Golf

Sepp Straka falls back at the British Open

Sepp Straka

(Bild: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Professional golfer Sepp Straka was unable to work his way forward at the 152nd British Open on Saturday. The 31-year-old played a round of 73 in rainy conditions on the so-called Moving Day, the third day of the tournament, and dropped 15 places in the overall ranking. Austria's number one is now in 33rd place with 4 over par. 

The US American Billy Horschel goes into the final day as the leader with 4 under par.

On Saturday, the golf stars were largely spared the wind of the previous days. However, unpleasant rain set in in the afternoon, which affected the top players who started later. This also affected Straka, who initially coped well with the conditions on the first nine holes. Last year's runner-up played flawlessly and scored two stroke gains on the second and third holes.

At the back, however, the Vienna-born player increasingly made mistakes. These resulted in three bogeys and a double bogey with only one further birdie. With 217 strokes after three rounds, Straka now has a respectable gap to the top. He is four strokes off a top 10 result.

Ireland's Shane Lowry surrendered the top position with a round of 77 to Horschel, who managed a 69. The top eight players are only two strokes apart, with US stars Xander Schauffele (second on 3-under par) and Scottie Scheffler (eighth on 2-under) in a promising position.

The shot of the tournament, however, came from South Korean Kim Si-woo, who managed an ace on the 17th hole. With this feat from around 218 meters, the 29-year-old made the longest hole in one in the history of the Open Championship. "I've had quite a few hole-in-ones in my life, but this is the most memorable," said Kim.