Defending champion Tyrrell Hatton produced a brilliant bogey-free 65 for the second consecutive day to surge into a five-shot lead after day three of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The Englishman entered round three in a share of the lead and when he made a sixth birdie of the day on the fourth at Kingsbarns he had a six-shot advantage and looked set for a commanding cushion heading into the final day.
Frenchman Grégory Bourdy produced four birdies in a row on the front nine at Carnoustie to cut the gap to four but a closing birdie for Hatton moved him to 18 under and in a dominant position.
Bourdy signed for a 66 at the venue for next year’s Open Championship to finish at 13 under par and two shots ahead of Ireland’s Paul Dunne, who sealed his maiden European Tour title last week at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports. Former World Number One Luke Donald is one shot further back at ten under par alongside fellow Englishman Ross Fisher.
Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, Swede Joakim Lagergren, Frenchman Alexander Levy and German Bernd Ritthammer are all at nine under.
Rory McIlroy recovered from a double bogey on his 11th hole by reeling off four birdies in a row. Despite another bogey on the last, he signed for a 68 to go through to round four on the cut line of four under par.
Player quotes
Tyrrell Hatton: “To win at the Home of Golf once, you know, is incredible, but to do it again and defend would be a dream come true.
“Obviously it was a great day. I played really good. Conditions were quite tough towards the end, so I feel like I did quite well hanging in there, and obviously it was nice to birdie the last.
“It’s good fun to be playing with him (Jamie Dornan) again. We get on really well, and obviously having a mate on the bag, Jonathan, he’s helping, too.
“Last year was a new experience for me going out leading a tournament, and you know, I managed to do a really good job. I made myself very difficult to catch. Hopefully I can do that again tomorrow.
“I’ll just keep going as I am. I like knowing where I’m at on the leaderboard, so I’ll certainly keep an eye on that. But I’m just going to try and play as best as I can. That’s all I can do. Hopefully that will be good enough.
Grégory Bourdy: “I’m very pleased for sure, but it’s one of my favourite links courses. I feel good on it, and yeah, I knew I could do a good score here. As I say, it’s a lovely course, one of my favourites. Of course, the Old Course is my favourite in the world but this one is not far away behind.
“I’m very pleased about my first three rounds, especially the putting today, and yesterday as well. I feel very confident on the greens, and that’s very important in the links conditions and in the wind.
“I’m looking forward to a lovely day, and I will do my best. I will fight from the beginning until the end. It’s just great to be in that position on my favourite golf course in the world, the famous Old Course.”
Rory McIlroy: “I wish I hadn’t bogeyed the last. But yeah, it was a bit of an up-and-down day. I had eight birdies, two bogeys and a double out there, so there’s a bit of everything. I knew I needed to shoot at least 68, if not better.
“I’ll just go out and enjoy myself. It’s my last competitive round of the year. It’s going to be around St. Andrews, which is nice. Go out and enjoy myself, have a good time. Try and shoot a good score and end the season on a bit of a positive note.
“I think he (Tyrrell) needs Jamie Dornan as his caddie. I think he just needs to get him as his caddie and Jamie can pack up the acting and they can go out on Tour. What he’s doing, he’s playing very impressively. He loves these three courses. I thought someone might have pushed him today and got a bit closer, but it just shows how well he’s playing, and it’s his to lose tomorrow.”
Complete third round scores:
198 T Hatton (Eng) 68 65 65,
203 G Bourdy (Fra) 70 67 66,
205 P Dunne (Irl) 67 68 70,
206 L Donald (Eng) 70 70 66, R Fisher (Eng) 71 68 67,
207 N Colsaerts (Bel) 67 67 73, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 70 66 71, A Levy (Fra) 70 69 68, J Lagergren (Swe) 69 67 71, B Ritthammer (Ger) 70 66 71,
