The Open 2011: day three – live! | Scott Murray

• Email scott.murray@guardian.co.uk • Hit F5 for the latest or select the auto-refresh button below • Marvel at Paul Lawrie’s hole-by-hole guide to Sandwich • Click here to follow the official Open 2011 leaderboard • Go here for more news, analysis and video highlights • Acquaint yourself with The Joy of Six: Open nightmares • And look what there’s a shiny new edition of! 3.30pm: Fowler drives into a pot bunker on 12, and has to chip out. He only finds the front of the green with his third, but rattles in a long par saver before walking off the green with a smile wider than his hat is white. On 2, Clarke inexplicably misses his birdie putt, pulling it left of the hole. That was hellishly poor, a very miserable prod. [Note: that isn't a Mark James style marching-season gag.] 3.25pm: Mickelson is having a bit of a nightmare with the putter, not for the first time this week: he misses a short one on 6, dropping his third shot of the day to move back to +2 for the championship. Good tee shots into 3 by both Bjorn and Jimenez, giving themselves chances for birdie. But what a shot from Clarke on 2, who knocks his second to four feet. What an opportunity to go two clear of Bjorn (who nearly makes his birdie putt on 3, but has to settle for par). 3.20pm: Ian Truman (3.10pm) has timed his run into this hole-by-hole report perfectly: Rickie Fowler misses the green at 11 and can’t get up and down, dropping back to +1. Instant justification! Thomas Bjorn ties for the lead after rolling in a 20-foot birdie putt on 2; he’s -4. But he can only boast the co-leadership for 60 seconds or so. On 1, Clarke knocks a beautiful second shot to ten feet, and rolls in the birdie putt! He’s -5 – and two clear of his playing partner Lucas Glover, who misses a short one for his par and drops back to -3. 3.10pm: The leaders Darren Clarke and Brian Wilson Lucas Glover are out. Both crack healthy tee shots down the 1st. Clarke is in a very happy and playful mood, chuckling away as he wanders down the hole. I wonder how long that will last in these conditions. “Obviously you’re entitled to your opinion, but how is it only a matter of time before Ricky No-wins Fowler snags a major?” splutters Ian Truman. “He’s an above average American player who wears funny clothes. He’s no more talented than Anthony Kim… who’s turned into a right superstar hasn’t he? He’s playing well today in this lottery golf mind, so I might be wrong.” Heh. Well, I guess we’ll see. But regardless of what happens round here this weekend, I think Fowler’s made of the right stuff and will come good soon enough, consistency being his only real problem. He’s only 22 years old, I’m not sure how many wins he should have racked up by this stage of his career in order to be taken seriously. I will concede that his was the least convincing comedy turn of all the Golf Boys , though. 3pm leaderboard: No moves on this. Only changes from before see Love and Larrazabel topple off it, both having bogeyed the 1st. -4 Clarke (just heading to the tee now, wild cheers ringing in his lugs) Glover (just heading to the tee now, having not bothered to spend much time on the range) -3 Kaymer (just gone out) Campbell (just gone out) Jimenez (1) Bjorn (1) -2 Hansen (3) Johnson (3) Coetzee (3) Lehman (2) Schwartzel (1) 2.55pm: Brilliance from Fowler, who chips to within about three blades of grass on 10. The ball’s got to topple in, surely, but the wind’s blowing from the wrong direction, and he won’t get his birdie. He has to tap in for the shortest shot of the week. Par. McIlroy makes par too, but he’s not happy, hitting a dismal ten-foot birdie effort short, weak and wide. 2.50pm: On 18, Tom Watson takes a putter while still 25 yards in front of the green. Ah the Scottish links game. He so nearly holes the monster, but the ball sneaks six feet past, and another short putt is missed on the way back. So that’s a dropped shot at the last for the old boy, but he’s still signing for a brilliant 72, two over for the day and +4 for the championship. He looks very happy with his day’s work; he’s got every right. 2.45pm: Let us spare a thought for poor Jung-Gon Hwang. The 19-year-old South Korean was three off the lead after an opening round 68, and was only +2 this morning. But he’s just signed for a nightmare 13-over 83, a round including five bogeys on the bounce at the start, and a triple-bogey 8 on 14 (part of a second run of five over-par holes that included a double-bogey as well as that triple). He’s +15 for the tournament, in last place. 