Aces, shanks, and wacky wardrobes! Everything you missed from a wild Saturday at the 2024 Open

Things you missed from round three of the 2024 British Open

We’re on the ground at the British Open bringing you all the action from Moving Day where the newly cut field jostles for positioning and a chance on Sunday to lift the Claret Jug.

Here’s a rundown of everything you missed from Saturday’s British Open action at Royal Troon.

Backhander Bob

Bob MacIntyre had to get inventive on the 18^th hole when his ball found the edge of a bunker and he had no stance to hit it normally. He turned his club upside down and hit the ball with a right-handed swing (which was better than mine, and I’m right-handed). His ball hit the grandstand to the right of the green but he walked off with a par. 

MacIntyre decided to have another go during his post-round practice session:

Ace for Kim

Si Woo Kim carded a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th, the first ace in this Open Championship. Playing 238 yards, it goes down in history as the longest hole-in-one in any Major tournament, and also the first ace to be made on the 17th at Royal Troon during an Open. There have been 13 televised holes-in-one in total across Open Championships, you can find out more about them here. 

Malbon nail Scottish weather

Jason Day signed a clothing deal with Los Angeles-based lifestyle brand Malbon Golf back in January 2024. His outfit choices have been somewhat questionable since then, but no one can deny his off-white waterproof suit is a thing of beauty.

Time to go home?

Just when we thought the “Hawk Tuah” guy, who spent all of Friday’s second round shouting the viral phrase from behind the 18^th tee, had had his fun and gone home, he popped back up on the 12^th tee during the 3^rd round. And who can blame him? Repeating the same phrase, which was briefly funny several weeks ago, hundreds of times to the sound of deafening silence from those around you, would encourage me to come back and do it again. Presumably, he’ll only be silenced when one of the players laughs hysterically or someone agrees to “spit on that thang”. 

On the edge of glory

Cam Young’s tee shot into the postage stamp narrowly avoided the coffin bunker, and he narrowly avoided falling into it when he took his second shot balanced precariously on the edge. A fantastic chip left him close enough to hole out for par, a welcome score on this notorious hole.

Driving force at Troon

Titleist are leading the way at the British Open for the most used driver. Out of the 157 golfers who teed off on Thursday, 55 of them were using Titleist drivers – 33 being from the new GT range. The nearest competitor had 17 drivers in play at the start of the week. 

It’s not only with drivers where Titleist are topping the charts… 49% of wedges in play at the 152^nd Open Championship are Vokey Design – the most popular grinds being T and L both of which are low bounce options ideal for tackling the tight lies in links golf. The nearest competitor holds a 14% share of the wedges being used at Royal Troon.  

Going low

South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence recorded the lowest front-nine of the tournament so far, a 6-under-par score of 30.

Going even lower

Sungjae Im and Shubhankar Sharma had the lowest combined score of the day, with Sharma shooting a 4-under round of 67 and Im shooting a 5-under round of 66. They finished up 9-under collectively, likely helped by the favourable weather conditions for their morning round.

Spieth and Burns, who tee’d of at 1.10pm, shot 3-under between them, but every pair afterwards were over-par collectively. That’s 15 pairs that were clearly affected by the inclement weather.

Jacket on, jacket off 

Either Billy Horschel forgot his rainproof bag cover or he’s really not a fan of hitting shots in his RLX waterproof jacket. Despite the rain pouring down, American star took the layer off before every shot (barring putts) and played in just his polo shirt. Luckily his caddie found a simple use for it, chucking it over Horschel’s clubs to add an extra layer of protection. 

Return postage

Dan Brown is such a big fan of Troon’s Postage Stamp that he decided to visit it twice! 

The Englishman’s tee shot from the par-4 7^th tee bounced across the green of the par-3 8^th, much to the surprise of Dean Burmester and Scottie Scheffler, who were preparing to putt. The 29-year-old got up and down for an unlikely birdie but had less joy when he was meant to be aiming for the short hole’s green. Brown hit his tee shot into the Coffin Bunker and failed to get up and down to immediately give that shot back. Incredibly, he still closed to within a shot of the lead as Shane Lowry made a double. 

First class on the Postage Stamp 

Before we run out of postage puns, let’s revisit the par-3 8th, which is regarded as one of the best and toughest short holes in golf – but not for Xander Schauffele and Dean Burmester, who have made light work of it this week. They’re the only two players in the field to deliver three birdies a piece through three rounds. Shane Lowry was two from two heading into Saturday, but a disappointing double put him back to level par for the hole through three rounds. 

Something in the air 

Justin Thomas’ senses were in overdrive during his third round. Not only could he smell a good score, he could seemingly sniff out the rain. 

“You could smell the rain coming. It was quite bizarre,” said the two-time Major Champion, who fired a four-under 67 to get back to level par for the week. 

Backwards is the new forwards 

“I’m 42 years old, I cannot wear my cap backwards,” TG’s Digital Editor Rob Jerram had told James Hogg, our young Equipment Writer, on our way into the course this morning. By the afternoon, there were backwards caps everywhere as the rain lashed the course and the players started resembling a 90s boyband in a bid to stop water dripping during their shots. 

Billy Horschel was the first to make the move and it seemed to unlock a superpower, as the American star reeled off three birdies in four holes. No wonder playing partner Justin Rose was among those who followed suit. And if he can pull it off at 43, there’s hope for Rob, yet. 

Knit-wit 

While we’re talking fashion statements, for the second time during this Championship we’ve been left scratching our heads as a host of players rock sweaters in the pouring rain. Wool’s not waterproof, lads. By the time he reached the turn, Xander Schauffele resembled a damp sheep. 

Stats amazing

I like this little pick of shot stats from The Open’s Twitter account (I’m not calling it “X, formerly known as Twitter”, when I could just say “Twitter”).

The ‘lowest apex’ was probably some kind of saucy stinger well-suited to a windy day on a links course. Sadly, the only time I hit a shot with 14′ of height is when I’m trying to float a delicate flop shot over a greenside bunker and blade it 100 yards.

A 364.2-yard carry on a dreary day in Scotland is just obscene.

Dancing on his own 

The man behind that round-leading ball speed and carry distance, Calum Scott, leads the race to claim the leading amateur Silver Medal after the third round. At three-over, the Scot has a three-shot advantage over his nearest rival, Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen. The only other amateurs to make the cut, America’s Tommy Morrison and Spain’s Luis Maseveu, are six shots and ten shots back respectively. 

Tensions thawing?

LIV Golf CEO has been persona non grata at majors in recent years, having to buy his own ticket to The Masters after the organisers denied him entry through official channels. The R&A excluded Norman from the Champions Dinner at the 150th Open in St Andrews in 2022, after he launched LIV Golf just a month earlier.

But on Saturday’s third round of the 152nd British Open Championship at Royal Troon, Norman was spotted at the event sporting an R&A guest badge, confirming that the organisation had honoured their recent promise to extend the same privileges to him that it extends to all past Open Champions.

“I think in the beginning there was a lot of, I guess, misinterpretation of the situation,” said Norman. “I love seeing the way things have settled down now. Everybody’s seen that, within the ecosystem, LIV Golf has been accepted and the players deserve to be in these big championships.”

Ripping up the form book

Before every major, we spend a huge amount of time examining the trends and statistics to predict who might prevail. And then someone like Dan Brown comes out of nowhere and plonks himself at the top of the leaderboard off the back of a run of results that looks like this:

MC – MC – WD – MC – MC – MC – MC – T61

To be fair, I guess a T61 at the Scottish Open after six missed cuts and a withdrawal could be classed as “trending” but, really, what are we supposed to do?!

TG writer James Hogg followed Brown inside the ropes for 18 holes on Friday and said he wouldn’t be surprised – or displeased – if the Englishman went all the way.

Smoke screen

I’d never encourage smoking, but one of the most charming stories about Dan Brown regards his nicotine habit.

In 2017, Brown played in a corporate event at Royal Birkdale a week or so before the Open Championship. His dad and brother were following him round, but his dad didn’t know he smoked. To keep his secret, a caddie in the group would roll cigarettes for Brown to smoke when his dad was up ahead at the green or for him to hide behind mounds and enjoy a drag.

With cameras following his every move since his great opening round, Dan Brown’s secret is out now, if it wasn’t before:

“I only really do it when I’m golfing, to be honest,” the Englishman said. “Perhaps it is a coping mechanism. My parents know I smoke but I don’t like doing it in front of them.”

I expect his dad will forgive him if he wins the Claret Jug.

Some like it tough

The weather made for some seriously testing conditions on Saturday, particularly the back nine, which played into the wind. “I think that was probably the hardest nine holes that I’ll ever play,” said world number one Scottie Scheffler after battling to an impressive level-par 71. “I shouldn’t say ever, but it’s definitely the hardest I’ve played to this point.”

When a man who regularly makes the world’s best golf courses look easy says that, you know it’s big boys’ stuff.

Drive to survive

The leaders faced the worst of the weather, exemplified by the fact that the final pairing of Shane Lowry and Dan Brown – both big hitters – hit driver into the par-3 17th hole. Lowry made a three which was almost like a birdie, while Brown settled for a bogey four.

Speaking to the media after round three, Lowry commented “Yeah, it was hard. Yeah, playing a par-3 hitting drivers is not much crack. Roll the ball back, huh?”

Billy’s love for British sports

Billy Horschel leads going into round four. When asked how he will prepare for tomorrow, he said he’ll be watching the darts. “I’m very British when it comes to sports,” he told the media after his third round.

Burns rising from the ashes

It’s hard to believe that Sam Burns was 7-over par through 11 holes on Thursday looking at the leaderboard heading into the final round. The American now sits one stroke off the lead at 3-under par and he’s heading out in the penultimate group with hopes of lifting the Claret Jug tomorrow evening at Royal Troon. 

Bob and his hero

Scotland’s Robert MacIntrye seems incredibly excited to have been paired with Phil Mickelson for Sunday’s round.

Could this be the hardest back-nine in Open history?

After the weather changed for the worse at lunchtime, the back nine became an incredibly difficult test of golf. Speaking to the press after their rounds, many players commented on the conditions and just how hard it was out there.

Matthew Jordan said “That back nine was just so tough. I was hitting clubs into there from yardages that I probably did when I was like 13, 14. It was just a complete grind.”

“The 3-wood into 17 when I probably knew I wasn’t going to get there anyway. I said to Chris, I can’t hit driver, though. I can’t do that on a par-3.”

Scottie Scheffler commented “I think that was probably the hardest nine holes that I’ll ever play. I shouldn’t say ever, but it’s definitely the hardest that I’ve played to this point.”

Caddies earning their keep

It wasn’t just a tough day out there for the players, the caddies also suffered in the conditions we saw out there. Speaking to the press after his third round, Justin Rose was asked about his caddie, Fooch, and the role the caddies play in the tough environment.

“Just being patient with me. I probably want things immediately, new ball, towel, I need a glove, Fooch, come on, where’s the umbrella, hold the umbrella over me when I’m teeing the ball up, umbrella is dripping on me.”

“So there’s a lot of niggly stuff going on out there on a day like today. But he did a brilliant job. That bag must have been heavy. There were like four towels and all sorts of stuff in there.”

“It was the kind of day I actually didn’t even have a chance to drink. I haven’t drunk enough water. I know I’m probably dehydrated right now. There was just no time to eat and drink on the golf course. It was like, honestly, every single shot, dry, dry, club, even hard work getting the glove on and off.”

“It was kind of literally the most simple things you don’t think about on a normal day felt difficult today. But it’s over, so I’m happy.”

About the author

Sarah Pyett – Deputy Digital Editor

Sarah Pyett is the Deputy Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com. She plays off a handicap of 4, and specializes in ladies’ equipment reviews, including drivers, irons, and golf balls.

After a career in a golf professional shop, and earning a qualification in golf club management, Sarah joined Bauer in 2014 as a Web Producer for Today’s Golfer. She has since worked across multiple brands in a mixture of digital marketing and paid media roles, before returning to focus on golf full-time as Deputy Digital Editor in 2024.

You can get in touch with her on email or Instagram.