208 R Rock (Eng) 71 68 69, V Dubuisson (Fra) 74 66 68, G Havret (Fra) 70 69 69, M Warren (Sco) 70 71 67, D Drysdale (Sco) 69 67 72, M Ilonen (Fin) 74 67 67, R Wattel (Fra) 70 68 70,
209 S Lowry (Irl) 68 75 66, T Fleetwood (Eng) 70 63 76, S Gallacher (Sco) 72 67 70, G Stal (Fra) 72 67 70, N Fasth (Swe) 73 65 71, R Gouveia (Por) 71 71 67, B Evans (Eng) 69 68 72, M Siem (Ger) 69 66 74, B Stone (RSA) 71 67 71, M Kaymer (Ger) 71 71 67, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 73 68 68, B Dredge (Wal) 70 70 69,
210 J Ahlers (RSA) 71 69 70, J Luiten (Ned) 70 69 71, E Pepperell (Eng) 72 69 69, N Bertasio (Ita) 70 69 71, H Porteous (RSA) 74 71 65, R Gibson (Aus) 70 72 68, R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 69 70, M Wallace (Eng) 69 67 74, M Giles (Aus) 73 67 70, G McDowell (Nir) 69 71 70, O Fisher (Eng) 68 71 71, A Chesters (Eng) 71 69 70,
211 D Horsey (Eng) 75 70 66, B Grace (RSA) 70 69 72, R Bland (Eng) 73 65 73, G Coetzee (RSA) 69 73 69, P Hanson (Swe) 71 72 68, D Fichardt (RSA) 74 68 69, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 74 67 70, A Rai (Eng) 70 70 71, G Storm (Eng) 75 69 67, D Frittelli (RSA) 70 71 70, J Holmes (USA) 73 66 72, C Syme (Sco) 72 70 69,
212 A Michael (RSA) 73 65 74, J Scrivener (Aus) 72 71 69, L Johnston (Sco) 72 70 70, G Moynihan (Irl) 70 70 72, S Gregory (Eng) 71 71 70, R McIlroy (Nir) 73 71 68, R Sterne (RSA) 72 75 65, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 73 70 69, J Wang (Kor) 69 71 72, U Van Den Berg (RSA) 73 68 71, J Morrison (Eng) 71 69 72, J Quesne (Fra) 71 69 72, L Jensen (Den) 71 69 72, B Hebert (Fra) 69 72 71, L Canter (Eng) 72 69 71,
213 J Kruyswijk (RSA) 73 72 68, S Manley (Wal) 72 69 72, W Ormsby (Aus) 74 70 69, J Donaldson (Wal) 70 73 70, T Aiken (RSA) 73 68 72,
214 J Kruger (RSA) 71 68 75, J Fahrbring (Swe) 71 71 72, N Elvira (Esp) 71 68 75, S Chawrasia (Ind) 72 72 70, Z Lombard (RSA) 71 70 73, S Hend (Aus) 73 70 71, R Langasque (Fra) 69 72 73, S Gros (Fra) 76 70 68, T Olesen (Den) 73 68 73, J Smith (Eng) 70 73 71, A Wall (Eng) 73 72 69, P Harrington (Irl) 72 68 74,
215 C Paisley (Eng) 74 73 68, A Dodt (Aus) 73 69 73, A Quiros (Esp) 71 71 73, M Manassero (Ita) 74 71 70, O Bekker (RSA) 70 72 73, T Lewis (Eng) 77 68 70, S Jamieson (Sco) 70 70 75, J Campillo (Esp) 73 71 71, J Suri (USA) 72 71 72,
216 S Heisele (Ger) 72 69 75, L Slattery (Eng) 73 69 74, P Waring (Eng) 73 71 72, R Karlsson (Swe) 75 70 71, M Carlsson (Swe) 74 73 69, M Armitage (Eng) 71 69 76, A Price (Aus) 70 74 72, P Angles (Esp) 72 72 72, G Forrest (Sco) 75 67 74, P Larrazábal (Esp) 76 67 73, A Cañizares (Esp) 75 67 74, A Hansen (Den) 74 73 69, R Fox (Nzl) 68 73 75, A Knappe (Ger) 73 67 76, F Zanotti (Par) 74 71 71,
217 E Els (RSA) 74 70 73, T Detry (Bel) 71 76 70, J Singh Brar (Eng) 79 67 71, P Khongwatmai (Tha) 74 69 74, A Hall (Aus) 75 69 73, D Brooks (Eng) 72 73 72, Y Chang (Kor) 72 68 77, B Rumford (Aus) 73 69 75, J Carlsson (Swe) 78 72 67, E De La Riva (Esp) 74 71 72,
218 T Jaidee (Tha) 74 70 74, F Aguilar (Chi) 74 71 73, J Walters (RSA) 74 73 71, J Stalter (Fra) 68 74 76,
219 L Bjerregaard (Den) 76 71 72, L Westwood (Eng) 71 73 75, A Plant (Eng) 73 73 73, E Molinari (Ita) 73 73 73, A Björk (Swe) 72 73 74, T Bjørn (Den) 73 70 76, M Pavon (Fra) 72 71 76, B Quigley (USA) 73 73 73, L Cianchetti (Ita) 70 72 77, T Sinnott (Aus) 80 69 70,
220 J Davidson (Wal) 71 73 76, D Burmester (RSA) 77 69 74, D Stewart (Sco) 82 68 70, R Paratore (Ita) 77 69 74, F Fritsch (Ger) 79 71 70, P Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 75 67 78,
221 C Kresge (USA) 72 73 76, P Peterson (USA) 75 75 71, S Leaney (Aus) 75 72 74,
222 S Lee (Kor) 72 76 74, A Otaegui (Esp) 73 75 74, C Shinkwin (Eng) 76 72 74, S Appleby (Aus) 78 73 71, M Kieffer (Ger) 73 73 76,
223 S Dyson (Eng) 82 70 71, S Brazel (Aus) 71 77 75, D Perrier (Fra) 72 76 75, P Newcomb (USA) 76 75 72, C Hanson (Eng) 74 73 76,
224 R Karlberg (Swe) 75 74 75, C Pigem (Esp) 71 78 75, B An (Kor) 74 76 74,
225 M Southgate (Eng) 78 72 75, A Evans (Aus) 74 71 80, S Walker (Eng) 75 73 77,
226 W Ashun (Chn) 78 71 77, N Kimsey (Eng) 76 71 79,
227 N Holman (Aus) 75 71 81,
230 D Im (USA) 76 78 76, D Howell (Eng) 72 76 82,
231 J Lima (Por) 74 76 81, A Connelly (Can) 81 75 75,
** R Ramsay (Sco) 71 71 WD, M Fraser (Aus) 74 DQ DQ, P Lawrie (Sco) 71 WD WD