2.40pm: Fowler is looking the business. His second into 9 works the bank on the left and gathers to within eight feet of the pin. He’s level par for his round, and with that putt to become the only man under par today. McIlroy tries to follow him in, but flies the ball straight over the flag and into the semi-rough behind the green. He gets a bit of luck, the ball resting near a camera tower, meaning he can chip from the drop zone. His chip down the tricky green is beautifully judged, and should really save his par, resting two feet from the hole. He knocks it in, a great par save. Fowler, meanwhile, misses his birdie putt, sending what looks like a dead-straight putt a couple of inches to the left. It doesn’t break back. What an opportunity spurned to stick two fingers up to this ridiculous weather. 2.35pm: Lewis has a pair of stones on him, you know. Yesterday on 18, he hit a gorgeous recovery from the gravel path behind the green. Today, in a world of nonsense miles left of the green on 3, he drops a brilliant chip to ten feet. Sadly, he can’t make the par putt, but what a wedge: he was in all sorts of bother up there. Mickelson can’t get up and down from the front-left of the green. Both players are now level par for the tournament. Incidentally, the best score in the clubhouse so far today is a four-over 74, by that man Gary Woodland. The best score in the clubhouse, and he finished his round bogey-bogey-triple bogey-birdie-bogey-bogey-par. This is tough. 2.30pm: What a par effort from McIlroy on 8, his putt – up a ridge, and with a big enough break – only just fails to drop. He’s back at +2 now. Fowler – it’s only a matter of time before he lands a major – looks like he fancies it right now, playing a tricky long hole in a no-nonsense way, straight down the middle for a simple par. A lot of trouble for the amateur Tom Lewis on 3, who hooks his tee shot miles, miles wide left of the green. Mickelson’s effort isn’t particularly better, stopping short and left in a tuft of rough, leaving him a hell of a poser for a chip, with not much green to play with. Still, if anyone can manufacture a wedge from there, Lefty can. 2.25pm: McIlroy is in all sorts of bother down 8. With a terrible lie for his second shot, he can only stuff it further down the rough on the left. He’s left with a 90-yard shot for his third, which he leaves well short of the pin, on the wrong level of a two-tier green, his club having snagged in the matted rough. This is going to be at least one dropped shot for Rory, maybe more. 2.20pm: GET IN!!! Watson knocks in his birdie effort on 16, to move back to +3 for the tournament. He’s only +1 today, a wonderful round. Hope he gets home without dropping another shot. To illustrate how good this round is, his playing partner Ricky Barnes, 30 years old and a runner-up in the 2009 US Open and with a top-ten finish at last year’s Masters to his name, has made eight bogeys today and only one birdie. 2.15pm: McIlroy takes a 3-wood for safety off the 8th tee, and hooks it into tousled tat down the left. He’s already struggling to make par, the good work of the last hole undone. The benefits of a sensible drive are further illustrated up on the 15th, where Tom Watson drops another shot after an errant pull off the tee. Still, he’s hit his tee shot at 16 right into the heart of the green, leaving himself an 18-foot effort for birdie. 2.05pm: Mickelson and Lewis have both parred the 1st. McIlroy and Fowler have both parred 6. Then McIlroy birdies 7, a relatively easy hole, by knocking his third shot dead. They’re now playing ahead of Garcia and Spencer Levin, because the latter lost a ball on 4 and took 8. Garcia drains a huge par putt on 5 to remain +2. 2pm leaderboard: Is it worth putting up? No it’s not! But here it is. -4 Glover (3.05pm) Clarke (3.05pm) -3 Kaymer (2.55pm) Campbell (2.55pm) Jimenez (2.45pm) Bjorn (2.45pm) -2 Schwartzel (2.35pm) Larrazabal (2.35pm) Lehman (2.25pm) Love III (2.25pm) Johnson (2.15pm) Coetzee (2.15pm) Hansen (2.05pm) 1.55pm: This year’s amateur hero, Tom Lewis, tees off with Phil Mickelson. First Watson, now Lefty; what a week he’s having. Speaking of Watson, he nearly knocks in a birdie putt from off the front of the par-five 14th, settling for par. There have already been three 7s, two 8s and a 10 on that hole, so that’s quite a result for the 61-year-old genius. 1.50pm: A solid start from Robert Rock, who has quietly gone about his business this week and is level par through 3, and level par through the tournament. He’s had a wonderful year so far – save having to spend $1,000 on a cab to get to Congressional in time for his US Open registration – and it’s continuing here at Sandwich, despite the conditions. Paul Casey, third last year, signs for a 78 today. To his eternal credit, he allows himself to be immediately interviewed by the BBC, and answers the questions about his performance in these terrible conditions with good humour and grace. Footballers, take note, please. 