TROON  -   South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence equalled the best round of the week as a six-under 65 fired him into contention for the Open at rainy Royal Troon on Saturday. The 27-year-old began the day at three over but took advantage of ideal scoring conditions earlier in the day to reach three under as the leaders began their third rounds. Ireland’s Shane Lowry, the champion in 2019, was the overnight leader on seven under and was playing with England’s Open debutant Dan Brown who was at five under. Lowry made a solid start with a birdie at the fourth taking him to eight under but debutant Brown showed no sign of nerves as he bounced back from a bogey at the first with two birdies to move to six under in second place. After two days of stiff breezes had made scoring tricky on the Ayrshire links, the course was becalmed early on Saturday and several players took advantage. Lawrence went out in 30 shots with six birdies in his first eight holes and then dug in on the way back. After a birdie at the 11th he made his only bogey of the day at the par-four 13th and finished with five successive pars. Former world number one Justin Thomas was also helping himself to birdies on his front nine which he completed in 31 -- a far cry from Friday when he reached the turn in 45. Thomas had held the clubhouse lead for much of the opening day after a three-under 68 but was blown off course on Friday to card a miserable 78, lost momentum on the way home but still emerged with a four-under 67 to reach level par. “Golf. Golf is how I would sum it up,” he said of his rollercoaster ride so far. “It’s a crazy sport and a lot of things can happen in a lot of conditions. But that’s what I signed up for, I guess.”

Australian Adam Scott got back to level par thanks to a round of five-under 66 while South Korea’s SungjaeIm also shot a 66 to move to one over. Only 10 players began the third day under par but that looked like increasing throughout the third round even though torrential rain arrived in the middle of the afternoon. South Korea’s Kim Si-woo provided the day’s standout moment when he made a hole in one at the 238-yard par-three 17th -- the first ace at this year’s championship.