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Winners and Losers From Third Round of British Open: Rory Says Quiet Part Out Loud About Bryson

Andy Nesbitt|
Rory McIlroy unleashed on Bryson DeChambeau after his third round on Saturday.
Rory McIlroy unleashed on Bryson DeChambeau after his third round on Saturday. | Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

The third round of the 2026 British Open at Royal Birkdale is in the books and what a day it was for Sam Burns, who fired a five-under 65 to take a two-shot lead.

Burns is looking to win his first major and this would be a pretty sweet one to get as he and his wife just welcomed their second child a few weeks ago. It would also come a month after he narrowly missed out on forcing a playoff at the U.S. Open.

Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from the third round.

Winner: Rory McIlroy for getting really honest about Bryson DeChambeau

McIlroy shot a one-under 69 on Saturday and is well back of Burns at two-under, but he’s listed here as a winner because of what he said after his round. McIlroy didn’t hold back when asked about Bryson DeChambeau’s two-shot penalty and he also shared how felt about his rival as a person.

“I won't pretend to be up here and defend Bryson. I'm not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it's performative,” McIlroy said. “I think a lot of it's for attention. To hold the tournament hostage like that, and to have all of us players, volunteers, everyone waiting on him to depart, I didn't feel like it was a great look."

He added this about the penalty:

“I think there’s no doubt that he improved the line of his backswing,” McIlroy said. “And again, whether it was careless or whether it was intentional, I don’t think it matters. Hopefully it was careless, but I think the two-shot penalty was justified for sure.”

Here are his full comments:

DeChambeau ended up shooting a one-under 69 on Saturday and is four shots back of Burns.

He poked a little fun at himself on the 18th hole when his tee shot landed in the rough and he wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything to improve his lie:

Loser: NBC’s broadcast

NBC had a rough day. It started with Kevin Kisner providing a weak take on DeChambeau’s penalty, in which he spent more time talking about a walking official rather than what DeChambeau did in the long rough to get penalized.

Then, Brad Faxon said this weird thing about Scottie Scheffler having to play his first two rounds with DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton:

"Pairings make a big difference. So many things can influence how a player plays ... [Scottie] had a tough pairing with Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton, two guys that are difficult to play with. It's almost like a two-stroke penalty."

What in the world does that even mean?

And later in the round, DeChambeau made a long birdie putt on the sixth hole, which happened while NBC was in one of its “Playing Through” commercial breaks.

Not great.

Winner: Sam Burns grabs the lead with another stellar round

Burns backed up his second-round 62 with a 65 in the third round that got him to 10-under for the tournament and in the lead alone by two shots. Burns has been on fire the past two days after opening with a three-over 73 on Thursday. Not bad for a guy who almost didn’t make the trip overseas after the birth of his daughter.

Winner: Ryan Fox shoots a 62 to get into Sunday’s final group

The 39-year-old from New Zealand started his day well back at even-par for the tournament but then he fired a record-tying 62 to get two eight-under, which puts him in a tie for second and two shots back of Burns. He will be paired with Burns in the final group on Sunday.

Loser: Scottie Scheffler gets stuck in neutral

Scheffler had one birdie and one bogey in his third round. The rest were pars. That’s a fun day for an amateur golfer, but a bad one for the No. 1 player in the world, who was looking to make a move up the leaderboard. He’s at four-under for the tournament and well behind Burns. Scheffler’s putter failed him all day, which led to a sarcastic fist pump after a short miss on the par-5 17th.

Loser: Jon Rahm also fails to make a move

Rahm started his third round in the worst way possible as he hit his opening tee shot out of bounds way to the right. He made a double bogey on the hole but was able to rebound a bit and shoot an even-par 70. That’s not the type of score he was looking for on Moving Day, however, as he fell a few spots down the leaderboard and now has a lot of room to make up on Sunday.

He was able to make a heck of a par on 18, though:

Winner: Si Woo Kim stays hot

Kim shot his third round in the 60s this week, finishing with a three-under 67 on Saturday. That moves him to eight-under for the tournament and in a tie for second with Fox. A fourth round in the 60s on Sunday could end with him lifting the Claret Jug.

Loser: Cameron Young falls down the leaderboard

Young, who won the Players Championship last March, was in a great position to make a move Saturday at Royal Birkdale. Instead, he went the wrong way with a three-over 73 and is a whopping seven shots behind Burns.

Loser: Tyrrell Hatton has a brutal day

Hatton was in good shape after rounds of 69 and 68 to start the tournament, but things took a turn for the worse for him on Saturday as he finished with a four-over 74 and is now in a tie for 60th.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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