The duo, a third-round partner on the old course, started the day in Thailand after a spectacular 18-hole golf and ended the day inseparably, sharing a four-stroke advantage at the summit. ..
Hovland ignited a classic open duel touchpaper on the third hole and ignited four consecutive birdie runs. It set the tone of the clinic to put the skill from the Norwegians to sign a flawless scorecard after bogey twice in each of his first two rounds.
With his second open outing in St Andrews and his first outing in Major League Baseball, the 24-year-old smiles around the old course in the midst of noisy crowd support for his Northern Ireland play partners. It seemed that I couldn’t flap my wings while laughing.
“I do not care [the support for McIlroy]It can’t take away any pressure, “Hovland told reporters.
“I’m grateful that I still had some screams. After all, I have to play my game and I don’t have to worry about anything else.”
Friendly rivals
When Hovland chased the first major, McIlroy kept pace with his young rivals in 2014, thanks to the type of brilliance that lifted four major trophies at the age of 33, including Claret Jug.
Three out of five birdies shot him behind to close the front nine, and a striking eagle from the bunker on the tenth hole drove him to the lead.
Despite arriving at the beach, the Northern Irish sought another birdie following a fast-growing tee drive, but rocked a nearby stand with a stunning 27-yard tip.
As McIlroy raised his arms to accept the crowd’s appreciation, even Hoveland offered his competitors a festive fist bump.
“Rory is a good person, so you can give him a good shot,” he said.
“Ignoring the situation you’re in, it’s just a dirty bunker shot, so you just have to go,” Hey, it was a sick shot. ” It’s just part of the game. “
The interaction symbolizes the competitive respect that they endured throughout the round of the pair, and the duo spoke on different tees while waiting for the previous group. But McIlroy believes that discussions ranging from footwear to what Hovland has been doing over the last two weeks will naturally dial down at the Sunday Championship.
“I don’t hate chatting along the way. It’s okay. Perhaps we’re a little loose,” McIlroy told reporters.
“But we can say that there are moments to talk and moments to not talk, and that was the case today.”
“What am I doing here?”
The duo sealed a duel with a matching birdie in the final hole of the fitting end on a day when Hovland couldn’t believe it really happened.
“I was wondering what I was doing here,” the Norwegian said.
“Being here is very special, but you have to pinch yourself to get a chance to win, but that doesn’t mean you’re ahead of tomorrow.”
With McIlroy’s 2014 British Open victory in Royal Liverpool, lifting a second Claret Jug at the “Home of Golf” in the 150th edition of the event will be a “dream come true.”
“I’m grateful for that moment, and I’m grateful for the fact that it’s incredibly cool to have a chance to win the British Open at St Andrews,” McIlroy said.
“That is the origin of the dream, and tomorrow we will strive to make it come true.”
The pair will be the last group to tee off at 2:50 pm BST (9:50 am ET) on Sunday.
Cameron loses the ground
Cameron Smith celebrated a disappointing day with a double bogey on the 13th as Saturday’s two-stroke lead evaporates rapidly after opening with a bogey.
South Korea’s Kim Si Woo and the world’s number one Scottie Scheffler shot 67 and 69, respectively, then chased two Camerons at once, and Dustin Johnson carded 71 and then shot further behind.
Source: www.cnn.com