Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland. Paul Ellis
By Matt Smith
Ryder Cup teammates Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland were turning the 150th Open Championship into a two-horse Team Europe showdown as they opened up a four-shot lead on the field ahead of Sunday’s the final round over the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland’s ‘Home of Golf’.
A pair of six-under-par 66s took the Norwegian and Northern Irishman to 16-under after 54 holes, with the two Camerons — Young and Smith — slipping back to 12-under after some costly errors as the Old Course bared its teeth occasionally on a fairly benign day on the Fife coast.
McIlroy, seeking an end to an eight-year major drought, was leading the way but suffered a rare blip on 17 after finding the path and had to settle for his solitary bogey and a tie with Hovland with 18 holes to go.
Overnight leader Smith, whose putter was red-hot of Friday, just could not get his putts to drop on Saturday and also had a nasty time on 13 for a double-bogey six. He carded a disappointing 73.
Smith’s playing partner Young was ticking along nicely until 16, when a chip went wrong and flew through the green, leading to a double. A pair of closing pars left him with a 71 and a lot of work to do if he and his fellow Cameron are to reel in Hovland and McIlroy on Sunday.
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