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Matt Fitzpatrick and Michael Thorbjornsen shared the lead after a weather-interrupted third day of the Genesis Scottish Open.
It was a foggy start to the day at The Renaissance Club, with a sea haar lingering over the course from the early tee times, which led to a delay of nearly two-and-a-half hours as morning turned to afternoon.
That meant the overnight leaders would not get underway until after 6.00 pm, and when they did, it was soon all change at the top of the leaderboard in the second Rolex Series event of the season.
At one point, there was a five-way tie at the top, but two quickfire birdies from Fitzpatrick moved him to 12 under before he dropped a shot on the eighth, which would be his final hole of the day before the hooter sounded due to the return of thick fog.
That left the Englishman alongside American Thorbjornsen, who was bogey-free with five birdies through 13 holes.
Johnny Keefer was the clubhouse leader at ten under, alongside fellow Americans Wyndham Clark, Chris Gotterup and Kevin Roy, Australian Min Woo Lee and English overnight co-leader Jordan Smith, who all had holes still to complete.
Fitzpatrick feels he is in the form of his life after claiming three PGA TOUR titles in 2026, having finished the 2025 DP World Tour season with victory at the DP World Tour Championship.
He also has an enviable record at Renaissance, with a play-off loss in 2021 and two further top tens, and he has been showing all the coastal golf prowess that made him the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship winner in 2023.
He started the day one shot off the lead, but a smart approach into the second and an even better one into the fourth had him in that five-way tie with Keefer, Karl Vilips, Gotterup and Roy.
A brilliant 20-foot double-breaker on the sixth had him in front alone, and while Roy briefly joined him, he got up and down on the par-five next to reclaim his advantage.
How it stands after play has been suspended for the remainder of the day 🚨📊#GenesisScottishOpen | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/RtPUGCGOl4
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 11, 2026
Failure to get up and down from the sand on the eighth then dropped him back alongside the charging Thorbjornsen, with Roy having also dropped a shot.
Thorbjornsen had sandwiched a gain on the seventh with lengthy putts at the second and eighth before he managed to make a birdie from the trees at the 12th.
A 32-footer on the 13th then got him to 11 under, and he will join the rest of the remaining players in returning at 7.00 am to complete his round.
Keefer had a single dropped shot and seven birdies in his impressive 64, while Roy made six gains before bogeying the 16th and has two holes to complete.
U.S. Open champion Clark made four gains in his 15 holes, with defending champion Gotterup chalking up three in his ten.
Lee started with a bogey but recovered to two under through eight holes, one more than Smith, who also recovered from an early dropped shot by sandwiching a remarkable par save at the sixth with two gains.
Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen carded a 65 to sit at nine under alongside local hero Robert MacIntyre and co-overnight leader Tom Kim, who had nine and 11 holes remaining, respectively.
Marcus Armitage and Mac Meissner were in the clubhouse a further shot back, with Vilips and Keita Nakajima also at eight under with holes to play.
There were 31 players within five shots of the lead, and third overnight leader Rory McIlroy was just among them after dropping three shots in his first eight holes.
Once round three is completed, the final round will not begin before 10.15 am and will be played in three-balls from the first.
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