2026 British Open Round 3 updates: Tommy Fleetwood sparking storybook run on Saturday
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Highlights | Round 2 | The Open Championship
SOUTHPORT, England -- What a Moving Day we have in store at Royal Birkdale. The first 36 holes of this Open Championship delivered drama, high stakes and plenty of excitement.
Most of the tournament favorites are in the mix. Cameron Young (6-under), Sam Burns (5-under), Bryson DeChambeau (5-under), Scottie Scheffler (4-under), Collin Morikawa (2-under) and Rory McIlroy (1-under) began the day with one target: track down overnight leader Lucas Herbert, who tied the major championship scoring record with a 62 on Friday to rocket into the solo lead at 8-under.
Who will go low and put themselves in position to lift the claret jug Sunday night?
We will be tracking all the action from on-site Saturday. Follow along for updates (times in local BST):
4:01 p.m.: That's the roar of the Southport faithful caroming across the dunes after Tommy Fleetwood's birdie at the par-3 seventh brings him to 6-under for the tournament, two back of the lead. The 29-footer is Fleetwood's longest putt of the week, and moves the hometown hero into a tie for third.
Tommy Fleetwood fires up local crowd with long birdie at The Open
Bryson DeChambeau is unable to convert his up-and-down on the second, dropping him back to the swath of contenders at 4-under.
3:31 p.m.: It's cheers for Bryson DeChambeau at the first tee here as he smears driver into the left-hand rough on the first tee. Sam Burns follows after, in the fairway however, and the most interesting storyline of this Open Moving Day has teed off. No one in the later groups has made much of a move through the first few holes, with Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Ludvig Aberg and Robert MacIntyre all level or one back from where they began their days through this first stanza.
A bit further back, Eric Cole cards a 66 to move to 4-under for the week, commendable after he sat 6-over for the championship after Thursday, while Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas come down the stretch looking to preserve under-par efforts
2:59 p.m.: A pair of claret jug winners just teed off together in Scottie Scheffler and Francesco Molinari. It's a fascinating couple, considering Scheffler is by and large one of the greatest drivers of the golf ball on the planet, and Molinari is an aging tactician who relies on his deep links experience instead of firepower to navigate. Birkdale has shown there are many different paths to success this week, and this group will be emblematic all day long of the beauty of choice that a firm links layout offers. Both par the first.
2:29 p.m.: Ryan Fox hits a miraculous shot from the fairway bunker on 18, missing the lip by centimeters and finding the green at the finishing hole some 30 feet from the pin. It's a two-putt from there for the Kiwi as he cards the eighth 62 in major championship history and the third of the last 48 hours. He matches his neighbor from across the ditch in Lucas Herbert at 8-under for the lead very early on this Moving Day at The Open.
2:08 p.m.: Well, there's the writer's jinx! Just after downplaying Rory McIlroy's chances of a charge, he chipped in for eagle at the ninth. He's now 2-under overall. He will still need several birdies on the back nine to factor into Sunday's drama, but it's back on the table after that eagle.
Rory McIlroy chips in for eagle on Moving Day at The Open
2:02 p.m.: Bryson DeChambeau has arrived on-site. There was some uncertainty about whether he would play today after he was seen telling multiple R&A officials he might withdraw following a assessed yesterday. Late Friday night, he posted on social media, seemingly confirming he would play. He is scheduled to tee off at 3:30 p.m. alongside Sam Burns.
1:59 p.m.: We are back on 62 watch. A day after Sam Burns and Lucas Herbert became the sixth and seventh golfers to tie the low round shot in major championship history, Ryan Fox needs one birdie in his final two holes to match him.
Fox began the day even par and shot 5-under 29 on the front nine.. He dropped a shot on the back, but has added three birdies, including one at the 16th.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy is going the other way. He's 1-over after eight holes, even par for the tournament. Any chance of a McIlroy charge is quickly deteriorating.
1:44 p.m.: As we look ahead to the next hour or so, it's worth highlighting Sepp Straka (2-under) and Si Woo Kim (5-under). Neither has played up to their ability in majors. Straka has had a miserable few years in the biggest tournaments. His last top 10 at a major was at the 2023 PGA Championship. Kim has only one top 10 in his entire major championship career.
Neither player will be expected to win this weekend, but simply maintaining this pace and posting a solid result is important for both to carry momentum into next year's major calendar.
1:12 p.m.: Always enjoy checking the win probabilities periodically throughout the weekend. Here's where things stand before the leaders tee off at Royal Birkdale, per Data Golf.
- Scottie Scheffler (-4): 11%
- Cameron Young (-6): 9.4%
- Lucas Herbert (-8): 9.1%
- Tommy Fleetwood (-4): 6.8%
- Si Woo Kim (-5): 6.3%
- Ryan Gerard (-6): 5.5%
- Jon Rahm (-4): 5.3%
- Sam Burns (-5): 5%
- Bryson DeChambeau (-5): 4.8%
- Robert MacIntyre (4-under): 4.2%
12:29 p.m.: Ryan Fox showing what's possible for the chasers today. He made the cut at even par and just fired a 5-under 29 on the front nine and added another birdie at the 10th to jump into a tie for second at 6-under. Xander Schauffele also shot 3-under on the front, playing alongside Fox.
It will be interesting to see if the wind stays down as the leading groups begin. If so, these early scores will be forgotten quickly. But if conditions become more difficult, we could see one of these early
12:20 p.m.: Rory McIlroy is off. He will garner plenty of attention in this early window for a few reasons. 1. He's Rory McIlroy, and he always draws eyeballs, and 2. he seems primed to post a low score.
Why? Statistically, he was one of the best ball-strikers through 36 holes, only undone by some poor chipping and putting. Those are the aspects of the game you'd expect to regress (positively) back to the mean, and he becomes increasingly comfortable playing on and around Royal Birkdale's putting surfaces. He ranks outside the top-100 in putting through two rounds.
11:00 a.m.: Here are the notable groups to follow today.
- 10:30 a.m.: Xander Schauffele, Ryan Fox
- 11:45 a.m.: Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama
- 12:20 p.m.: Rory McIlroy, Jacob Bridgeman
- 1:20 p.m.: Chris Gotterup, Adam Scott
- 2:15 p.m.: Ludvig Ã…berg, Shane Lowry
- 2:35 p.m.: Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm
- 2:45 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Francesco Molinari
- 3:00 p.m.: Alex Fitzpatrick, Robert MacIntyre
- 3:30 p.m.: Sam Burns, Bryson DeChambeau
- 3:40 p.m.: Ryan Gerard, Cameron Young
- 3:50 p.m.: Lucas Herbert, Jackson Suber
