Rory McIlroy won both of his major championships by eight shots and after getting to the 36-hole mark with a four-shot margin, it was looking like we might have a repeat of those blowouts at the Open Championship. But Rickie Fowler has made a dramatic charge in the third round.
Rickie Fowler is going low on Saturday at the British Open, and for the moment, he's cut Rory's lead down to one shot. McIlroy started the day out in front by four, and six ahead of Fowler. But young Rickie is rolling at Royal Liverpool, firing darts into the pins and bombing in lengthy birdies putts to get to 12-under.
The course is playing easier than it has all week, with the rain overnight and in the morning softening things up around the green. And while we did get some of the storms and rain the forecast predicted, there's almost no wind to accompany it. I's the perfect combination to post a low mid-60s round, and Fowler is well on his way to doing that.
The red numbers started early for Rickie, who opened with back-to-back birdies while McIlroy dropped a shot on his first hole of the day. After four birdies in his first six holes, Fowler would finally give one back on the par-4 seventh. He lost his drive right, and had little choice but to hack it out of the high fescue into the fairway. He put his third shot in the middle of the green, but couldn't roll in the longer par-saving putt. McIlroy, in contrast, made a world-class save at the 7th from a comparable position.
Rickie has kept the pressure on after making the turn, starting his second nine with another birdie streak. He posted red numbers on the first three holes of his inward stretch to keep pushing McIlroy. The birdie at the 13th came just minutes after Rory had extended the lead back to two shots. It's all working for Rickie right now, who's not just putting together the round of the day, but also the round of the week.
There are still two par-5s ahead for the final groups, and each is a prime opportunity for birdie. There should be more movement over the final seven holes, but we know for certain that Rory is not going to have it easy on Sunday. Here's the leaderboard around Rickie and Rory:
| Place | Player | Score | Today | Thru |
| 1 | Rory McIlroy | -13 | -1 | 11 |
| 2 | Rickie Fowler | -12 | -6 | 12 |
| 3 | Sergio Garcia | -9 | -3 | 12 |
| 4 | Jim Furyk | -8 | -3 | 13 |
| 5 | Victor Dubuisson | -7 | -3 | 15 |
| T6 | Charl Schwartzel | -6 | E | 13 |
| T6 | Dustin Johnson | -6 | 2 | 11 |
| T6 | Robert Karlsson | -6 | -2 | 13 |
| T6 | Edoardo Molinari | -6 | -3 | 15 |
| T10 | Jimmy Walker | -5 | -1 | 15 |
| T10 | Louis Oosthuizen | -5 | 1 | 13 |
| T10 | Darren Clarke | -5 | -5 | F |
| T10 | Marc Warren | -5 | E | 13 |
| T10 | Graeme McDowell | -5 | -4 | F |
| T15 | Byeong-Hun An | -4 | -3 | 17 |
| T15 | Stephen Gallacher | -4 | -2 | 16 |
| T15 | George Coetzee | -4 | 1 | 13 |
| T15 | Matteo Manassero | -4 | -2 | 16 |
| T15 | Branden Grace | -4 | -3 | 17 |
| T15 | Marc Leishman | -4 | -1 | 15 |
| T15 | Adam Scott | -4 | -1 | 15 |
| T22 | Shane Lowry | -3 | -2 | 17 |
| T22 | David Howell | -3 | -1 | 16 |
| T22 | Keegan Bradley | -3 | -3 | F |
| T22 | Angel Cabrera | -3 | -4 | 15 |
| T22 | Justin Rose | -3 | -1 | 16 |
| T22 | Chris Kirk | -3 | -4 | F |
| T22 | Ryan Moore | -3 | 3 | 12 |
| T22 | Kristoffer Broberg | -3 | -2 | F |
| T30 | Ben Martin | -2 | -2 | F |
| T30 | Francesco Molinari | -2 | 4 | 11 |
| T30 | Brian Harman | -2 | -3 | 15 |
| T30 | Jordan Spieth | -2 | -4 | 11 |
| T30 | David Hearn | -2 | -1 | F |
| T30 | Bill Haas | -2 | E | 16 |
| T36 | Kevin Streelman | -1 | -3 | 14 |
| T36 | Phil Mickelson | -1 | -1 | F |
| T36 | Luke Donald | -1 | -3 | 12 |
| T39 | Hunter Mahan | E | E | F |
| T39 | Gary Woodland | E | E | F |
| T39 | Thomas Bjorn | E | 3 | 15 |
| T39 | Kevin Stadler | E | -1 | F |
| T39 | D.A. Points | E | E | F |
| T39 | Thongchai Jaidee | E | E | F |
| T45 | Chris Wood | 1 | E | 17 |
| T45 | Hideki Matsuyama | 1 | 2 | 17 |
| T45 | Zach Johnson | 1 | -1 | 13 |
| T45 | Tiger Woods | 1 | -1 | 11 |
| T45 | Kevin Na | 1 | -1 | 13 |
| T45 | Chris Rodgers | 1 | 1 | F |
| T45 | Henrik Stenson | 1 | E | 15 |
| T45 | Matt Jones | 1 | E | 16 |
| T45 | Brandt Snedeker | 1 | -1 | 14 |
| T45 | Martin Kaymer | 1 | E | F |
| T55 | Paul Casey | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| T55 | Matt Kuchar | 2 | 2 | F |
| T55 | Gregory Bourdy | 2 | 2 | F |
| T55 | Jason Dufner | 2 | 2 | F |
| T55 | Thorbjorn Olesen | 2 | E | 13 |
| T60 | Matt Every | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| Charley Hoffman | 5 | 3 | 15 |
from SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1n3vql9
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