Louis Oosthuizen is the 54-hole leader of The Open after hanging on over the back nine at Royal St. George’s.
Oosthuizen made an 8-foot birdie on the 16th hole and a long two-putt par on the closing hole for a 69. That gives him a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa going into the final round.
Jordan Spieth was tied for the lead until he hit a poor wedge into the 17th for bogey and then shockingly missed a 2-foot par putt on the 18th. He had to settle for a 69 and is three shots behind.
Oosthuizen has been runner-up in the past two majors and will be trying to win his first major since the 2010 Open at St. Andrews. If Oosthuizen can close out the victory, he would join Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods as the only players to lead wire-to-wire at The Open in the past 30 years, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Morikawa was four shots behind when he walked off the 10th green. That’s right when Oosthuizen started getting scrappy with his swing. He dropped shots on the 11th and 13th holes and failed to birdie the par-5 14th but made a great par save on the 15th.
After starting poorly with two bogeys in the opening five holes, Morikawa was bogey-free the rest of the way and shot 68.
Eight players are separated by five shots. That includes U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm, who made a 15-foot par putt on the final hole for a 68 and is five behind. Rahm has closed strong in the majors this year, shooting 14-under-par in the final round — the third-best mark in a single year in the Masters era (since 1945), according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.