Chaos Ensues on Moving Day at The Open Championship
By Matt Cochran
The plan was to be writing about who was lifting the Claret Jug at St. Andrews on this fine Sunday, but due to some fierce winds at the Old Course that caused over a 13 hour delay, the R&A set up the 144th Open Championship for a Monday finish.
For the second time in British Open history there would be a Monday finish, meaning that Sunday was moving day and chaos would ensue.
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Dustin Johnson was the man everyone was chasing as he sat atop the leaderboard at 10-under. Golfers must have got the memo that Sunday was moving day because there were plenty of guys climbing up the leaderboard trying to chase DJ.
It started with Marc Leishman in the early morning who posted an 8-under 64 to move into second place at -9, but by the end of the round there would be plenty of others joining him to challenge Johnson.
Dustin teed off at 3:00 PM ET and wouldn’t make much noise all round, shooting a 3-over 75. Johnson has struggled in the second half of his majors this season. In his last five majors, he is 31-under in his first two rounds and 3-over in rounds three and four.
While DJ was getting off to his slow start, Jordan Spieth would take advantage. Spieth would go popping off early and with a birdie on the 12th hole, he joined Johnson for the lead at 10-under.
Within a 15 minute span, Charl Schwartzl, Padraig Harrington, Danny Willett, and amateur Paul Dunne would join them for the lead at -10.
10 minutes later, Paul Dunne birdied the 10th hole and take sole possession of the lead at 11-under. The Irish amateur and UAB golfer fired off 9 birdies in a 20 hole span to take his first lead of a major championship. The last amateur to lead The Open after 54 holes was Bobby Jones in 1927.
Dunne’s lead would be short-lived, after Spieth birdied the 15th to take his share of the lead with his Under Armor buddy. Spieth finished with a 6-under 66 where he currently sits one shot off the lead.
Englishman Danny Willett joined the leaders at the 11th with a birdie to close out his front nine. Another birdie on 10 would put Willett in the lead at 12-under. Moments later, Willett was joined by the amateur Irishman and there were two leaders at -12.
Willett had a little bit of misfortune coming down the back nine and fell out of the lead finishing at 9-under. Meanwhile the UAB product, Paul Dunne, kept his cool down the stretch and finished 6-under to enter the clubhouse with a share of the lead.
"“It’s surreal that I’m leading The Open, but I can easily believe that I shot the three scores that I shot. If I was playing an amateur event here, I wouldn’t be too surprised. It’s just lucky that it happens to be in the biggest event in the world. Hopefully, I can do it again tomorrow but, whether I do it or not, I’ll survive either way.” -Paul Dunne"
The other co-leaders are Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen. Both golfers finished 5-under for a 67 and will enter Monday’s final round leading with Dunne.
The final round of The Open Championship is setting up to be a thriller. There are 14 players within four shots of the lead and seven of those guys are inside the top 25 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Not to mention the fact that one of those guys is trying to win the first three majors of the year for the first time since 1953. The Spieth Slam is still very much alive, people.