1.45pm: GREAT NEWS. The rain is coming down like rods. But it’s not been able to put out Miguel Angel Jimenez’s Cohiba, which the Spaniard is sucking down on the practice range with a massive smile spread across his face. Would anyone be disappointed if Jimenez won this tournament? That’s right, no they wouldn’t. 1.40pm: Big drives and smart chips from McIlroy and Fowler on 5, one of the few holes offering itself up for a birdie. Fowler knocks in a left-to-right 12 footer for birdie – he’s back to level par for the day – but McIlroy hits a weak effort that dies to the right just before the hole and slides past. What a chance to grab one of those shots back spurned. Fowler’s level par for the championship; McIlroy +2. 1.30pm: Trevor Immelman is worth a mention: he dropped shots on 1 and 2, but has bounced back with birdies on 7 and 9. He’s level par for the day, which is some achievement. The BBC have just reported McIlroy and Garcia crossing each other, looking at each other, and bursting out laughing, so preposterously difficult are these conditions. McIlroy is one turn of the ball away from becoming the first man to birdie 4, but his long putt doesn’t drop and he has to settle for a par. 1.20pm: Another shot goes by for Tom Watson on 12; he’s +3. Gregory Havret has just followed up bogeys on 12 and 13 with a 10 on 14. That is Flitcroftian. I think in weather like this, it’s customary to say “ee, he’s a poor lad” . 1.15pm: A brilliant line from the BBC’s Andrew Cotter: with pars at a premium, this is “like the US Open on steroids”. That tournament’s champion McIlroy proves the point by flopping to 15 feet, then finding himself unable to make his par putt, his ball just staying up on the high side. These shots are going to be almost impossible to get back, and the grim look on McIlroy’s face suggests he knows it only too well. 1.10pm: There are now no players under par today. Tom Watson hits a lovely tee shot into the par-three 11th, but three-putts, missing a tiddler for par. Bah. 1.05pm: McIlroy duffs his chip from the back of 2, but manages to save his par by sinking a long putt. Fowler can’t save his par, the tee shot killing him on that hole; he’s back on +1 with Rory, whose tee shot on the short 3rd is awful, pulled into an almost impossible position in thick rough up on the left, with not much green to play with. Fowler finds the green, but down on the front level, with not much chance of birdie. Sergio, incidentally, has followed his opening-hole bogey with a couple of pars. 1pm: On 2, Fowler drives into a bunker, and is forced to pitch out. McIlroy is in deep rough down the left, and gets a flyer with his second through the green. This is going to get nasty, one suspects, and not just for this pair. Now then, the leaderboard, for what that’s worth: -4 Lucas Glover Darren Clarke -3 Miguel Angel Jimenez Thomas Bjorn Martin Kaymer Chad Campbell -2 Anders Hansen Dustin Johnson George Coetzee Tom Lehman Davis Love III Charl Schwartzel Pablo Larrazabal 12.55pm: Brilliant from Watson! With little room for his backswing, he scoops his ball out of the bunker to two feet, then pops in the putt. He’s still under par for his round. What a man. 12.52pm: This is how quickly things can go wrong on a links course when the weather’s in a spiteful mood. Woodland, for so long the only man out there under par for the day, has just triple-bogeyed the par-five 14th. That follows bogeys on 12 and 13. He’s now +3 for his round, and +6 for the championship. So the only man left under par for his third round is Tom Watson – who has just seen his second into 10 take a horrendous kick left into a deep pot bunker to the front-left of the green. Dear me, that’ll be a test, even for the greatest links player of all time. 12.50pm: McIlroy can’t get up and down from the bunker at the front of the 1st; he drops back to +1. Fowler – the wind making it hard for him to put his gloves on as he leaves the green , for goodness sake – walks off having made par. These conditions are horrendous. This is the Open, right here. 12.45pm: Garcia can’t make his par putt; he’s +1 now. Sigh. He’s started early today. McIlroy is making a bit of a meal of the hole too; his second, from heavy rough, can only find the bunker front-left of the green. Meanwhile Gary Woodland went out in 33, but the back nine isn’t being so kind to him: he’s dropped shots at 12 and 13 to move back to level par for the day, and +3 for the championship. 12.40pm: Not a great start for McIlroy, who pulls a nervous opening drive into the thick stuff down the left. Up on the green, Sergio’s first putt of the day is a dreadful one: a long effort from off the front of the dancefloor, underhit dreadfully. He’ll do well to save par now. Meanwhile Tom Watson can’t make his birdie effort on 9, but pars are fine, and he’s out in 34 shots. There won’t be too many who can say that. 12.35pm: Tom Watson continues to impress, driving behind a hillock on 9, but clipping a gorgeous second – a low bumper, below the winds – into the green, straight at the pin, leaving himself a 20-footer for birdie. Back on 1, a huge cheer for Sergio Garcia when he drives off – no disasters yet, Sergio fans – and an even bigger one a few minutes later for Rory McIlroy, as he makes his way to the tee. McIlroy fell to pieces in the bad weather at St Andrews last year, shooting 80 in the second round, so it’ll be fascinating to see how he copes with this nonsense. 