23 July, 2017
Jordan Spieth is determined to avoid a repeat of his Masters meltdown previous year as he takes a three-shot lead into the final round of The 146th Open.
It wasn't as if Manley was in good form coming in to the Open.
He ended the day tied with last month's US Open champion Brooks Koepka and fellow American Matt Kuchar.
Defending champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden stayed in contention with a 69 while world number one Dustin Johnson of the United States and four-times major victor Rory McIlroy battled to one-over 71s.
Defending champion Stenson, who beat Phil Mickelson in an epic final-day duel at Royal Troon past year, has vowed to add skydiving to his Claret Jug escapades, which include taking the trophy jet-skiing, should he win again.
Only eight under-par rounds were recorded on Friday and just nine players finished below par after 36 holes. Connelly was one-under through the first 12 holes, and that allowed him to get to four-under for the tournament.
"I knew I was playing well and I was just in the zone". I could barely keep my eyes open, but that didn't stop me. "I don't really care that much".
Martin Kaymer was approaching the sixth tee during a practice round at Royal Birkdale when he told his playing partners that he was calling it a day. "And if I win it has nothing to do with that, either".
The forecast for Thursday is mostly fine with winds gusting to 20-25 miles per hour in the afternoon, while Friday will be breezy in the morning with outbreaks of rain in the afternoon. Tiger Woods had only won two by his 24th birthday. So don't let the Day 1 scores fool you, it's going to get ugly quick and the next three days are going to be extremely trying.
What's missing are the wins, especially in the major championships that truly define a golfer's career.
But brimming with confidence and clearly able to adjust to the conditions, the 23-year-old Spieth looks well capable of winning a third major to add to his 2015 Masters and US Open triumphs. But the Floridian has never played in the final group in a major. Last week: Rafa Cabrera-Bello won the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
"If it's an afternoon round and the other side has already played the morning, that's when it's tough", Spieth said. He's a amusing guy. "But I enjoy it. And I needed to".
Grace laid down the early challenge Saturday, setting the stage in balmy conditions compared with the gales and deluge of Friday.
After nearly holing out from a greenside trap at the par-3 12th, the world number four was in trouble a hole later when he found heavy rough off the tee.
The 23-year-old former U.S. Masters and U.S. Open victor carded a bogey-free round in tricky, but not treacherous, conditions.
He only realized the significance when the final putt dropped and his caddie Zack Rasego, who won the Open with Louis Oosthuizen in 2010, rushed up to congratulate him.
"You knew scores would be lower", he said. And I was like, "What are you talking about?"
He was reminded in his news conference that five of the last six Open champions have been 39 or older.
McIlroy, champion down the coast at Hoylake three years ago, charged out of the blocks, easing in a five-foot birdie on the first, flighting and rolling in a 30-foot chip from short of the green on the fourth and driving the green on the 346-yard par-four fifth before leaving his eagle putt just shy.
