Horschel holds 1-shot lead at rainy, 'brutal' Open

TROON, Scotland — It was just over 13 months ago, after defending champion Billy Horschel carded a 12-over 84 in the first round of the Memorial Tournament, that the former FedEx Cup champion talked about his mental struggles in an unforgiving game.

“My confidence is the lowest it’s been in my entire career — I think ever in my entire golf career,” Horschel said at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, on June 1, 2023.

On Sunday, Horschel will have a chance to rewrite his legacy in the final round of the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club. He survived the wind and rain 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.

“I love it,” Horschel said. “I’ve worked my entire life to be in this position. Listen, I’ve been in the lead many times going into a final round. Obviously, this is a major. It means a little bit more. We all know that. We know what this means to everyone. I know what it means to my legacy in the game of golf and what I want to do and accomplish.

“But I’m excited to be here. I’ve wanted to be here my entire life. I’m finally here. I’m embracing it.”

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.

Horschel said he has embraced the difficulty and toughness of links golf. It was that and more Saturday, as the Scottish skies opened up shortly after the leaders teed off. They were met by brutal winds in the meat of the back nine.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who posted an even-par 71 and is eighth at 2 under, called the second nine at Royal Troon “probably the hardest nine holes that I’ll ever play.”

Scheffler said he hit driver and 3-wood solid on the par-4 15th and didn’t reach the green in two. He hit a solid drive and hard 3-iron on the 453-yard 18th.

“I probably don’t hit a 3-wood on a par-3 very often,” Scheffler said. “Yeah, it was pretty wild out there, but did a good job of grinding it out.”

Plenty of others didn’t enjoy the conditions and difficulty at Royal Troon on Saturday.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open Championship winner, started the third round with a two-shot lead over England’s Daniel Brown, a relatively unknown qualifier. Lowry extended his lead to three strokes with a birdie on the par-5 fourth, but things fell apart for him soon after.

On the famous par-3 eighth hole, known as Postage Stamp, Lowry hit his tee shot into the left greenside Coffin bunker. His chip shot rolled off the green, leading to a double-bogey 5.

Lowry made five bogeys on the back nine, missing putts of 5 feet on No. 12 and 6 feet on No. 14. His approach on the par-4 18th landed a couple of rows into the grandstands, leading to another bogey.

Lowry carded a 6-over 77 and is ninth at 1 under. He played the final seven holes in 7 over.

“This game is just hard, and now you feel how hard it was playing well the first two days in those conditions,” Lowry said. “Honestly, it was brutal. I guess for me the eighth hole was killer, really, make par there, and you can still shoot 3 or 4 over from there and still be leading the tournament. Just pulled my wedge shot there. Look, I don’t really know what to say. It was a grind. It wasn’t much fun.

“You’d have to question why there wasn’t a couple of tees put forward today, to be honest. I think 15 and 17 — like 15 is 500 yards playing into that wind, it’s — yeah, they keep trying to make holes longer, yet the best hole in this course is about 100 yards.”

Brown, who grew up on a pig and cow farm in Burneston, England, is still right in the mix despite a couple of hiccups on the final two holes. Brown had a 1-stroke lead when he moved to 6 under with a 5-footer on No. 12 and again when he made a 5-footer on No. 16.

Brown, a DP Tour regular who made the field by surviving final qualifying, couldn’t hold the lead after his ball landed in greenside bunkers on Nos. 17 and 18, and he failed to get up and down. He dropped three shots on the final two holes to fall one shot behind Horschel.

“Yeah, we’re still there,” Brown said. “It was difficult. I’m a little bit disappointed with how the last two holes went because I did so well to get to where I got to, and yeah, it’s a bit nasty to finish like that.”

Brown, 29, is attempting to become only the fourth golfer since 1900 to win in his major championship debut — Francis Ouimet (1913 U.S. Open), Ben Curtis (2003 Open) and Keegan Bradley (2011 PGA Championship) were the others.

“I suppose a lot of people probably thought I was going to be shaking this morning and really nervous, but I’ve been absolutely fine,” Brown said.

The players who beat the rain and wind with early tee times had a much better time than those in the afternoon. South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, who started the third round 10 shots behind Lowry, had six birdies in eight holes on the front nine en route to a 6-under 65. He was 3 under and will play the final round with Horschel.

Burns had eight birdies while posting a 65 and joined the group at 3 under that includes Russell Henley, who carded a 66 on Saturday.

Adam Scott, Justin Thomas and Matthew Jordan are 4 shots behind Horschel, who will sleep on a 54-hole lead at a major for the first time in his career.

Horschel said he has spent part of the week visualizing himself holding the Claret Jug on the 18th hole on Sunday, “walking out to the crowd and being congratulated as Open champion.”

“That’s what I’m going to do again tonight, and hopefully that comes true tomorrow,” Horschel said. “If it doesn’t, then I’ll get back on the grind and work harder to get back in a position like this again.”