Though the morning was relatively calm at Royal Troon, things looked pretty miserable out on the course late Saturday in Scotland.
Despite the pouring rain, which sent just about everyone scrambling to hang in there, Billy Horschel managed to come out on top.
Horschel, after an incredible short-game performance on the back side, fired a 2-under 69 to get to 4-under for the week. That gave him a one-shot lead over the rest of the field entering the final round of the British Open, where he’ll try to finally win the first major championship of his career and lift the Claret Jug.
With his hat backward for much of the day, Horschel made a big move on the front nine. He closed that half of his round with four birdies in his last six holes to jump right into the mix. As he made the turn and the weather kept getting worse, Horschel hung in there.
After a bogey at the par-4 11th, Horschel came up with a huge up-and-down par save from the side of a deep pot bunker at the 14th to maintain a share of the lead. He did the same thing at the 16th from an even worse position in the bunker, where his ball was plugged deep in the sand, and then nearly chipped in at the 17th in what was his fifth straight up-and-down.
Horschel bogeyed the 18th to finish with his 2-under 69.
“I’ve just always embraced the toughness of anything. I’ve always enjoyed it. I think that’s the best way you can do to have a chance to play well,” Horschel said. “I enjoy hitting little bunt shots. I get tired of golf where you’re making full swings and you lean into a certain number and it stops. I like when you have to be creative and find a way to get around the golf course, and I think I’ve always done that well for the most part.”
Daniel Brown, the overnight leader from the opening round, nearly took the 54-hole lead himself. His round was a bit all over the place, but he teed off at the 18th with a one-shot lead in the final group. Yet after he went bunker-to-bunker in the fairway, he had to settle for a double bogey — which dropped him back to 3-under. Brown, 29, is competing in his first major championship. If he can win on Sunday, he’ll be the first Englishman to win the British Open in his debut since Horace Rawlins did so in 1895.
There are five others sitting at 3-under, however, so the Claret Jug is still anybody’s to win. Tristan Lawrence and Sam Burns, who each went 6-under on the day, jumped into the mix along with Russell Henley, Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler is alone in eighth at 2-under, and Shane Lowry — who briefly held a three-shot lead before falling apart late — is at 1-under.
Horschel has won eight times on the PGA Tour in his career, including earlier this season at the Corales Puntacana Championship. He’s never won a major championship, however. He came closest at the U.S. Open in 2013, where he finished T4, and he’s never finished better than T21 at the British Open.
Horschel has never been in a better position to win a major title than he is right now. But with the way the leaderboard is looking, and a better forecast for Sunday’s round, he’ll need another big push in order to finally pull off that feat.
“Something I’ve done this year, and I’ve done a better job this week of it, or tried to do a better job, is sort of manifest seeing myself holding the trophy before I go to sleep every night, envisioning myself holding that trophy on 18, walking out to the crowd and being congratulated as Open champion,” Horschel said.
“That’s what I’m going to do again tonight, and hopefully that comes true tomorrow.”
