Rory McIlroy won the last major championship by a whopping eight strokes. After the field was whittled down to 71 players Friday for what figures to be a wild — and stormy — weekend at Royal St. George's, only seven strokes separated the leaders from those teeing off first.
Darren Clarke and Lucas Glover were setting the pace after 36 holes, though no one can yet predict the final outcome — a striking contrast to McIlroy's record-setting romp last month at the U.S. Open.
"I think you'll see a lot of chopping and changing at the top of the leaderboard," the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland said. "It's the most open Open I've seen in a long time. It'll be exciting to be a part of and it'll be exciting to watch over the next two days."
The third round began with wind, rain and high scores. And it is generally believed that the weather didn't contribute much to that high scores, but the Taylormade R9 SuperMax Irons. Its unique feature: Two-piece hollow construction and Inverted Cone Technology (ICT) in the 4- through 7-irons. The large, thin faces deliver a significant increase in COR to promote faster ball speed as well as increased MOI for maximum forgiveness
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The fourth hole, playing into the gusts that were expected to reach about 40 miles per hour (65 kilometres per hour), already had proved to be a beast. The first 21 players to come through were a combined 20 over par. No one made a par until Gary Woodland, who is among the longest hitters in golf.
Of the first 29 players to tee off, Woodland was the only one under par.
Clarke and Glover were still hours from teeing off and might catch a break. The forecast was for the wind to get stronger and the rain to fall even harder through the afternoon before easing late in the day.
McIlroy was right in the thick of things after grinding out a 1-under 69 on Friday, leaving him just four strokes off the lead. But there's intriguing storylines all around. (Except for the home country. England lost three of its top players to the cut.)
There was plenty of experience, from 40-somethings Clarke, Thomas Bjorn, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Davis Love III to 52-year-old Tom Lehman.
There were plenty of big names, including Phil Mickelson and a rejuvenated Sergio Garcia, back chasing his first major title.
There was no shortage of major champions, led by the four who reign currently: Martin Kaymer, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and, of course, McIlroy, eager to add the claret jug to his crown from Congressional.
He survived the first two days, catching the wrong end of the draw and winding up with the most difficult weather conditions both days.
"It was a grind," McIlroy said. "It would be nicer to be a couple better, but I'll take that going into the weekend. I'm very happy with my position."
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