SANDWICH, England (AP) — Louis Oosthuizen (OOST’-hay-zehn) carried a two-stroke lead over former PGA champion Collin Morikawa into the third round of the British Open. Oosthuizen set a 36-hole scoring record for the tournament with a 5-under 65 that left him 11 under. He broke away from a three-way tie on Friday with a birdie-birdie-eagle run from the 12th hole.
On Saturday, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre had the 12th round at 65 or lower this week at Royal St. George’s. He holed a shot of about 80 feet from a swale to the left of the 18th green that put him at 4-under 206 for the championship. There have been nine rounds of 65 and three rounds of 64 this week. There were 10 rounds of 65 or lower in the previous 14 times the Open came to Royal St. George’s.
Rory McIlroy finally had a round in the 60s, but just barely. McIlroy made five birdies on the front nine and no birdies on the back nine at the British Open. He ended with a 69. It was only his second sub-70 score in 13 rounds in the majors this year. McIlroy will have to wait until April at the Masters for his next chance to end his long drought in the majors that date to 2014.