Sam Burns will take a two-shot lead into Sunday’s final round of the British Open as Rory McIlroy launched a scathing attack on Bryson DeChambeau after his third round.
American Burns is one of three players to match the record low score at a major of 62 at Royal Birkdale over the past two days and backed up his historic second round with a 65 to move to 10 under par.
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RD 3 TALKING POINTS: Biggest issue with ‘joke’ Bryson farce; Aussie’s familiar path to Open glory
Ryan Fox joined the 62 club with the best round of the day to get to eight under, alongside South Korea’s Kim Si-woo, with Aussie Lucas Herbert one back at seven under to start the final round. LIVE UPDATES BELOW!
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Final round preview
DeChambeau’s two-shot penalty after his second round on Friday for “inadvertently improving” his lie as he addressed his second shot at the fifth hole could still prove crucial.
The American was one under for the day to get to six under for the tournament and would likely have been in Sunday’s final group but for the sanction.
DeChambeau appeared to trample down long grass as he addressed his ball for a practice swing.
After an animated discussion with a rules official at the site of the incident, Sky Sports reported DeChambeau had even threatened to withdraw from the tournament late on Friday.
That resulted in a delay to tee times being issued for the third round. McIlroy’s hopes of adding to his six majors look forlorn after a third round 69 left him at two under for the tournament.
But the Northern Irishman was still the focus of attention after he did not hold back on DeChambeau’s antics.
“I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson. I’m not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it’s performative. I think a lot of it’s for attention,” said the Masters champion.
“To hold the tournament hostage like that, and to have all of us, players, volunteers, everyone waiting on him to depart, I didn’t feel like it was a great look.”
McIlroy goes in on DeChambeau | 01:10
Burns is yet to win a major, but finished just one shot behind Wyndham Clark at the US Open last month.
The world number 18 was not even supposed to travel to England’s north-west coast with his daughter due in the middle of July.
But baby Belle arrived 11 days early and Burns was given the go-ahead by his wife to compete.
Burns said becoming a dad eases the pressure and puts things into perspective ahead of a potentially career-defining round.
“Tomorrow all I can do is play my best and see where it puts me. Go out tomorrow and try to execute,” he said.
“Ultimately whatever happens tomorrow it doesn’t define who I am. That’s a very freeing thing to know. I wish my family was here and counting down the minutes to get home and see them again.”
Rahm under fire after Round 2 incident | 00:50
Fox and Kim are his closest challengers after the big names on the leaderboard failed to make a mark on moving day.
There had only been five rounds of 62 in major history prior to this tournament, but there are now eight after New Zealander Fox joined Lucas Herbert and Burns.
“I think it’s just the good weather conditions. The course is brilliant. It’s obviously very firm and fast,” said Fox on the reason for the spate of 62s.
“You feel like you can shoot a score in the morning and the greens are perfect, that if you do roll it well, you feel like you hole everything.”
American Ryan Gerard and Australia’s Herbert are three off the lead at seven under.
Lucas Herbert of Australia putts on the 18th green during the third day of the British Open Golf championships at Royal Birkdale golf club, in Southport, England, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David Goldman)Source: AP
Roared on by huge local support, home favourite Tommy Fleetwood made his move to at one point close to within one shot of the lead.
However, he dropped two shots in the final four holes to fall back to five under and give himself a mountain to climb to win his first major in his home town of Southport.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler was again let down by his putting in a level par 70, which left him down at four under alongside Jon Rahm and former champions Shane Lowry and Xander Schauffele.
Final round tee times
4:40 pm AEST
Game 1 – Jesper Svensson, Keegan Bradley
4:50 pm AEST
Game 2 – Matthew Southgate, Laurie Canter
5:00 pm AEST
Game 3 – Jack McDonald, Ben Griffin
5:10 pm AEST
Game 4 – Peter Uihlein, Kazuki Higa
5:20 pm AEST
Game 5 – Sepp Straka, John Parry
5:30 pm AEST
Game 6 – Andy Sullivan, Aldrich Potgieter
5:40 pm AEST
Game 7 – Marcus Plunkett, Ryo Hisatsune
5:50 pm AEST
Game 8 – Min Woo Lee, Tyrrell Hatton
6:00 pm AEST
Game 9 – Nick Taylor, MJ Daffue
6:15 pm AEST
Game 10 – Eugenio Chacarra, Rickie Fowler
6:25 pm AEST
Game 11 – Naoyuki Kataoka, Thomas Detry
6:35 pm AEST
Game 12 – JJ Spaun, Victor Perez
6:45 pm AEST
Game 13 – Chris Gotterup, Patrick Cantlay
6:55 pm AEST
Game 14 – Michael Brennan, Kurt Kitayama
7:05 pm AEST
Game 15 – Brooks Koepka, Bud Cauley
7:15 pm AEST
Game 16 – Alex Fitzpatrick, Pierceson Coody
7:25 pm AEST
Game 17 – Corey Conners, Johnny Keefer
7:40 pm AEST
Game 18 – Patrick Reed, Adam Scott
7:50 pm AEST
Game 19 – Michael Thorbjornsen, Shaun Norris
8:00 pm AEST
Game 20 – Marco Penge, Alex Noren
8:10 pm AEST
Game 21 – Russell Henley, Matt Wallace
8:20 pm AEST
Game 22 – Francesco Molinari, Collin Morikawa
8:30 pm AEST
Game 23 – Jordan Smith, Rory McIlroy
8:40 pm AEST
Game 24 – Hennie du Plessis, Sahith Theegala
8:50 pm AEST
Game 25 – Casey Jarvis, Kristoffer Reitan
9:05 pm AEST
Game 26 – Cameron Young, Robert MacIntyre
9:15 pm AEST
Game 27 – Nico Echavarria, Sungjae Im
9:25 pm AEST
Game 28 – Jacob Bridgeman, Justin Thomas
9:35 pm AEST
Game 29 – Max Homa, Alex Smalley
9:45 pm AEST
Game 30 – Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, Scottie Scheffler
9:55 pm AEST
Game 31 – Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry
10:05 pm AEST
Game 32 – Cameron John, Daniel Brown
10:15 pm AEST
Game 33 – Hideki Matsuyama, Kazuma Kobori
10:30 pm AEST
Game 34 – Eric Cole, Xander Schauffele
10:40 pm AEST
Game 35 – Tommy Fleetwood, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
10:50 pm AEST
Game 36 – Jackson Suber, Bryson DeChambeau
11:00 pm AEST
Game 37 – Ludvig Åberg, Lucas Herbert
11:10 pm AEST
Game 38 – Ryan Gerard, Si Woo Kim
11:20 pm AEST
Game 39 – Ryan Fox, Sam Burns