McIlroy falters as Harman holds firm and Young and Rahm loom at Hoylake
HOYLAKE, ENGLAND - JULY 22: Jon Rahm of Spain lines up a putt on the 14th hole during Day Three of The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 22, 2023 in Hoylake, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy's fragility on the greens surfaced again, but Jon Rahm admitted he felt "invincible" as he fired an eight-under 63 to emerge as a viable threat to leader Brian Harman in The Open at Hoylake.
Unlike McIlroy, who failed to take advantage of a scintillating start and faltered with the putter en route to a 69 that left him nine behind, the Spaniard looks set to try and repeat his heroics at the Irish Open four years ago.
Just as he's done this week, the current Masters champion made the cut with only a shot to spare in Co Clare before blasting rounds of 64 and 62 to win by two shots.
A 14-under par weekend might not be enough to vanquish the unflappable Harman, who recovered from two bogeys in his first four holes to card a two-under 69 for a five-shot lead over American Cameron Young, who shot 66 to get to seven-under, and a six-shot advantage over Rahm.
It was an impressive performance from the diminutive left-hander, who birdied the fifth, ninth, 12th and 13th before rolling in a nine-footer for par at the 18th to leave the likes of Viktor Hovland (66), Antoine Rozner (67), Jason Day (69), Sepp Straka (70) and Tommy Fleetwood (71) seven adrift on five-under.
But it was also another bitterly disappointing day on the greens for McIlroy, who missed six birdie putts between eight and 13 feet.
He declined all interviews after his round, which was understandable given his tentative putting under pressure in the final rounds of The Open last year and the US Open last month.
Nine strokes behind Harman starting the day, the Holywood star might have been six under after five holes as the early morning rain eased, the wind dropped, and the temperature rose.
He rolled in a 10-footer at first and a four-footer at the third but missed chances from 10 feet at the second and fourth and was short with a 25-footer for eagle at the fifth.
He two-putted there to move to within six shots of Harman on four-under. But McIlroy could not press on unlike Rahm, who played his final ten holes in seven-under-par to card the lowest round ever recorded in The Open at Hoylake.
He missed from 13 feet at the eighth, then bogeyed the 12th after a mishit flop shot before birdie chances slipped by from eight feet at the par-five 15th, 11 feet at the short 17th and 10 feet again at the last.
Rahm, in contrast, could not miss as he boarded a becalmed and rain-soften Royal Liverpool like a pirate with a dagger clenched between his teeth.
"Today was one of those days where I felt invincible," he told the Spanish media. "I've been very comfortable from the tee, so it's easier to stay aggressive. I would highlight the (par) putt (from six feet) on eight, which was key. In those 20 minutes between the par on eight and the birdie on 10, everything changed."
With all due to respect to Lahinch, he described his 63 as "the best round I've played on a links golf course ever".
After finishing before Harman and Tommy Fleetwood hit the links, he could not properly assess his final round chances, but he knew he'd put himself in position.
"We have to see how the rest of the day goes, but I did what I had to do to give myself options on Sunday," he said.
Young was second to Cameron Smith at St Andrews last year, and he knows he might have to take some chances today.
"You just kind of have to see how the first couple of holes play out tomorrow, and then you maybe start aiming at things that you might not otherwise," he said.
Pádraig Harrington made two birdies in his last four holes to card a two-over 73 that left him joint 69th on five-over and admitted he'll likely need to win the D+D Real Czech Masters or the Omega European Masters in Crans-Sur-Sierre to force his way into Luke Donald's Ryder Cup wildcards.
"I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I would think it would be 'no'," he said when asked if he was in Donald's plans right now. "But I have a few more events, and maybe I can go win one of them and force the issue a bit."
He also defended Shane Lowry for breaking a club in frustration on Friday.
"I've changed completely my whole idea that any player who wants to vent a bit frustration on themselves, I have no problem as long as they don't damage the golf course or get in anybody's way," he said.
"Shane didn't do either of those, so I've no problem at all. If you want to break all 14 clubs, fine. As long as you don't damage the course or interfere."
