FOCUS ON Swede dreams for Henrik as he leads Lefty into final round
HENRIK STENSON produced a display of Swedish steel to take a slender lead into today’s final round of The Open Championship.
On another testing day around Royal Troon, Stenson shot a joint low-round of the day, a three-under 68, to finish one clear of overnight leader Phil Mickelson.
Stenson has enjoyed seven topfive finishes in Majors without getting the job done, but he could become the first Swede to win one of golf’s biggest four events.
Mickelson shot his third sub-par score of the week and will vie for his second Claret Jug, having won at Muirfield three years ago.
On that occasion, Stenson was second. He will aim to reverse that outcome as the destiny of The Open appears a straight fight between the two of them.
American Bill Haas is trailing five strokes behind Mickelson in third with England’s Andrew Johnston a further shot back.
As Stenson and Mickelson were waging their own personal duel at the top of the leaderboard, Rory McIlroy’s hopes were in tatters, just like his three-wood!
McIlroy’s frustrations at being way off the pace all came out at the par-five 16th after an errant shot to the right.
He threw his club into the ground and watched as the head snapped off and went bounding up the fairway.
“The head came loose on my three-wood earlier in the week. I had to get it reglued,” he explained.
“What happened was probably partly to do with that and partly the throw as well. I’ll get it reshafted tonight and all will be well in the morning.
“It wasn’t frustration. I had let one go right on the previous hole with a three-iron and I did the exact same thing.
“No one likes to make the same mistake twice and that’s what happened.”
But while the three-wood can be repaired overnight, the same cannot be said for his chance of adding another Claret Jug to the one he won at Hoylake two years ago.
The damage was done early as Rory dropped two shots in his first three holes and hopes of a flying start had gone.
He exchanged two birdies and two bogeys over the subsequent 15 holes and had to settle for a two over 73 and level par for the championship.
“You need to get off to a good start at this golf course and I wasn’t able to do that. You can’t expect to pick up too many on the back nine.”
Troon’s fearsome back nine has claimed many victims this week, but none greater than World No.1 Jason Day.
For the third day running, the Australian failed to make a single birdie coming home as hopes of a fine round evaporated.
He reached the turn in 32 but struggled home in 39 for a classic Troon par score of 71.
“If I could have played the back nine a little bit better this week, I honestly think I could be right around the lead,” he said.
“I thought if I could get four or five-under for the day, I would definitely be closer to the lead, and give me an opportunity for tomorrow.
“But four bogeys on the back side and when you’re playing golf like that, you don’t deserve to win.”
And another big name, Dustin Johnson, was counting the cost of a disaster at the Railway, the hardest hole on the course.
The US Open Champion was starting to ominously move up the leaderboard as he went out in 33, but he came a cropper at the 11th.
An errant tee shot led to an unplayable lie, a triple bogey and the end of any sort of challenge.