Rory McIlroy has the chance to end his eight-year major drought and capture golf’s “holy grail” as he takes a share of the lead into the final round of the Open Championship at St Andrews. McIlroy is joined at the top of the Open leaderboard by Viktor Hovland after the pair shared a thrilling battle on Saturday, with both players shooting rounds of 66 to move four shots clear of the chasing pack.
McIlroy and Hovland will again head out together, this time in the final group, but in front of them is a large group of star players who will look to put the pressure on. Australia’s Cameron Smith, who led into the weekend, is four shots back alongside Cameron Young - with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and former Masters champion Dustin Johnson also in contention.
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood will also hope to give chase, but the focus will be on McIlroy as he looks to win his fifth major title and add to his previous Open Championship from 2014. It doesn’t get bigger than winning the Open at St Andrews, though, especially on the 150th year of the Championship. “I’ve got myself in a great position after three days,” McIlroy said. “I finished off enough golf tournaments in my time to feel like I know what to do.”
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