Casey ready for Open Championship charge

Paul Casey will start the final round of the 150th anniversary Open Championship at St Andrews four shots adrift of leader Louis Oosthuizen.

Oosthuizen, who had never previously made the cut at a Major championship, went out in the final group on Saturday and held his nerve to shoot a 69 and maintain his advantage with a -15 total.

Englishman Casey tied the best round of the day with a 67 that could have been even better if he’s rolled in a short birdie putt on the 18th.

Despite this missed opportunity, the bogey-free round has filled Casey with confidence that he can win a first Major, despite recent injury troubles deflecting his career.

“Even going into early this year, I was very unsure of how things were going to go,” he said after his round on Saturday evening. “Sitting here right now, I’m ecstatic.

“Even right now, occasionally I feel the muscles in the ribs. In no way do they affect my golf, but it’s a small reminder that, quite often you take for granted a lot of things, and nothing is better than an Open Championship at the Home of Golf.

“So I’m loving it. I’m loving the fact I’m playing absolutely great golf and I’m four shots behind Louis! I’m having a great time and I’m going to go out there tomorrow and enjoy myself and have a good attitude.”

With Oosthuizen at -15 and Casey at -11 there is every chance that the winner will be come from the final pair, but a host of big names including Martin Kaymer (-8), Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson (-7) are poised to take advantage of any final round slip-ups.

The final group tees off at 2.05pm.