Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Tony Finau is something of a golf thoroughbred – 10 top 10s in the majors – but his punishment came too late this week. The easy-swinging American is six under for the day after 16 holes and has moved into a tie for 12th place. He failed to break 70 in each of his first three rounds. As I write this, he’s playing outside the Road Bunker at 17. Oh dear, I’ve cursed him. One player out there now has sneaked into the top 10, and it’s an unlikely name: Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana, who punched his Open ticket by winning the SMBC Singapore Open. The 23-year-old is five under for the day (eagle at 5) and is nine under overall, good enough for a tie for eighth. A reminder of when half the final teams come out. Not long now! 2.00 p.m. Jordan Spieth, Patrick Candley 2.10pm Matt Fitzpatrick, Adam Scott 2.20pm Dustin Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood 2.30pm Matt C enjoys the action behind the scenes. Rory McIlroy’s mom and dad just wandered into the property. A casual walk next to the first. Pass all the food stalls and the Open Hug, through the packed crowds. Don’t think anyone recognized them! Calm before the storm for leaders. Jordan Spieth practicing his twitches, DJ thinking he’s at a Sex Pistols concert, Adam Scott honing his shirt game (and his short game), Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood favorites of the crowd, Rory the word on everyone’s lips. Great birdie-birdie-birdie start from Xander Schauffle today. Last week’s Scottish Open winner didn’t have the week he wanted, but looks set to finish in style. A contrast to Jon Rahm who looks ready to explode after a bogey at 3 and a double bogey at 4 when he had a wedge in hand for the second. The Spaniard falls to 68th place. Local Scotsman Robert McIntyre is currently giving the galleries plenty of cheers. The left-hander has birdied two today – the 5th and 7th – and is -6 overall and tied for 26th as he closes on 13. Shame about that pesky double bogey on the 1st today. Barclay Brown went with the Stone Roses Spike Island hat today instead of the looser It Ain’t Half Hot Mum number of the first three days. But despite a birdie on 18, his bid for silver as a top amateur went south after a string of bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey from 13 to 17. That closing 75 left him at +2, an extra swing by Australia’s Aaron Jarvis +1. It means Italy’s Filippo Celli is in pole position in the amateur competition: he’s 3 after 7 holes, so he has a four-shot cushion. Matt chatted with the blog’s favorite BB as he was leaving at 18. Barkley’s name? He has no idea why his name is Barclay except that his father is Scottish. Despite our nonsense that his name suggested he starred alongside Terry-Thomas, Brown has no acting background and quickly dropped out of drama at school. But he’s enjoying his economics degree at Stanford[Tiger’salmamater)andwillseeoutthisfouryearsthereNoSilverMedalbuthehadachucklethathe’dbecomeacultfigurethisweek[τοπαλιόπανεπιστήμιοτουTiger)καιθαδειτατέσσεραχρόνιατουεκείΧωρίςασημένιομετάλλιοαλλάείχεέναγέλιοότιθαγινότανμιακαλτφιγούρααυτήτηνεβδομάδα[Tiger’solduni)andwillseeouthisfouryearsthereNoSilverMedalbuthehadachucklethathe’dbecomeacultfigurethisweek Love Spreads for Barclay Brown. Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Updated at 13.27 BST Like many at St Andrews, DP World Tour pro Matthew Southgate was outraged when he commented on Rory holed his bunker on the 10th for eagle yesterday. “It sounded like the stands were coming down. It was like Wembley,” Southgate said this morning. Matt Cooper is live in St Andrews and regales us with some stories from the Auld Gray Toon. A disappointing Open for celebs – maybe even they can’t get in via the ballot. Actress Kathryn Newton was here, there and everywhere as an R&D Ambassador (I’m even happy to report she was good enough to record a great message for my niece walking the plank). Elsewhere, Niall Horan was spotted at the R&A World Golf Museum, while Tim Henman, Andrew Murray and Gavin Hastings sampled whiskey in the tented village. There is a rumor that Robbie Williams appeared in town. I’ve seen Kirsty Wark from Panorama but I’m not entirely sure if she qualifies as a celebrity. All in all, nothing on the scale of the past, when heavyweight whispers of George Clooney, Tom Cruise and even P-Diddy were common. And another one… Want a front row seat for today? The Rusacks Hotel, which overlooks the 1st and 18th holes, was recently renovated, with the NFL-playing Manning brothers part of the team that took on the project. A seat on the roof this evening is said to cost £3,000 per person. Can anyone beat the low round of 64 Smith/Burns? Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion and winner of the 2021 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, believes so. “The greens are softer, not a lot of air. There is a low rating out there. A good chance for the top two to get away from the group,” Willett said after closing with a 3-under 69 to finish at -4. At this stage yesterday, Kevin Kisner was threatening to shoot something ridiculous. He eventually signed for 65. No one blew the traps like Kisner today – he was -7 after 10 – but Sam Burns, the world No 11, enjoyed a hot finish to shoot 64 and match his low round Cameron Smith. week. Burns closed with four straight birdies, a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks this is over if someone has a big lead walking the 15th tee. That eight-under round has moved Burns up 56 spots to 21st. Ahhh, great. Wait a minute, something just caught my eye. ‘Music Box Dancer’ as many of you will know was the theme music for ‘Around With Alliss’. Speaking of the great man, here’s Peter’s take on one of golf’s iconic moments. The little laugh after the ball is tipped over is perfect. Holy Peter. Imagine if Rory has a four-shot lead going into the final hole and pays tribute to Seve’s celebration. I’m catching up! We did the BBC Golf Open theme music on day one, so let Frank Mills play us for today’s closing round with another classic. Take it big… Frank Mills
Preamble
Is this the day? Is this the day Rory McIlroy ends his eight-year wait for a fifth major, joining the pantheon of majors to have won an Open Championship at St Andrews? The main threat to McIlroy’s bid to join Jack, Seve, Sir Nick and Tiger is his partner Viktor Hovland. The two exchanged superb 66s when they were together yesterday, those six under rounds pulling them four clear of stuttering leader Cameron Smith and American rookie Cameron Young. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler lurks five back alongside Si Woo Kim, but if McIlroy and Hovland start making birdies, the chase may be too far for them to catch. A hugely important day in the 150-year history of the Open awaits. Thanks for coming to today’s final round: always one of the great days in sport. The leaderboard goes into the fourth round -16: McIlroy, Hovland-12: Young, Smith-11: SW Kim, Scheffler-10: D Johnson-9: Fleetwood, Fitzpatrick, Scott-8: Spieth, Cantlay TE times: all BST, (a) states amateur 7.20 Sam Bairstow (a) 7.30am Wyndham Clarke, Jamie Rutherford 7.40am David Law, Hideki Matsuyama 7.50am 35 am Jordan Smith, Aaron Jarvis (a) 8.45am. Danny Willett, Barclay Brown (a) 8.55am. Robert Dinwiddie, Sebastian Munoz 9.05am Jason Scrivener, Paul Casey 9:50 Tony Finau, Justin De Los Santos 10:00 Thriston Lawrence, Thomas Detry 10:10 Corey Conners, Sergio Garcia 10:20 Adrian Meronk, John Parry 10:40 Robert MacIntyre, Talor Goochnaam 10:15 Sa. . 00:00 David Carey, Lee Westwood 11:10 Harold Varner III, Joo-Hyung Kim 11:20 Brad Kennedy, Filippo Celli (a) 11:30 Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk 11:45 am Xander Schauffele, Lucas Herbert 12.15pm Victor Perez, Jon Rahm 12:25 p.m. Will Zalatoris, Nicolai Hojgaard 12:35 p.m. Anthony Quayle, Ian Poulter 12:55 p.m. Aaron Wise, Dean Burmester 1:05 p.m. , Shane Lowry 1.45pm Kevin Kisner, Thomas Peters 2.00 p.m. Jordan Spieth, Patrick Candley 2.10pm Matt Fitzpatrick, Adam Scott 2.20pm Dustin Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood 2.30pm , Victor Hovland
title: “The Open 2022 Final Round Updates From St Andrews Live The Open " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-06” author: “Anthony David”
Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Rory McIlroy, now the hunter not the hunted, begins his own journey on the 14th hole for the perfect start. His drive finds the passage. Cameron Young birdies the 14th – he’s two behind McIlroy. Cameron Smith two-putts the green at the 14th to take the lead. A remarkable recovery from the two-time 2022 winner, who looked disappointed to go off the course last night. Jordan Spieth hits the fairway on 17. One of the world’s most creative golfers is about to be tested on asphalt, gravel and a fairway (which might just be out of line, to be honest). You don’t get that at Augusta National. An impressive chicken by Rory McIlroy is suddenly raised! His birdie putt was from 60 feet and he only needed a few more inches. Click on par. Victor Hovland makes a bogeyman. He was so close from Rory. Photo: Phil Noble/Reuters Updated at 17.39 BST McIlroy found the green at the 13th. But it’s nowhere near the pin. Has his patience run out? The only birds today have come from twins. A confident Niall O’Keefe emails: “Rory Mc is cool. Cameron Smith not so much. So Rory wins. QED?’ I’m not so sure it’s that simple, Niall! Half a dozen holes to play in the 150th Open and how have the leaders played this last third of the way through the first three rounds? Viktor Hovland is six under, Cameron Smith three under, Rory McIlroy two under, Cameron Young one under. O ring. Cameron Smith joins Rory at -18. Photo: Phil Noble/Reuters Updated at 17.31 BST Cameron Smith takes the lead! As Dave and I switch chairs (figuratively) another birdie drains. Four in a row. How is your heart? Updated at 17.28 BST This is getting tense. Very tense. Time to jump in a cold bath while Matt takes you to the 16th hole. As I sign off, Rory has found the end of the road at 13. Rory fails again! This is becoming a concern now for McIlroy. These bangs don’t seem to fall off. He’s one ahead, but how long after Cam Smith starts a 12-foot approach at about 13? Hovland gets his birdie at 12 and is just two behind McIlroy again. Watch out for Cameron Young too as he has a birdie putt on 13 to get to 16 under. Great pitch from Victor Hovland on 12 and he will surely now win his first birdie of the day. McIlroy’s isn’t as crisp and is about 10 feet away, a distance from which he has simply not holed anything so far. Big bang coming. Cam Smith made a mess on 13 yesterday, but he’s in the short grass on his tee this time.
17.17 pm BST leaderboard
As Rory tees off on the par-4 12th just short of the green, let’s check the scores. -18: McIlroy (11)-17: Smith (12)-15: Young (12), Hovland (11)-13: D Johnson (13)-12: Harman (16), Spieth (15), Fleetwood (13 ). ) Cameron Smith gives it his all. A huge risk for Rory now as the putts continue to fall. His 12-footer for birdie bogeys the 12th hole and he’s up to -17 and just one behind McIlroy. Cameron Young holds a try drive and is three times away. A middle-aged man in the crowd holds a paper sign (pen on a piece of nearby A4) that reads: “This day belongs to Rory.” We’ll see. Viktor Hovland isn’t going away yet and is three behind after an excellent up-and-down on 10. Rory shouts “sit” after his tee shot on 11 but lands safely and a shout of “go” would actually be better. Hovland isn’t happy with his par 3 effort, but it’s fine and he’ll have maybe 20-25 feet for birdie. At 14, Spieth bogeys to signal the end of any outside challenge. Cam Smith has a rolling eagle putt on 12, but makes a disappointing growl as it slowly curls up the hill and pulls a 12-footer close. Rory’s 40th footer on 11 never threatens, so it’s another two-foot green. Hovland can’t convert his and is three behind his partner. Scottie Scheffler as a Homer Simpson meme. Photo: Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images Updated at 17.19 BST Jordan Spieth makes a complete mess of the par-5 14th. He drives into a pot bunker, plays back, hits his third to short of the green, then cuts his short course in the style of a twitchy 18-handicapper. Looking at the bogeyman there. possibly worse. It catches. Victor Hovland fattens his chip from 10 and doesn’t come out green. At 11 and Cameron Smith is coming! The Aussie putter is hot again today and just birdies to move within striking distance of McIlroy. But not for long though! Rory hits a magnificent late putt from well over 100 feet on the 10th and taps in to reach 18 under and regain his two-shot lead. Great little drive from Cam Smith at the 10th and he’s within two of McIlroy after he rolls in for birdie, just barely. And Cameron Young is also just two away after a two-foot birdie from downtown on 10. That’s about the distance Rory has left after his drive reaches the right edge of the same huge double green, with the ball of ending closer to the 8th flag. Smith now looks menacing. He has halved McIlroy’s lead and hit a great tee shot on 11 to set up another birdie. Young is about 30 feet away. Updated at 16.58 BST First up on the 9 is Viktor Hovland from about 20 feet. It’s a nice