Spieth, Kuchar in close finish
Southport (United Kingdom), July 23: Matt Kuchar went level with a shaky Jordan Spieth at the top of the British Open leaderboard as the duo reached the turn in the final round at Royal Birkdale on Sunday.
Spieth led by three overnight on 11 under par after not dropping a shot in a third round of 65. But on Sunday he wobbled his way round the front nine, with three bogeys in his first four holes.
He birdied the 5th and then recorded three straight pars, only to drop another shot at the 9th and go back to eight-under.
Kuchar, -8 overnight, also looked a little nervous as he birdied the 2nd before bogeys at the 3rd and difficult 6th.
He was two behind coming down the 9th, but holed a putt for birdie while Spieth bogeyed, leaving the two level on-8.
Behind them, China’s Li Haotong caused a sensation as he shot a sevenunder par 63 in his final round to finish on six under par overall.
England’s Matthew Southgate and Australia’s Marc Leishman both shot 65 to sit in the clubhouse at four under par.
Li, 21, started the day at +1 for the championship and parred his first seven holes before a remarkable run of seven birdies and four pars in his remaining 11 holes.
It is just the 32nd round of 63 ever recorded in a major championship and just the 11th achieved at a British Open.
The score was the alltime low in a major until Saturday, when South Africa’s Branden Grace broke new ground with an unprecedented 62 in the third round.
Playing with South Africa’s Ernie Els, a twotime former British Open winner, Li sealed his superb effort with an immaculate approach shot to within five feet of the pin on 18, leaving an easy birdie putt.
He made birdie at each of his last four holes.
The round propelled Li to third on the leaderboard and suddenly into contention for the Claret Jug on his Open debut with leading duo Jordan Spieth and Matt Kuchar both losing ground early in their rounds.
Earlier in the day, he had been listed as a 1000/1 shot by some bookmakers to win the championship.
“He was playing good and making putts. And he had a nice attitude. And I could see he wasn’t backing off,” said his playing partner Els, who shot 74 to end on +5.
“You see some guys get a little bit scared, but he kept going. So it was really special to see. The shot on 18 was just phenomenal.”
Li had gone 69-73-69 through his first three rounds, solid if unspectacular form.
But he made history at the US Open last month at Erin Hills when he became the first player from mainland China to make the cut of a major. He ended up shooting 82 and 84 over the weekend to finish last among the players to make the cut, but he also won the China Open last year when still just 20 and represented his country at the Olympics in Rio. — AFP