Aberg holds 2-stroke lead at Scottish Open
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg briefly surrendered the lead before posting 5-under-par 65 to finish the third round of the Scottish Open with a two-shot lead Saturday at North Berwick, Scotland.
Aberg is at 17-under, with Robert MacIntyre, in his home country, in second place at 15-under after carding a 7-under 63 on Saturday.
Australia’s Adam Scott shot 64 and is at 14-under in third place.
Golfers had to contend with rainy conditions at The Renaissance Club after what was described as ideal conditions a day earlier.
Sahith Theegala (66), Collin Morikawa (66), France’s Antoine Rozner (68) and South Korea’s Sungjae Im (67) are tied for fourth at 13-under. Rozner began the day a shot off the lead.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland shot 67 to move to 12under. He’s in his first tournament since last month’s late-round struggles on the final day of the U.S. Open.
McIlroy dropped a stroke on the final hole when he took a bogey, chipping from one side of the green and off the surface to the other side before recovering to prevent further damage.
Aberg posted 3-under across the first nine to head to the backside with a share of the lead with MacIntyre. Aberg shook off consecutive bogeys to record a birdie on No. 13 and get back on track.
Aberg’s three-putt bogey on the par-3 12th created a temporary two-shot advantage for MacIntyre.
Following a front-nine 30 that included an eagle on the par-4 fifth hole, MacIntyre took the lead briefly after birdies on Nos. 10 and 11.
He tried to scramble on No. 18, hitting an approach shot from the rough. But he ended up needing three putts from nearly 90 feet and settled for a bogey.
LPGA Tour
forced to finish the weather-delayed second round on Saturday morning, which she concluded with a 66.
Heading into Sunday’s final round at the Evian Resort Club, she stands at 14under 199 and carries a one-shot lead over Lauren Coughlin (65 on Saturday) and second-round leader Ayake Furue of Japan (70).
Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarkarn (67) is alone in fourth place at 10-under, while three others are five shots back at 9-under. The group consists of Ally Ewing, who shot a course-low 64 on Saturday, and South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi (71) and Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand, whose 72 on Saturday dropped her from second place to the fifth-place tie.
Kyriacou opened her round with a bogey, followed by birdies at Nos. 2 through 4. She added four birdies and two bogeys to the round.
Ewing, from Mississippi, played a bogey-free third round that included four birdies in the first five holes.
LIV Golf
India’s Anirban Lahiri carded a 5-under-par 66 to seize a four-stroke lead after the second round at the LIV Golf Andalucia event in Sotogrande, Spain.
Lahiri, who resides at 7-under 135, collected six birdies against one bogey at Real Club Valderrama.
“I mean, I made a lot of putts. Holed a chip. You had to do all of that to shoot five (under). So I’m really happy that I was in a good zone, pretty calm,” Lahiri said. “Had a few lipouts, a few missed chances early. Just kind of stayed in the round. Stayed in the shot. Stayed in the present. Really happy obviously, yeah.”
Thanks to Lahiri’s performance, Crushers GC has a four-stroke lead over Fireball GC and a five-stroke advantage versus Stinger GC in the team competition.
New Zealand’s Danny Lee shot a 72 on Saturday to sit in second place overall, one shot ahead of the trio of Germany’s Martin Kaymer (68), England’s Tyrrell Hatton (68) and Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra (72).
First-round leader Dean Burmester followed up his 66 on Friday with a 75 on Saturday to reside in a five-way tie for sixth place. He is tied with Bryson DeChambeau (67), England’s Lee Westwood (70) and Richard Bland (70) as well as South African Louis Oosthuizen (71).
Spaniard Jon Rahm, who is seeking his first LIV individual title, shot a 69 to rest at even par.
“I feel like I’m falling victim like many others of just being Valderrama, right?” Rahm said. “Played such good golf. Played such a good round of golf both days. It’s like two moments here and there that make a significant impact, right? Played great all day. Had a great round going, and on 4, my last hole to, hit that drive and from there, put it in the water, is just a mistake that cost me a lot, right? That’s basically two to four shots given away the last two days on par 5s by hitting it in the water. That’s way too much here. It’s hard to make it up.”
Rahm is joined by countryman Sergio Garcia (73), Australian Marc Leishman (66) and Chilean Joaquin Niemann (68).
Defending champion Talor Gooch followed up his 76 on Friday with a 77 on Saturday to reside in a tie for 48th place.