Lee Westwood continued to putt as well as anyone in the field on Saturday. Hhis flat stick propelled him into the 54-hole lead at the British Open. Westwood is 3-under heading into Sunday, two strokes ahead of Tiger Woods and Hunter Mahan.
Westwood one was of a few players to finish Saturday under par and his putter was a big reason why. It began early, when after hitting driver-driver, Westwood sunk a long eagle putt from off the green at No. 5. With the eagle, he moved to 3-under and into the lead for the first time on Saturday.
Westwood and Woods were tied for the lead on-and-off during the back nine, but Westwood made another run over the closing stretch and a birdie at No. 14 put him back on top. He was in trouble at No. 16, but was able to salvage a bogey by sinking a long putt. He made another long putt on 17, this time for birdie, to take a two-stroke lead.
While Westwood had success on the greens, Woods had some issues coming in. His 1-over 72 was far from a bad round, but he missed several opportunities. Woods missed birdie on No. 16 by a fraction. He missed a par putt on the 17th to drop two back and was unable to get his birdie putt close on the 18.
Woods remains in contention, but he'll have to do something he's never done before if he's going to win on Sunday. Westwood and Hunter Mahan will play in the final group on Sunday with Woods in the second-to-last pairing. According to Kyle Porter of CBS Sports, Woods is 14-1 in majors when leading or in a share of the lead heading into the final round. Woods has never won a major when not at least in a share of the lead after 54 holes, going 0-for-47 in his career.
Mahan moved into red figures on Saturday, shooting a 3-under 68 -- tied for the best round of the lead. He'll tee off in the final pairing on Sunday, just as he did at last month's U.S. Open. Mahan faltered down the stretch at Merion, but will have a chance to win his first major at Muirfield.
A year after losing the British Open late, Adam Scott is in contention once again. He shot a 70 in the third round and will open the final round three strokes off the lead. Zach Johnson at 1-over, Phil Mickelson at 2-over and Sergio Garcia at 3-over are among the notable names within range.
Here is a complete look at the leaderboard through three rounds.
Place | Player | Score | 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | Total |
1 | Lee Westwood | -3 | 72 | 68 | 70 | 210 |
T2 | Hunter Mahan | -1 | 72 | 72 | 68 | 212 |
T2 | Tiger Woods | -1 | 69 | 71 | 72 | 212 |
4 | Adam Scott | E | 71 | 72 | 70 | 213 |
T5 | Henrik Stenson | 1 | 70 | 70 | 74 | 214 |
T5 | Angel Cabrera | 1 | 69 | 72 | 73 | 214 |
T5 | Ryan Moore | 1 | 72 | 70 | 72 | 214 |
T5 | Zach Johnson | 1 | 66 | 75 | 73 | 214 |
T9 | Phil Mickelson | 2 | 69 | 74 | 72 | 215 |
T9 | Francesco Molinari | 2 | 69 | 74 | 72 | 215 |
T11 | Sergio Garcia | 3 | 75 | 73 | 68 | 216 |
T11 | Brandt Snedeker | 3 | 68 | 79 | 69 | 216 |
T11 | Jamie Donaldson | 3 | 74 | 71 | 71 | 216 |
T11 | Hideki Matsuyama | 3 | 71 | 73 | 72 | 216 |
T11 | Jason Day | 3 | 73 | 71 | 72 | 216 |
T11 | Dustin Johnson | 3 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 216 |
T11 | Miguel A. Jimenez | 3 | 68 | 71 | 77 | 216 |
18 | Rafael Cabrera-Bello | 4 | 67 | 74 | 76 | 217 |
T19 | Richard Sterne | 5 | 75 | 75 | 68 | 218 |
