Ex-Longhorn Jordan Spieth In Contention Entering Final Round at The Open
Former Texas Longhorns' golfer Jordan Spieth is three shots out of the lead after three rounds at the Open Championship. His former teammates, Scottie Scheffler and Dylan Frittelli, are also in the Top 10 at Royal St. George’s.
The trio of Longhorns started the day in the Top 10 and they remained there the entire third round, with Spieth at one point tied for the lead while playing with Frittelli. Scheffler was playing just ahead of the pair and, at one point, was tied for the lead in the clubhouse.
While Spieth has an Open championship to his credit, which he claimed in 2017, both Frittelli and Scheffler are chasing their first major championship. Scheffler is trying to become the first golfer win the Open in his first appearance since Ben Curtis won in his Open debut in 2003.
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Louis Oosthuizen leads the Open at 12-under, with Collin Morikawa one back at 11-under. Spieth is in third place at 9-under and will be in the second-to-last pairing on Sunday. Scheffler finished in a tie for fourth at 8-under. Frittelli was in a tie for sixth at 7-under.
Spieth, with the most experience on this stage of the three Longhorns, suffered one of those mercurial days at a major championship where his fortunes rose on the front nine and sank on the back nine. After a front-nine 32, which was 3-under par, Spieth was at one point tied for the lead with Oosthuizen on the back nine. But Spieth stumbled on the final two holes.
On No. 17, Spieth’s approach shot failed to reach the top of a ridge in front of the cup and the ball rolled back off the green. He failed to get it up-and-down, and the ensuing bogey forced him out of the three-way tie for the lead at the time with Oosthuizen and Morikawa.
Moments after Spieth’s bogey, Oosthuizen birdied No. 16, leaving Spieth two shots out of the lead heading to No. 18. Then, at No. 18, Spieth thought he had played his way into position for at least a birdie. But he ended up three-putting for a bogey that left him 1-under 69 for the day and 9-under for the tournament. Shortly after signing his card, Spieth headed straight to the putting green.
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Scheffler started his round with a par on No. 1 and a bogey on No. 2. But he regained that shot with a birdie at No. 7. From there, Scheffler continued to par out, which kept him in contention. Then, on 18, Scheffler hit an incredible approach that left him about a foot from the cup for birdie. After draining the putt, he finished the day with a 1-under 69 and was 8-under for the championship. At the time, he was the leader in the clubhouse with Corey Connors.
Frittelli had an even-par 70 for the third round. He recorded birdies on No. 6 and No. 7, and parred the rest of the front nine to go out in 33. But, a bogey on No. 11 caused him to lose a shot.
After bogeys at No. 11 and No. 15, Frittelli had the same problem that Spieth had on No. 17, as his approach shot was short of the green and he ended up with a bogey to drop him to 6-under for the tournament. Frittelli followed that with a solid approach at No. 18, and he drained the birdie to return to 7-under for the tournament to remain in contention.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.