Max Homa Close Enough to Challenge at The Open -- Sort Of

The two former Cal golfers in the field at The Open – Max Homa and Byeong Hun An – remained in contention after the third round on Saturday. Well, sort of.

Homa enters Sunday’s final round at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, at 2 under par, and An sits another stroke back at 1 under par. That puts Homa 10 strokes behind third-round leader Brian Harman, who leads the field by five shots after shooting a 2-under 69 that leaves him at 12-under for the tournament.

That’s a sizable lead, probably too much for Homa or An to overcome. But Homa is just five strokes behind Cameron Young, who is in second place at 7-under, and just four shots in back of Jon Rahm, who is at 6 under par.

Rahm shot up the leaderboard on Saturday with a 6-under-par 63, which is two strokes lower than the previous lowest score at Hoylake in The Open.

"It doesn't happen often where you see those shots come out the way they're supposed to and put them in the spots you're supposed to," Rahm said. "You see everything the way it's supposed to happen unfold, and it's very unusual.

"It feels really good, but it's a lot of work to do tomorrow,"

Rahm is capable of an outstanding final round that could put the heat on Harman.

Harman has not won a PGA Tour event since 2017 and has never won a major, and he might not be able to handle the pressure of leading a major by five strokes on the final day.

"I've thought about winning majors my whole entire life," Harman said after Saturday's round.

And if he falls apart, Homa and An could make a move since everyone else is within range.

Homa had two bogeys and a birdie on the front nine, but he had birdies on two of his final four holes to give him a round of 1-under-par 70. His 2-under total leaves him tied for 17th place, while An is stroke behind in a tie for 24th place. An had a solid third round that included four birdies and two bogeys for a score of 2-under-par 69.

Harman appeared to be fading early in the third round when he bogeyed two of the first four holes to drop to 8-under for the tournament. But he bounced back to birdie four of the next nine holes and finished with a 2-under-par score of 69. At the end of the day he was five strokes ahead of everyone, the same margin he had on the field after the second round.

In contention at 5-under – seven strokes behind Harlan -- are Victor Hovland, Jason Day, Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka and Antoine Rozner.

Rory McIlroy is lurking at 3-under, while Jordan Spieth is tied with Homa at 2-under. A group that includes Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Smith and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark are at 1-under, tied with An, 11 shots behind Harlan.

Cover photo of Max Homa in a crowd is by Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports

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