Irish Open: Robert Rock’s 60 Moves Him Into Third Round Lead

A stunning round of 60 on Saturday saw England’s Robert Rock move into the lead of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open after three rounds.

Robert Rock scored 31 on the front nine, before finishing with six straight birdies to card a back-nine of 29, and just missed a putt on the last for the magical sub-60 round at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

Despite the miss for eagle on 18, the Englishman catapulted himself up the leaderboard, moving from a tie for 31st, and into the lead by a single shot at Lahinch.

Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello and England’s Eddie Pepperell sit a shot back at -12, with the Spaniard shooting 63 to also move up the board.

Come Sunday afternoon, Pepperell will tee off alongside South Africa’s Zander Lombard. The halfway leader shot a two-under 68 on day three to leave himself two shots behind Rock at -11.

The third Englishman in the top five is Andy Sullivan, who shot 66 for the second consecutive day, in part thanks to this bunker shot on the 15th.

He now sits at -10, just three back, alongside Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger. Northern Ireland’s Cormac Sharvin shot a second round of 66 on Saturday, after doing the same on Day One. He is in a tie for 7th alongside France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vera.

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Spanish pair Jon Rahm and Jorge Campillo sit five shots back from Rock at -8, alongside the British trio of Grant Forrest, Oliver Wilson and Paul Waring.

The leading Irishman in the field is now Robin Dawson, whose third round of 64 saw him move up from T53, all the way into the top 15. He is in the group at -7, six shots behind the leader.

Defending Champion Russell Knox is at -5, after a level-par round of 70. He sits eight shots back, and will need something special on Sunday to make it back-to-back Irish Open titles.

Meanwhile, Round 1 leader, and home favourite, Padraig Harrington shot a second straight round of 73, falling further back. The Irishman now sits in a tie for 50th at -1.

Both Marcus Kinhult and Lucas Herbert had rounds to forget on Saturday, with the pair both posting seven-over-par 77s. Herbert is the last man in the field at +5, with the Swede just a shot better after three rounds.

They will be the first pair to tee off on Sunday morning, going out at 07:15, while 54-hole leader Rock and Spain’s Cabrera-Bello will tee off at 12:55. We should know the winner come half 5 tomorrow evening!

Irish Open Leaderboard after Round 3:

-13: Robert Rock (ENG)

-12: Rafa Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Eddie Pepperell (ENG)

-11: Zander Lombard (RSA)

-10: Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Andy Sullivan (ENG)

-9: Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Cormac Sharvin (NIR)

-8: Jon Rahm (ESP), Grant Forrest (SCO), Oliver Wilson (ENG), Paul Waring (ENG), Jorge Campillo (ESP)

-7: Robin Dawson (IRL), Gavin Green (MAS), George Coetzee (RSA), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Brandon Stone (RSA), Niklas Lemke (SWE), Wade Ormsby (AUS)

Selected Others:

-6: Martin Kaymer (GER), Lee Westwood (ENG)

-5: Haotong Li (CHI), Russell Knox (SCO)

-4: Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)

-2: Ian Poulter (ENG), Shane Lowry (IRL), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)

-1: Padraig Harrington (IRL), Matt Wallace (ENG)