Mcilroy shrugs off photographer incident to set

A slack snapper sparked a late Rory Mcilroy wobble on day three at the Open.

But the spooked star last night refused to blame the errant photographer for the two late bogeys that threatened to derail his championship challenge.

Back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 had Mcilroy poised at seven-under-par for the tournament – just two shots behind the leaders.

But after becoming distracted by a camera man at the 16th green, the Northern Irishman dropped two shots in the final three holes.

He is still in with a real chance of claiming his first Major in four years.

And despite his frustration over the way he finished the day, Mcilroy took responsibility for his late misfires.

“The putts that didn’t go in today, I felt like were good putts,” he said.

“The one on 12 was just a lack of speed. The one on 16, I probably just didn’t give myself enough time to regroup after a photographer was in a world of his own.”

Asked to elaborate, Mcilroy said: “He was taking a photo of the crowd instead of paying attention to the golf.

“It’s fine. That’s one of the things that happens. There’s a lot of people out there and it is what it is.

“It’s probably my fault, but I just didn’t regroup well after it happened.”

The Americans led the charge on day three at the Open.

But, thanks to Mcilroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin