The Latest: McNeill has a blast making up the numbers
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — The Latest on the British Open (all times local):
3:10 p.m.
Gary McNeill was simply making up the numbers in the third round of the British Open. He still had a blast.
The head professional of Royal Portrush since 1999, McNeill realized at 8:30 p.m. on Friday that he might be needed the following day as a marker in the first group of the third round. Seventy-three players made the cut, so Paul Waring would be going out on his own Saturday and was happy to have some company.
McNeill, who was Irish Amateur champion in 1991, hit a few balls on the range in the morning and felt good. He took a swing on the first tee, with thousands watching him, and he said his club “felt like a feather.”
It got much better for McNeill, who made a long putt across the green at No. 17 for his highlight of the day.
McNeill says “I’m really glad I put myself through it. But I need to lie down after that.”
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1:45 p.m.
Graeme McDowell didn’t go quite as low as he wanted to get back in the mix at the British Open, but the Portrush native moved in the right direction. McDowell hit his approach to 2 feet on the 18th for his fifth birdie in a round of 3-under 68.
That put him at 2-under 211 for the championship. The co-leaders, Shane Lowry and J.B. Holmes, were still nearly two hours away from teeing off on a bright, windy day on the North Atlantic. McDowell grew up on these links as a member of Rathmore Golf Club.
Of the five players to finish the third round, McDowell was the only one to break par.
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10:15 a.m.
Xander Schauffele is happy to be only five shots behind going into the third round of the British Open. He’s just not happy with what he sees as inequity over testing that caused him to get a new driver before the opening round.
Schauffele says his Callaway driver narrowly failed a test for the limits of the trampoline effect when the driver strikes the ball. Schauffele says he had to spend practice time trying to find a new driver, and only when he made more adjustments Friday morning did he feel comfortable. He opened with a 74 and followed that with a 65.
Schauffele says he wasn’t bothered that his driver didn’t pass the test and he was happy to find one within the legal limits. He says he had issues with how the R&A only randomly selected 30 players for testing. Schauffele says it would be just as easy to test the entire field.
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10 a.m.
Royal Portrush had all of Saturday morning to recover from the reality that Rory McIlroy is no longer part of this British Open.
In a second round so packed with emotion that it felt like Sunday, McIlroy nearly recovered from his opening 79 by coming up one birdie short of making it to the weekend. McIlroy, one of three players from Northern Ireland celebrating the return of the Open after a 68-year absence, says he has never felt such support.
And now for the rest of the show.
Shane Lowry of Ireland and J.B. Holmes were tied for the lead at 8-under 134, one shot ahead of Lee Westwood and Tommy Fleetwood. Among those within three shots of the lead were Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth.
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