Qualifier Dan Brown wrote one other chapter in his unbelievable Open Championship story to arrange a thriller of a closing day at Royal Troon.
Brown, who birdied the thirty sixth gap in qualifying to safe his main debut, defied depressing situations to go away himself 18 holes away from a fairytale triumph.
The world quantity 272 held the outright lead till an unlucky double bogey on the 18th, however a 3rd spherical of 73 left him only a shot behind American Billy Horschel.
Horschel, who famously adopted a 67 with an 85 in related climate the final time Troon staged the Open in 2016, solely put his rain jacket on between photographs as he scrambled his technique to an astounding 69 to complete 4 underneath par.
That gave the 37-year-old a slender lead over six gamers, with Brown joined on three underneath by compatriot Justin Rose, US PGA champion Xander Schauffele and a trio of gamers who had exploited very best early situations.
South African Thriston Lawrence, who teed off greater than three hours earlier than the ultimate group, carded an outstanding 65 to set a clubhouse goal which was matched by Sam Burns (65) and Russell Henley (66).
And because the climate took a big flip for the more severe, they steadily climbed the leaderboard to finish the day in a tie for second, with world primary Scottie Scheffler ominously poised one other stroke behind.
Eire’s Shane Lowry, who took a two-shot lead into the third spherical, struggled to a 77 to fall three photographs off the tempo in pursuit of his second Open title.
Lowry discovered himself three clear when Rose and Brown each bogeyed the primary and once more after holing from 16 toes for birdie on the fourth.
One other birdie putt from Lowry got here up inches quick on the 613-yard sixth and Brown took full benefit, an outstanding method leaving a tap-in.
Brown’s drive on the seventh was to date off line that it nearly hit Scheffler and Dean Burmester on the eighth inexperienced, however he was lucky to finish up with a transparent shot and hit an outstanding third to a few toes to arrange an unorthodox birdie.
Minutes later there was a tie on the prime after each he and Lowry discovered the Coffin bunker on the eighth, with Brown making a bogey and Lowry a double after hitting his second shot over the inexperienced.
Horschel’s fourth birdie of the day made it a three-way tie earlier than a mix of bogeys throughout the tenth and eleventh left the main trio collectively on 5 underneath, however Brown birdied the twelfth to edge into the outright lead.
Lowry, who had complained furiously about what gave the impression to be members of the published media within the fairway on the earlier gap, three-putted the twelfth from off the inexperienced to fall two behind.
Brown bogeyed the thirteenth to drop again alongside Horschel and loved one other huge stroke of luck on the following, hooking his tee shot nicely left of the inexperienced however ending up with an ideal lie on a walkway.
He chipped to a few toes to avoid wasting par and in addition made a superb par on the daunting fifteenth, hitting driver off the tee and for his second shot earlier than getting up and down from 40 yards in need of the inexperienced.
After reclaiming the outright lead with a birdie on the sixteenth, Brown bogeyed the seventeenth and ran up a double on the final, the place he was unlucky to see his drive end on the sting of a bunker.
“That end is why it’s slightly bit deflating as I’ve floor it out right now and thru not hitting a nasty golf shot I’ve dropped three,” Brown stated.
“It’s a bit irritating however firstly of the week when you’d advised me I’d be one or two again going into the ultimate spherical of the Open I’d have snapped your hand off.”
South Korea’s Si Woo Kim had earlier made the primary hole-in-one on the seventeenth in 10 Open Championships at Troon.
Kim was two over par after 16 holes however walked off the seventeenth again to stage for the day after his tee shot pitched simply in need of the inexperienced and rolled inexorably into the cup on the 238-yard par three.
