdie-bogey and then began a streak of five consecutive birdies at the par-5 fifth hole to turn in 31. Through 13 holes, he remains five under for the day and for the championship. Nineteen other players are already in red figures, too, including former Open winner Francesco Molinari (four under), Tony Finau (three under), Bryson DeChambeau (two under) and Justin Thomas (one under).
6:44 a.m.: While you were sleeping, Kevin Kisner was burning the Old Course to the ground, once again displaying that this “ain’t no hobby.” Kiz made the cut at even par and went out early, beginning his third round with three consecutive birdies before finally settling for par at the fourth. He then went birdie-birdie-par before dropping this bomb for another birdie at the par-3 eighth, which has played as the eighth-hardest hole this week:
That 93-foot conversion, plus a par at the ninth, capped off a front-nine 30 for the 38-year-old. Another birdie at No. 10 got him to seven under, where he currently stands five holes later. He’ll need to birdie out to match the lowest round in major championship history (62), which doesn’t seem likely. Kisner will probably sign for just one more birdie for 64, which would match Cameron Smith’s second round for the low round of the week. The only bad news for Kisner is if the wind stays down this afternoon, he’ll likely end up 10 or 11 shots back heading into the final round. Still, a great Saturday move to position himself in the top 10, where he’s only finished once in his career in this event (T-2, 2018 Open).