The weather has been rough at the 2024 Open Championship. 25 to 30-mile-per-hour gusts blew out of the south on Thursday and Friday, wreaking havoc on the course.
While the wind relaxed a bit on Saturday, conditions were still difficult – leading several golfers to question the setup at the Open Championship, per Dan Rapaport of Barstool Sports.
Said Shane Lowry, “Have to question why there wasn't a couple of tees put forward today… I think 15 and 17 — like 15 is 500 yards playing into that wind. Yeah, they keep trying to make holes longer, yet the best hole on this course is 100 yards.”
Dustin Johnson echoed a similar sentiment, saying “The back nine, that's the hardest nine holes I think you could ever play in golf right now, into the wind and rain. It's so long I could barely reach the par-4s, I had to smash 2 to get there, same with Brooks. That's how long it was playing.”
Lowry played well through his first 36 holes at Royal Troon Golf Course, host of the 152nd Open Championship. He entered play Saturday holding a two-shot lead at 7-under with only a few other players even under par.
The Irishman played the first seven holes at 1-under par on Saturday, but then he fell apart. Lowry made double bogey on eight, and things went downhill from there.
He bogeyed holes 11, 12, 14,15 and 18 to close out his day. After signing for a 6-over 77, suddenly Lowry found himself staring up at eight players on the leaderboard, three off the lead.
Billy Horschel leads Open Championship
With Round 3 of the Open Championship complete, Billy Horschel holds a one-shot lead at -4.
He survived the wind and rain on Saturday to post a 2-under 69, giving him a 54-hole total of 4-under 209, one stroke better than six golfers, including PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns and Justin Rose.
Horschel, 37, is an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour. He has never fared too well in The Open — missing twice as many cuts (six) as cuts made (three) in nine previous starts — but the Florida native has had success in Europe. He tied for 21st at the 2022 Open at St. Andrews in Scotland and won the 2021 BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour in 2021.