It was a thunderclap on a perfect day at St Andrews, but it still might not be the turning point to this incredible 150th Open Championship.
Rory McIlroy’s eagle two from the greenside bunker on 10 eventually left the 2014 champion in pole position to claim his second Claret Jug and his long awaited fifth major championship.
But a visit to the infamous wall at the 17th means he’s tied going into the final round with his Ryder Cup team-mate and third-round playing partner Viktor Hovland.
Matching 66s set up Sunday showdown
Rory. McIlroy.#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/ZgVKfXf8ie
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2022
McIlroy and Hovland’s matching 66s left them one short of Nick Faldo’s record 54-hole aggregate for St Andrews, at 16-under. McIlroy is now 24-under for eight rounds in the Open at St Andrews. And one of those was an 80.
Hovland, who surged into the sole lead on the front nine, had bravely followed Rory in for birdie at 10. He then battled manfully on the back nine to stay within a stroke the Northern Irishman. The Norwegian was finally rewarded at 17 when he made a par from the cinder path, as McIlroy bogeyed from under the wall.
They both birdied 18, and they’ll play together again on Sunday, but in the final group instead of Saturday’s penultimate one.
“It was a really good day,” he said. “That’s the sort of round you envisage playing when you’re two off the lead.
“Viktor and I fed off each other really well. We put ourselves in a great position going into tomorrow.”
As for the eagle, it was equal part skill and luick, he said.
“You need a little bit of luck,” he said. “The skill part was getting it close, the luck part was it going in. I was just trying to get it up and down for a good birdie, but an eagle was very special.”
Hovland enjoyed his day, even if the crowds were clearly for Rory.
“I don’t mind being the underdog,” he said. “I did hear some cheers for me. But it was a great day and I can’t wait to go again tomorrow.”
Disciplined golf allows McIlroy to move up
Back-to-back birdies for Viktor Hovland 🐦
He moves into the co-lead 👀 pic.twitter.com/Hj81XFJPPQ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 16, 2022
McIlroy played supremely disciplined golf, at least until the 17th. He started slowly, picking up his first birdie of the day at the long fifth.
Hovland, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Young and Scottie Scheffler were all making better progress. The Norwegian ahd four birdies in a row to claim the lead at 14-under.
But McIlroy stealthily moved up, with birdies at 6 and 9. Then he blocked his drive at 10, which his friend Shane Lowry had eagled just an hour before.
It landed in the pot bunker 30 yards short of the green. But McIlroy’s shot from the sand nipped up the hollow in front of the green, and zeroed into the cup to leapfrog him into the lead.
Hovland responded by holing his birdie putt from 20 feet by the side door. That got a sporting fist-bump from his opponent.
But Rory claimed the lead for the first time when he played a steady, regulation birdie four at 14 when the rest of the field seem incapable of that.
The 17th is the usual twist in the tale
"It would mean everything" 🙌
Rory McIlroy reflects on what it would mean to win The 150th Open at St Andrews 👇 pic.twitter.com/GQhlJv5XwC
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 16, 2022
No round is safe at St Andrews until 17 is negotiated, and both ended up in trouble, Hovland on the path and McIlroy getting a flier out of the rough to finish over the road near the wall.
From there he took his medicine, made sure of his five, but Hovland did better, putting up to four feet and getting his par.
There were many who sagely watched as the field took apart the front nine of the Old Course, prematurely predicting carnage and the impending demolition of the ancient links’ reputation.
This has been the narrative for this entire championship, despite it persistently refusing to happen.
The scoring records, most dating from Nick Faldo’s cakewalk in 1990 – yes, 32 years ago – for the great old links remain unbroken this week. The scoring average still nudges above what it was in 2015 and 2010.
The back nine takes its toll
"He's doing well not to laugh" 😅
An interesting tee shot on the 18th from Dustin Johnson 👇 pic.twitter.com/pyREoV7qWt
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 16, 2022
Sure, you had to make a score on the front nine yesterday. Because, as usual, the back nine would take much of it back.
It extracted its usual toll, Johnson falling foul of 13 and 14. Over the back of the long hole in two, he woefully misjudged his putt back, going right over the green and into the Ginger Beer bunker.
Out sideways, two putts, and he was six behind. A visit to another of St Andrews’s fabled bunkers, the Principal’s Nose on 16, and his challenge – the last of the LIV Golf contenders – was likely done.
Halfway leader Cam Smith was already toiling a little, watching rivals pull up and pass him, when he missed his drive on 13, hacking his second into one of the last surviving heather clumps on the Old Course. He took six, and the Australian was five back.
The other Cameron, New York’s Young held on a little better. Birdies at 10 and 12 had him one-off the lead at one point. But he doubled the 16th, putting off the green from the right. He and Smith share third, four shots behind.
Scheffler, with a battling 69, is five off the lead with Si Woo Kim, who had a 67. The bets of the day was Kevin Kisner’s early morning 65, before the wind changed on the tide and back nine bared its teeth.