T19 | Ernie Els | 5 | 74 | 74 | 70 | 218 |
T19 | Martin Kaymer | 5 | 72 | 74 | 72 | 218 |
T19 | Johnson Wagner | 5 | 73 | 72 | 73 | 218 |
T19 | Justin Leonard | 5 | 74 | 70 | 74 | 218 |
T19 | Ian Poulter | 5 | 72 | 71 | 75 | 218 |
T25 | Shingo Katayama | 6 | 73 | 77 | 69 | 219 |
T25 | Keegan Bradley | 6 | 75 | 74 | 70 | 219 |
T25 | Thomas Bjorn | 6 | 73 | 74 | 72 | 219 |
T25 | Matt Kuchar | 6 | 74 | 73 | 72 | 219 |
T25 | Danny Willett | 6 | 75 | 72 | 72 | 219 |
T25 | Graeme McDowell | 6 | 75 | 71 | 73 | 219 |
T25 | Charl Schwartzel | 6 | 75 | 68 | 76 | 219 |
T25 | Darren Clarke | 6 | 72 | 71 | 76 | 219 |
T25 | Jordan Spieth | 6 | 69 | 74 | 76 | 219 |
T34 | Carl Pettersson | 7 | 74 | 76 | 70 | 220 |
T34 | Todd Hamilton | 7 | 69 | 81 | 70 | 220 |
T34 | Paul Lawrie | 7 | 81 | 69 | 70 | 220 |
T34 | Bud Cauley | 7 | 74 | 75 | 71 | 220 |
T34 | Ken Duke | 7 | 70 | 77 | 73 | 220 |
T34 | Steven Tiley | 7 | 72 | 75 | 73 | 220 |
T34 | Gregory Bourdy | 7 | 76 | 70 | 74 | 220 |
T34 | Bernd Wiesberger | 7 | 71 | 74 | 75 | 220 |
T34 | Harris English | 7 | 74 | 71 | 75 | 220 |
T34 | Tom Lehman | 7 | 68 | 77 | 75 | 220 |
T34 | Bubba Watson | 7 | 70 | 73 | 77 | 220 |
T34 | Webb Simpson | 7 | 73 | 70 | 77 | 220 |
T46 | K.J. Choi | 8 | 76 | 74 | 71 | 221 |
T46 | Thongchai Jaidee | 8 | 79 | 71 | 71 | 221 |
T46 | Boo Weekley | 8 | 74 | 76 | 71 | 221 |
T46 | Y.E. Yang | 8 | 78 | 70 | 73 | 221 |
T46 | Eduardo De La Riva | 8 | 73 | 73 | 75 | 221 |
T51 | Mark Brown | 9 | 77 | 73 | 72 | 222 |
T51 | Geoff Ogilvy | 9 | 75 | 75 | 72 | 222 |
T51 | Richie Ramsay | 9 | 76 | 74 | 72 | 222 |
T51 | Gonzalo Fdez-Castano | 9 | 70 | 79 | 73 | 222 |
T51 | Fred Couples | 9 | 75 | 74 | 73 | 222 |
T51 | Matthew Fitzpatrick (a) | 9 | 73 | 76 | 73 | 222 |
T51 | George Coetzee | 9 | 76 | 71 | 75 | 222 |
T51 | Freddie Jacobson | 9 | 72 | 75 | 75 | 222 |
T51 | Stephen Gallacher | 9 | 76 | 70 | 76 | 222 |
T51 | Branden Grace | 9 | 74 | 71 | 77 | 222 |
T51 | Mark O'Meara | 9 | 67 | 78 | 77 | 222 |
T51 | Martin Laird | 9 | 70 | 71 | 81 | 222 |
T63 | Jonas Blixt | 10 | 72 | 78 | 73 | 223 |
T63 | Peter Senior | 10 | 74 | 76 | 73 | 223 |
T63 | Shane Lowry | 10 | 74 | 74 | 75 | 223 |
T63 | Stewart Cink | 10 | 72 | 75 | 76 | 223 |
T63 | Marcus Fraser | 10 | 73 | 74 | 76 | 223 |
T68 | Gareth Wright | 11 | 71 | 78 | 75 | 224 |
T68 | Jimmy Mullen (a) | 11 | 71 | 78 | 75 | 224 |
T68 | Josh Teater | 11 | 72 | 77 | 75 | 224 |
T68 | Tim Clark | 11 | 72 | 76 | 76 | 224 |
T68 | Russell Henley | 11 | 78 | 71 | 75 | 224 |
T68 | Graham DeLaet | 11 | 76 | 72 | 76 | 224 |
T74 | Chris Wood | 12 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 225 |
T74 | Jason Dufner | 12 | 72 | 77 | 76 | 225 |
T74 | Oliver Fisher | 12 | 70 | 78 | 77 | 225 |
T74 | Padraig Harrington | 12 | 73 | 75 | 77 | 225 |
T74 | Ben Curtis | 12 | 74 | 71 | 80 | 225 |
T79 | Mikko Ilonen | 13 | 72 | 78 | 76 | 226 |
T79 | K.T. Kim | 13 | 73 | 76 | 77 | 226 |
T79 | Bo Van Pelt | 13 | 76 | 73 | 77 | 226 |
82 | Kevin Streelman | 14 | 74 | 71 | 82 | 227 |
T83 | Sandy Lyle | 15 | 76 | 72 | 80 | 228 |
T83 | Shiv Kapur | 15 | 68 | 77 | 83 | 228 |
More golf from SB Nation:
• Hunter Mahan in the final group, again
• Open redemption for Adam Scott?
• Will Tiger’s cautious approach cost him?
• GIFs: Schwartel’s 450-yard drive | Laird’s rough issues
• Final round leaderboard updates and coverage from Muirfield