Although it was a relatively quiet morning at Royal Troon, things were looking pretty miserable out on the course late on Saturday in Scotland.
Despite torrential rain, which forced almost everyone to struggle to cope, Billy Horschel managed to emerge victorious.
Horschel, after an incredible short game performance on the back end, signed 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 heading into the final round of the British Open, where he will try to finally win the first major championship of his career and lift the Claret Jug.
Horschel, who wore his cap backwards for much of the day, made a big move on the front nine. He closed out that half of his round with four birdies in his final six holes and put himself squarely in contention. When he made the turn and the weather continued to worsen, Horschel held on.
After a bogey on the par-4 11th, Horschel produced a great up-down to save par from the side of a deep bunker on the 14th to maintain a share of the lead. He did the same on the 16th from an even worse position in the bunker, where his ball sank deep into the sand, and then nearly chipped in on the 17th for his fifth consecutive up-down.
Horschel bogeyed the 18th to finish with a 2-under 69.
Daniel Brown, the overnight leader in the opening round, almost took the lead himself after 54 holes. His round was a bit uneven, but he came away from the 18th hole with a one-shot lead on the final group. However, after going from bunker to bunker on the fairway, he had to settle for a double bogey, which left him at 3 under par. Brown, 29, is competing in his first major championship. If he can win on Sunday, he will be the first Englishman to win the British Open on debut since Horace Rawlins in 1895.
There are five others at 3 under, though, so the Claret Jug is still open to anyone. Tristan Lawrence and Sam Burns, who finished 6 under on the day, have joined 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 crumbling 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. However, he has never won a major championship. He came closest to doing so at the U.S. Open in 2013, where he finished T4, and he has 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 now. But with the way the standings look and a better forecast for Sunday’s round, he’ll need another big push to finally achieve that feat.
