Ryan Fox shot a 62 at Royal Birkdale to share the lead on the third day of The Open. The New Zealander matched the lowest round in a men's major, becoming the third golfer in 24 hours to achieve the score at the course.
Fox went out in 29 after making five birdies in seven holes from the second. Despite carding his only bogey at the 13th, a back nine of 33 saw him match co-leaders Lucas Herbert of Australia and Sam Burns of the United States.
Herbert and Burns were still over an hour away from starting their rounds when Fox finished. The New Zealander produced an escape from a fairway bunker to set up a 48-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to potentially become the first player to post a 61 in a major, but left his attempt four feet short.
His playing partner Xander Schauffele is the only player with two rounds of 62 on his major record.
Rory McIlroy round
Scoring proved more difficult for Masters champion Rory McIlroy, who was unable to take full advantage of benign conditions. Back-to-back bogeys at the third and fourth holes, including a missed par putt from inside five feet on the fourth, dropped him to one over par.
The Northern Irishman picked up his first shot at the driveable par-four fifth by getting up and down from the front hollow. The highlight of his round arrived at the ninth, where he hit a 348-yard drive just short of the green and chipped in for eagle, a shot that left him looking somewhat bemused.
Having reached two under at the turn, a bogey at the 11th dropped McIlroy back to level par for the round, leaving him seven shots off the lead.
Bryson DeChambeau penalty
Bryson DeChambeau arrived back at the course looking to restart his tournament after receiving a two-shot penalty following his second round. The two-time US Open champion had shot a four-under-par 66 to move within one shot of the lead before officials penalised him for inadvertently improving his swing path by stepping on long grass around his ball in the rough at the fifth hole.
The decision led to unusual scenes, with DeChambeau driven out to inspect the fifth fairway site and later hitting balls on the range until 10:30pm. He was set to begin his third round at 3:30pm.
Local favourite Tommy Fleetwood, fellow Englishman Matt Wallace and world number one Scottie Scheffler were among the group four shots off the lead starting their rounds.
