The Open 2019 LIVE: Shane Lowry breaks course record to take four-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood into Sunday
Re-live all the action from the third round of the 148th Open Championship from Royal Portrush
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Shane Lowry delivered an Open Championship masterclass as he broke the course record at Royal Portrush with an eight-under-par 63 to take a four-shot lead into Sunday's final round.
The weekend may be without Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy after they both missed the cut, but Saturday did not go without it's drama. Irishman Lowry has brought the fans to life with a truly brilliant round, and after starting the day on eight-under-par, he recorded a bogey-free round of 63 that featured eight birdies to lead Tommy Fleetwood by four shots.
Brooks Koepka moved himself up to fourth place alongside Justin Rose and just behindJB Holmes, but Lowry's brilliance means they already find themselvesa long way off the lead at the start of Sunday's play. The R&A Has also announced that Sunday's tee times have been moved forward due to the threat of bad weather. Follow the latest updates below.
Please allow a moment for the blog to load.
Saturday tee times
0835—Paul Waring
0845—Francesco Molinari, Jason Kokrak
0855—Graeme McDowell, Bubba Watson
0905—Charley Hoffman, Ashton Turner
0915—Yosuke Asaji, Andrew Wilson
0925—Yuki Inamori, Matt Wallace
0935—Nino Bertasio, Tom Lewis
0945—Adam Hadwin, Ryan Fox
1000—Innchoon Hwang, Benjamin Hebert
1010—Paul Casey, Kyle Stanley
1020—Eddie Pepperell, Doc Redman
1030—Kevin Streelman, and Joost Luiten
1040—Shubhankar Sharma, Louis Oosthuizen
1050—Stewart Cink, Callum Shinkwin
1100—Jim Furyk, Kevin Kisner
1110—Bernd Wiesberger, Russell Knox
1120—Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Mikko Korhonen
1135—Sergio Garcia, Branden Grace
1145—Romain Langasque, Sang Hyun Park
1155—Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover
1205—Danny Willett, Aaron Wise
1215—Justin Thomas, Bob MacIntryre
1225—Matt Fitzpatrick, Ernie Els
1235—Thorbjorn Olesen, Thomas Pieters
1245—Rory Sabbatini, Byeong Hun An
1255—Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele
1310—Henrik Stenson, Webb Simpson
1320—Alex Noren, Dustin Johnson
1330—Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Kuchar
1340—Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed
1350—Lucas Bjerregaard, Tony Finau
1400—Erik Van Rooyen, Dylan Frittelli
1410—Andrew Putnam, Jordan Spieth
1420—Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose
1430—Justin Harding, Cameron Smith
1440—Lee Westwood, Tommy Fleetwood
1450—Shane Lowry, J.B. Holmes
Holmes thinks it's in on the fourth for a birdie, he follows it with confidence, but it's just missed. It's par for the joint-leader.
My word he is a slow player. Lowry is showing incredible patience out there.
Westwood has a 15-foot putt chance for a fourth birdie, but it just pulls up to the left of the hole. Fleetwood has played this hole really well and sinks a birdie after a brilliant shot to within a foot of the hole.
It's going very well for joint-leader Lee Westwood out there. He could be a very popular winner if he sees it through on Sunday evening.
Having said that, he won't be smiling so much after a tee shot on the par-three fifth lands on the green but rolls away towards the longer stuff.
The recovery is brilliant and he pitches it just a few yards away from a par to remain ten-under.
Big putt here coming up from Fleetwood...it's an unbelievable effort and is so close to going in for a birdie. He taps in what follows and settles for par to remain nine-under.
Westwood then makes no mistake from a couple of yards and walks away with par to stay on 10-under.
State of play
Westwood - 10 (6 holes)
Holmes -10 (4)
Fleetwood -9 (6)
Lowry -9 (4)
This is not brilliant from Holmes, who is moving along at an insufferable pace, as he gives himself a lot of work to do on the fifth after going well-wide into the rough after a poor drive and poor second shot.
Elsewhere, Danny Willett moves to seven-under with a birdie on the 17th and goes to tied-third.
Birdie for Lowry at the fifth that takes him to 10-under and gives him a share of the lead with Holmes and Westwood.
Can Holmes follow suit? It's not been a great approach from him and he is fighting to save par...and it's straight into the heart of the hole with minimal fuss. Excellent recovery.
The contrast between the supporter reaction to Lowry and Holmes' putts ranged from loud cheers to little more than a murmur.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments