Shane Lowry heads in to final round with four shot lead after course-record 63

Shane Lowry set a course record of 63 and will take a four shot lead in to the final round of the 148th Open Championship 

The atmosphere was a level about europhic when Shane Lowry walked down the 18th fairway to chants of ‘ole, ole, ole’, and the celebrations continued long after he put the finishing touches on an eight-under par 63 that set a new course record at Royal Portrush. 

Lowry’s dominant display included three birdies in his final four holes as he took advantage of the benign conditions with a short-game masterclass to set the 54-hole scoring record for the Open Championship at 16-under-par. 

The World No.33 had begun the final round in a tie for the lead with J.B Holmes, but expertly navigated the course he’s so familiar with to finish four shots clear of Tommy Fleetwood, and six shots ahead of his third round playing partner. 

And the Irishman was quick to credit the huge support of the passionate home crowd for his third round prowess – who gave just a flavour of the party atmosphere that could be expected if Lowry can close out his first major victory on Sunday. 

“I’m still a bit fuzzy. I just really enjoyed today,” said Lowry, who won the Abu Dhabi Championship earlier this year. “Obviously I played great golf, the crowd were incredible and I just felt so comfortable. I know there’s a tough 24 hours ahead of me but there’s no where I’d rather be.”

“I said to my caddie walking off 17 that the next half an hour, we might never experience it again so let’s enjoy it.

“It was one of the most incredible days of my life. I hope I am going to be able to deal with it but I think I’m ready for it.”

The predicted blustry conditions failed to materialise and low scoring was the order of the day in the warm and windless conditions, but noone was better than Shane Lowry. 

Having had begun the third round tied with Holmes on eight-under-par, Lowry was the first to break free of a clustered leaderboard that saw 22 players within three shots early on Saturday afternoon. 

He opened with birdies at the third and fifth holes to become the first man to get to 10-under-par, but was soon joined by Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood and playing partner J.B. Holmes as they separated themselves from the rest of the field. 

But while Westwood slipped back around the turn it soon became a tussle for pole position between Lowry and Fleetwood.

Lowry added back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th holes to get to 12-under, and moved ahead once more with his fifth birdie of the day at the par-five 12th. 

Fleetwood, who had managed to get to 12-under with his own gain at the par-five, parred his way in while Lowry’s iron game helped to separate himself from the Englishman.

Those birdies came in the form of exceptional approach shots as Lowry rolled in putts on the 15th, 16th and 17th holes before a final two-putt par on the 18th ensured he would head in to the final round of the Open with a four shot advantage. 

“I know tomorrow is going to be a difficult day,” Lowry said. “I know there’s some bad weather coming in. But, look, I’m in a good position and I just have to do what I’ve been doing all year and hit the reset button tonight and go out there and shoot as good a score as I can tomorrow. And hopefully that’s good enough tomorrow evening.”

World No.1 Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose finished at nine-under-par, while Rickie Fowler posted a five-under 66 to finish alongside Lee Westwood in a share of sixth place at eight-under. 

Rounding out the rest of the top 10 on seven-under are Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Danny Willett and Tony Finau, but they have a big job on their hands if they want to challenge Lowry to the Claret Jug on Sunday.