Golfers tried to stick to their routines during a chaotic third round of the fog-hampered Genesis Scottish Open on Saturday and that will be the goal as the remainder of the tournament plays out this weekend.
Michael Thorbjornsen and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick are tied at 11 under through a partial third round after play was suspended in North Berwick, Scotland
“Just hope you bring your game tomorrow,” said Wyndham Clark, the U.S. Open champion and among the contenders this weekend. “It’s nice, I’ll play like 21 holes. If you play it good, you just keep it going.”
That sets up a potential long day of play Sunday at The Renaissance Club, where wind and rain were among the topics during the on-and-off third round.
Johnny Keefer shot 6-under-par 64 to become the leader in the clubhouse at 10 under. Others at 10 under are Kevin Roy (through 16 holes), Clark (through 15), defending champion Chris Gotterup (through 10), Australia’s Min Woo Lee (through eight) and England’s Jordan Smith (through seven).
Smith was the second-round co-leader along with Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and South Korea’s Tom Kim.
“The theme of links golf is being creative and being flexible, and understanding that things that are usually going to happen sometimes don’t,” Keefer said.
A fog delay of about 2 1/2 hours in the morning shortly after play began put the round off schedule and caused most of the field to have revised tee times.
“Just kind of stayed in my routine,” Keefer said. “Chilled for a little bit and then got going.”
Mac Meissner shot 64 and moved to within one stroke of the lead at 8 under before many of the groups even began their third rounds.
Play was halted again in the early evening because of fog and wasn’t resumed. Tournament officials have set 7 a.m. local time Sunday as the targeted time to resume the third round.
“I didn’t know that fog was this much in play throughout the whole day,” Thorbjornsen said. “Yeah, this is crazy. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Roy is playing in Scotland for the first time.
“I feel like we’ve seen it all — sunshine, rain, wind,” he said. “The wind was up. Obviously, the fog was coming in and out.”
For many golfers, the Scottish Open is merely a pit stop on the way to next week’s Open Championship.
On Saturday, Thorbjornsen is at 5 under for his round and Fitzpatrick holds a 3-under score as he approaches the midway mark.
As fog rolled back in, Thorbjornsen said there were moments of uncertainty for a few holes before play was halted again.
“You hit drivers up in the air and you kind of lose it just before it reaches the apex and you just kind of trust yourself that you hit some good shots,” he said.
No golfer has won the Scottish Open in back-to-back years. Gotterup is also attempting to become the first golfer on the PGA Tour to win in back-to-back weeks this year after capturing the John Deere Classic last weekend.
–Field Level Media
