The 2024 Open Championship has been plagued by inclement weather. Strong winds, reaching speeds of 25 to 30 miles per hour, swept across the course on Thursday and Friday, causing chaos for the golfers.
Although the wind subsided slightly on Saturday, the conditions remained challenging. This led to several players expressing their concerns about the tournament’s setup. Shane Lowry, for instance, questioned why certain tees were not moved forward. He specifically mentioned holes 15 and 17, stating that playing into the wind on a 500-yard hole was questionable. Lowry believed that the focus should be on improving the existing holes rather than making them longer.
Dustin Johnson echoed Lowry’s sentiment, emphasizing the difficulty of the back nine holes. He described them as the toughest in golf, especially when faced with strong winds and rain. Johnson and Brooks Koepka had to hit their shots with immense power just to reach the par-4s.
Lowry initially performed well in the tournament, holding a two-shot lead after 36 holes. However, his game unraveled on Saturday. He struggled on multiple holes, including a double bogey on the eighth. This downward spiral continued as he bogeyed holes 11, 12, 14, 15, and 18. Consequently, Lowry finished the day with a disappointing 6-over 77, dropping him down the leaderboard and leaving him three strokes behind the leader.
After the completion of Round 3, Billy Horschel emerged as the frontrunner with a score of -4. Despite the challenging weather conditions, Horschel managed to post a 2-under 69 on Saturday. This solid performance gave him a 54-hole total of 4-under 209, placing him one stroke ahead of six other golfers, including Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, and Justin Rose, who have all previously won major championships.
Horschel, a 37-year-old golfer with eight PGA Tour victories, has struggled in past Open Championships. He has missed the cut six times out of his nine previous starts. However, he has found success in European tournaments, finishing tied for 21st in the 2022 Open at St. Andrews and winning the 2021 BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour.
Photo – Dustin Johnson Instagram
