Portrush (Northern Ireland): The third day is often called the moving day. On that day, a Congress of eagles descended on the Royal Portrush at the 153rd Open. Eight of the top dozen players at the time of writing had landed at least one eagle — defending champion Xander Schauffele had two.But amidst all this, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler stayed way ahead of the field. He was three clear of second-placed China’s Li Haotong (10-under) and four ahead of Englishmen Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick.Rory McIlroy was looking dangerous at 8-under alongside last week’s PGA Tour winner, Chris Gotterup, and Harris English of the US. All three were yet to finish.Scheffler of the calm demeanour and a languid walk seemed content building up blocks of pars and averting any potential stumbles early in the third round. There were six straight pars and none of them from over 10 feet, suggesting a build-up. But with just with one and a half rounds — 27 holes — left in this Open, he was two clear of the field and looked way more dominating than the three-shot lead suggested.Scheffler’s second day 7-under 64 after a first round 68, had set the tone and he kept carrying on in the third round. After a sedate stretch of six pars, he let loose a 382-yard drive on the par-5 only to follow up with a 209-yard second shot to set up an eagle, He duly holed and moved to 12-under, even as Matt Fitzpatrick, who opened the day with a bogey, get an eagle to get to 10-under.A few minutes later, Scheffler added some more distance between him and the field holing a 16-footer for his first birdie of the day – following up on an eagle – to reach 13-under.Right behind Scheffler and Fitzpatrick was Li Haotong, seeking to become the first Major champion from China. He was also seeking to end a long four-year slump during which he made just two Major starts – both missed cuts at the 2021 and 2022 Opens. He did not play a Major in either 2023 or 2024 and missed a ton of cuts on the DP World Tour. And yet at Portrush, he played as if he was never gone. Two straight 67s with no bogeys in his first 31 holes and after 36 he was eight-under — just two behind Scheffler and one behind Fitzpatrick.
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The only man missing out on the action seemed to be the 2023 champion, Brian Harman, who dropped shots on the first, third and the eighth and he had just one birdie to compensate for them. He had tumbled down to 5-under and out of Top-10.Scheffler and Fitzpatrick were not the only one landing eagles. Tyrrell Hatton holed out from 139 yards on the fairway on the seventh while Schauffele looking to become the first man since Irishman Padraig Harrington (2008-2009) to successfully defend the Claret Jug, had two, both with monster putts from 24 feet and 44 feet. Schauffele was 5-under for the day and had crept up to 7-under.Eagles being the flavour of the day, last week’s PGA Tour winner at Rocket Classic, Chris Gotterup, joined the party from just inside 30 feet on the 12th.McIlroy, who began the day with a 36-foot birdie, added two more on the 2nd and the 4th. A string of pars followed but he was always with sniffing distance of birdies, yet it was a bogey that came his way on the 11th. But within minutes he holed a 56-footer for an eagle on the large green on the Par5 12th. He ended the day at 5-under 66 and was 8-under. Indian-American Akshay Bhatia was lying T-34th.
