It is crowded and crazy at the top of the 147th Open Championship.
Saturday was a moving day that featured lights-out scoring early then some challenging winds late as the contenders lined up for what should be a Sunday Shootout at Carnoustie.
Jordan Spieth started the week by returning the Claret Jug he won last year at Royal Birkdale. Said he didn’t enjoy giving it back and he did something about it on moving day.
The defending champion pulled out driver and promptly drove his ball on the first green then holed a 12-footer for eagle to kick-start his day.
He got his first birdie from two feet at the fourth, added another from three feet at the 11th, two-putted the receptive par five 14th for third then topped it all off with his first birdie of the week at the oppressive 16th, one of the most difficult par threes in major championship golf. Spieth then held on for pars at the two difficult closing holes for a bogey-free 65 that gave him a share of the 54-hole lead at nine-under par.
“I found a little space in my putter and made an adjustment in my swing,” was how Spieth described this week’s turnaround in his golf game. It has been a year since he tasted victory and it came at this major championship in 2017. “I feel like I’ve been improving each day,” he added.
He called his decision to go for the green at the first “a no brainer” because the wind was down, like it was all morning.
Spieth has company at the top.
Kevin Kisner has refused to surrender the lead he started with on Thursday. Like Spieth, he kept the bogeys off his scorecard, found three birdies for 68 and his spot at the top.
Xander Schauffele is the third co-leader. He burst on to the scene last year when he won The Players then picked up a second at The Greenbrier. He was nine-under but took a bogey at the 17th. He bounced back at 18 with a huge drive then a second that stopped 12 feet behind the hole. He dropped the birdie putt for 67 and bounced Kisner from the final Sunday pairing with Spieth.
Kisner will go off in the next-to-last pairing with the only man at seven-under — Kevin Chappell. Chappell, who has hung around at some majors, has never been able to get close on Sundays. He’ll have another chance after the 67 he put up.
Francesco Molinari had a great opportunity to join Chappell at seven-under but he missed a birdie putt at the closing hole from just six feet. He’s by himself at six-under.
Then comes the real crowd and the biggest name in golf is in there.
Tiger Woods got a little more aggressive with the course and made a big move with three front nine birdies then two more at 10 and 11 where he drove close to each green. He added his sixth of the day at the birdie-friendly par five 14th to get to six-under. He gave one back when he missed a five-foot par putt at 16 then got a huge break at 18 where what he described as “a terrible two-iron” nearly found the Barry Burn in the right rough. He laid up 50 yards short of the hole then made a gem of a third shot that left him with a three-footer to save par. He did, and shot 66, his best round in a major in seven years.
Woods said his par save at 18 “was huge.” It helped him draw closer to the lead and he’ll start just four back. At the beginning of the round, he was six behind.
“I played so well, I didn’t want to end with a bogey. I have a shot. We’ll see what happens.”
Woods has six others with him at five-under par — Webb Simpson (67), Alex Noren (67), Matt Kuchar (70), Rory McIlroy (70), Tommy Fleetwood (71) and overnight co-leader Zach Johnson (72).
Sunday promises to be a mad scramble with winds predicted to blow 20-25 miles per hour at times, which will put the teeth back into Carnoustie that were missing for most of the day Saturday.
Should be another Open Championship to remember.