stroke, but it always seems to go exactly halfway through its travel. Par. That’s an outside nine of +1, not good enough. Now for Rory from eight feet… and no sir. He grabs a piece from the right edge but always misses. McIlroy has two-putted all nine greens. The good news is that he has a two-shot lead. Cameron Young drives the green to 10, but hits 100 feet. Cam Smith avoids the bunkers and his ball lifts about 20 yards short of the green. Two good opportunities to make birdie there. Dustin Johnson holes a nice putt on 11 to move to -13 which is now a solo fifth. Jordan Spieth hits a poor first putt but an excellent second from 12 feet to save par at 13 and is 6th alongside Tommy Fleetwood (11 holes) at -12. Rory now lined up a 57-yard field goal for his second of the nine. Floats it high and leaves about eight feet for birdie Cameron Young makes his move. Photo: Paul Childs/Reuters Updated at 16.57 BST The surprise of the day is Scottie Scheffler – and not in a good way. He missed putt after putt and was three over for the round until he finally birdied 10. He drove the green but missed the putt, obvs. Another player going the wrong way is Adam Scott, who double bogeys 12 – another driveable hole – after his unscheduled visit to the bush. That drops him back from -13 to -11. On nine, Cameron Young bogeys after finding trouble, while Cameron Smith misses a great birdie opportunity from nine feet. Both are now 14 under and three behind Rory. McIlroy pulls the driver on the same 9th hole and closes it right. No problem though. “A perfect miss,” says Nick Faldo in the commentary. This is what Sergio Garcia told the Spanish Marca. Strong stuff. I’m clear about what I’m going to do with the European tour, probably let it go. I want to play wherever they want me, I like to feel loved and honestly on the European tour I don’t feel loved now. When Thomas Bjorn comes to the BMW International Open and tells us “We don’t want any of you and all the players saying that”, well, I’m already old enough and suffering enough to put up with such nonsense. I have what I have and I am very happy with it and I want to enjoy it to the fullest. I will play less, I will be at home more. But honestly, I don’t really care. I’m sorry about the Ryder Cup, but because of the way I play, I wouldn’t be for the Ryder either. My resignation is not official, but I will make it effective. Updated at 16.38 BST Cameron Young makes it from the 9th tee and hits it left. It may simply have cleared a dense concentration of trunk bushes. One who hasn’t is Adam Scott who has all sorts of helpers rummaging through the foliage to find his ball on the 12th. Good luck with that. Cameron Smith finds the net at the 9. Actually Young did the thick stuff just fine, so that’s a penalty. He will be playing his third, so he still has a chance to win par. Back on 8, McIlroy and Hovland secured a tie for two spots. Rory lives two away from the field. Thanks Matt. Rory reminds me of an athlete in a 1500m race. He knows that, on this course, he is the best runner on the field and can cover any breaks. He rose to the pace in the first round, kept Cameron Smith in his sights when the Australian made a burst in the second round and went with Viktor Hovland in the third round when the Norwegian kicked early. They got the bell and now McIlroy is looking to loosen up so he can wave, like Steve Ovett, down the home stretch. He just played a safe shot into the heart of the par-3 8th green. Outside chance for birdie. Updated at 16.31 BST
16.27 pm BST leaderboard
Cameron Young hangs around. Remember the top four have the short par-four 9th and 10th to come. And with that, back to Dave. -17: McIlroy (7) -15: Hovland (7), Young (8) -14: Smith (8) -13: Scott (11) The unpaved bed of the 7th green doesn’t bother Rory McIlroy. It negotiates the humps and troughs to create a safe parity. Ahead of him Cameron Smith did the same, as did Victor Hovland, but Cameron Young’s aggressive approach off the tee reaped the reward of a birdie. Wow! Sergio Garcia said he will withdraw from the DP World Tour and added to the Spanish press that Thomas Bjorn told him that LIV golfers are not wanted. The unpaved bed-look of the Old Course greens is very clean on the 7th. The back of the messy quilt is all over the putting surface and will make life difficult for both Cameron Young and Cameron Smith when they putt for eagle and birdie respectively. Short foursome drama! Rory McIlroy takes the…