12.25pm: So, the problems the poor BBC are having with their high-definition cameras. Yesterday, they were covered in midges, crawling everywhere, allowing the viewer to see the world through the eyes of a panicking delusional alcoholic. Today they’re covered in huge swirls of water, as though we’re looking at the world through the bottom of a glass. Do the BBC need to give their cameramen some rags to wipe their lenses, or am I imagining all this? I haven’t had a drink for a week. Is it even raining at Sandwich? 12.20pm: Watson drains a 15-foot left-to-right par putt on 8 to stay at +1. The roar that greets it is similar to the ones usually reserved for eagles. The crowd know how difficult this is. It’s going to be interesting to see how this championship will take shape. There’s such a logjam at the top, it doesn’t really have one yet. Anyone in the top 30, maybe even the top 50, maybe even further out, has a legitimate chance. It’s a big ask to put anything resembling a charge up the leaderboard together, but simply not falling apart and playing par golf may suffice, as players fall back down it. The weather’s predicted to break around 4pm, which will of course favour those already near the top, but weather forecasters? You can’t trust these people. 12.10pm: Another player is under par for the day. And there should be no surprise who it is: the master of links golf, the maestro, Tom Watson. The Open champion in 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983 and 2009 – I’ve got a new policy of simply not acknowledging the existence of Stewart Cink, it’s better in this world, come on in and try it – birdies 7 to move to +1 for the tournament. Midday: OK, so here’s the leaderboard as it stands, which you’ll note is exactly how it stood after the first two rounds. It’s not going to change for a while – the leaders don’t go out for a couple of hours, and precious few players are going to make a charge up the board in this weather – but the Open leaderboard is the Open leaderboard, so here we are: -4 Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys Lucas Glover Darren Clarke -3 Miguel Angel Jimenez Thomas Bjorn Martin Kaymer Chad Campbell -2 Anders Hansen Dustin Johnson George Coetzee Tom Lehman Davis Love III Charl Schwartzel Pablo Larrazabal 11.55am: Bubba Watson and Jason Day – both major champions in waiting, surely – take to the 1st and clank lovely drives down the track. Woodland has made it through 10 now and he’s still -2 for the day, having yet to drop a shot. That’s quite an achievement in this tempest. Woodland is one of the USA’s great hopes, a big-hitting player whose irons whistle through the air for ludicrous passages of time. This is his Open debut, so today’s performance is some achievement, especially in this tempest. There’s bound to be some slapstick scoring today. This is links golf all right. Play is already well under way on day three, and only one man is currently under par. That’s Gary Woodland, -2 through 8 and +1 for the tournament), while 1999 champion Paul Lawrie reached the turn in 40, +5 for the day and +9 overall, even with an eagle three at the 7th . This is going to be tough. And very entertaining. Here’s a list of who starts running up huge scores when: 11.55am: Bubba Watson and Jason Day 12.05pm: Charles Howell III and Rory Sabbatini 12.15pm: Richard Green and Raphael Jacquelin 12.25pm: Spencer Levin and Sergio Garcia 12.35pm: Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy 12.50pm: Yuta Ikeda and Simon Dyson 1pm: Fredrik Jacobson and Robert Rock 1.10pm: Webb Simpson and Steve Stricker 1.20pm: Zach Johnson and YE Yang 1.30pm: Anthony Kim and Kyle Stanley 1.40pm: Ryan Palmer and Jeff Overton 1.50pm: Tom Lewis (a) and Phil Mickelson 2.05pm: Adam Scott and Anders Hansen 2.15pm: Dustin Johnson and George Coetzee 2.25pm: Tom Lehman and Davis Love III 2.35pm: Charl Schwartzel and Pablo Larrazabal 2.45pm: Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Bjorn 2.55pm: Martin Kaymer and Chad Campbell 3.05pm: Lucas Glover and Darren Clarke Welcome to the great British summer, folks. It is positively Scottish down in the furthermost corner of Kent today: it’s cold, rainy and windy, with some added rain and wind thrown into the mix to make things interesting. “It’s a challenge we enjoy,” deadpans the immensely likeable Bubba Watson , his neck being snapped this way and that by the buffeting gale. It really is quite wet; I’m not sure these quantities of water have been televised in Britain on a Saturday morning since the glory days of Tiswas . The Open 2011 The Open Golf Scott Murray guardian.co.uk

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