Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland hit the spot at the British Open and will go head-to-head for the crown

Northern Irish Rory McIlroy and Norwegian Victor Hovland raised on CameronSmith and Young, at the top of the 150th British Open, which will be decided this Sunday at the traditional St. Andrews Old Course. The two new leaders swapped rounds on the penultimate day of competition and hit each other by signing big cards on a course that had been easy in the morning and that got complicated, with the wind, in the afternoon, especially from 12th hole, where many cards were wrong.

McIlroy and Hovland finished the day with 66 shots, six under par for the course, and were leading with -16. The Norwegian managed four birdies in the first six holes and added two more in the second round of a course that in no case was the hole above average for the course. McIlroy made one, in the fearsome 17, but he had arrived there after four birdies and an eagle (in 10, punctured by the bunker) and also ended his performance below par.

It wasn’t the day the dormitories. Australian Smith, leader Friday with spectacular solvency in the putt, was not so good on the green and in some decisions and finished above par for the course (+1), remaining at -12 overall, four the first. same situation as his race partner, the American Young, leader in the first day and who managed to finish under par (71 hits) despite a double bugbear at 16th and a single at 7th and 13th.

With -11 the leader of the world ranking, the North American Scottie Scheffler, winner of the Augusta Masters, who signed a 69-stroke card, and the South Korean Si Woo Kim, who committed only one bogey and ended the day with 67.

Behind them was American Dustin Johnson, penalized by three bogeys in the second round, finishing with one below average for the field and -10 on aggregate.

Three golfers follow seven of the leaders: the British Matt Fitzpatrick, winner of the US Open, the compatriot Tommy Fleetwood, with one of the best cards of the day (-6), and the Australian Adam Scott, who recovered from the first three round bogeys for finish two under par.

American Jordan Spieth, with a card of 68, and Patrick Cantlay, who was taller but blurred his card with a bugbear at 12 and a double bugbear at 16, are at -8.

Irishman Shane Lowry also left the title battle, finishing round one and starting round two with two eagles and also having three birdies but only managed to reach -3 on matchday three and -7 overall.

Sun and wind in St. Andrews

The day started with the course in good condition, with a pleasant temperature and little wind, circumstances that most golfers took advantage of that round to improve their cards.

This was the case of the American Kevin Kisner, who showed up on the third day of competition with the pair and signed the best cardboard-7, with six of his nine birdies in the first round, numbers that get worse with two bogeys (12 and 17).

Others who arrived on Saturday with a par also benefited, such as compatriot Trey Mullinax (-6 with a bugbear at 17), the Italian Francesco Molinari (-6) or the South African Dean Burmester (-5).

Spaniard Jon Rahm was not lucky in the first holes, he improved in the second round with three of his four birdies, and closed the card in the red (71 shots), with -5 in the cumulative, but far from the best. .

Two behind is Sergio García, who par for the course on an unstable course, with a double bugbear on 5 with three shots from the bunker.

Worse for Adri Arnaus, who finished with a birdie at 18 leaving +1 on the day card and on the general, while the Chilean Joaquín Niemann equaled the pair after three games after having been positive this Saturday.

Source: EFE