The Open 2019 LIVE: JB Holmes and Shane Lowry share lead heading into third round - latest updates and leaderboard
Shane Lowry delivered an Open Championship masterclass as he broke the course record at Royal Portrush with an eight-under-par 63 to take a four-shot lead into Sunday's final round.
The weekend may be without Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy after they both missed the cut, but Saturday did not go without it's drama. Irishman Lowry has brought the fans to life with a truly brilliant round, and after starting the day on eight-under-par, he recorded a bogey-free round of 63 that featured eight birdies to lead Tommy Fleetwood by four shots.
Brooks Koepka moved himself up to fourth place alongside Justin Rose and just behindJB Holmes, but Lowry's brilliance means they already find themselvesa long way off the lead at the start of Sunday's play. The R&A Has also announced that Sunday's tee times have been moved forward due to the threat of bad weather. Follow the latest updates below.
Of course, there will be no representative taking part from Northern Ireland with the initials RM after Rory McIlroy was dumped out after missing the cut.
The pre-tournament favourite gave himself a one hell of a task after finishing the first day eight-over-par. With the cut off point one over, McIlroy began the day with three consecutive birdies as he battled his way back into contention, but fell just short of a heroic comeback.
“Part of me is very disappointed not to be here for the weekend,” McIlroy said afterwards.
“Yesterday gave me a mountain to climb but I dug in and showed good resilience. It’s going to hurt for a bit. I’ve been looking forward to this week for a long time. I didn’t play my part but everyone in Northern Ireland came out to watch me and played theirs.”
Read Tom Kershaw's full report from a dramatic second day at The Open.
Bubba Watson will be getting underway very shortly, which gives you just enough time to read Tom Kershaw's exclusive interview with the king of on-course tears.
Brooks Koepka has got several gears to move through The hunt for winning 50% of his last 10 Majors is still on for Koepka and he has barely slipped out of second gear. The rest could be in trouble if he moves into overdrive this weekend. Koepka was five shots behind at this stage of the US Open last year and won, so won't be fretting about his Portrush deficit.
Jordan Spieth has been galvanised by the Open Spieth has been in dismal form since finishing ninth in the 2018 Open. But he has fallen in love with Portrush, producing a sensational scoring burst early in round two. The 2017 champion has been stirred by links golf and the Open buzz, and senses he can emerge from his slump by regaining the Claret Jug.
Lee Westwood needs to try to stay relaxed Lee Westwood does not take golf as seriously as he once did, practising less, smiling more, enjoying the twilight of his career without busting a gut in the quest for his first major. But after a carefree seven-under-par halfway total in the Open, can the relaxed mood continue for much longer?
Jon Rahm could deliver some weekend fireworks Rahm did well to recover from an awful double-bogey on hole two yesterday to card an under-par second round - and the Irish Open champion is still in fantastic form. At this stage of the Irish Open the week before last, Rahm was in 38th place seven shots behind, and ended up winning by two.
Shane Lowry has overcome the worst side of the draw The Irishman has been magnificent over the opening 36 holes. Lowry has won championships at Portrush and knows the course better than anyone on the leaderboard. He can deliver in front of home crowds, but can he handle the pressure of winning the Open with a nation willing him on?
It's pars all-round on the course at the moment. If the likes of Watson and Molinari are to claw their way back towards contention you feel they need to start racking up the birdies and chipping away at that score.
Goodness me, Portrush in the crisp morning sun is absolutely stunning
In fact, this weather could really benefit some of the players later in the day.
Kevin Roth, weather expert for Fantasy Sports info hub RotoGrinders.com, said this afternoon's perfect conditions will throw the race for the Claret Jug wide open.
He said: "The wind is expected to die away in the late afternoon, leaving the likes of Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood ready to chase down the leading pack in Shane Lowry in JB Holmes in perfect conditions - simply put, the later you tee off, the better off you are.
"It brings little hope to the early starters in their chances of playing catch up and with winds reaching up to 20mph until early afternoon the chance of a decent score for the likes of Francesco Molinari, Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey is looking slimmer by the hole."
Saturday's forecast: Mostly dry, windy.
Light rain in the morning with winds around 10-15mph holding out till lunchtime. Come late afternoon and early evening those winds start to subside down to 10mph with it calming towards the end of the day.
Two-time Open champion Jack Nicklaus still fancies Shane Lowry or Tommy Fleetwood to go on and win, but doesn't rule out a dark horse sneaking on to win.
While Paul Waring does not have a competing partner alongside him, it does not mean he is out there completely alone.
Royal Portrush head professional Gary McNeill was given the honour of accompanying first man out Waring on the third day of The Open.
With an odd number - 73 players made the cut - Waring was given a marker to play alongside as he teed off at 9.35am and that prize was handed to O'Neill, who missed out in qualifying for the tournament outright last month.
The Royal Portrush club shop closed so staff could watch McNeill tee off with a somewhat understandably nervous low, left shot off the first. Despite a helping wind Waring could only par the first two holes and remained at one over.
Wallace (+1) made a bit of a has by bogeying the first this morning after sneaking through in a group alongside Tiger Woods yesterday. Well, he's quickly atoned for that and sets himself up for a simple birdie putt after some grand approach play.
