The Open: Ryan Fox becomes latest player to equal men’s major record

By Carl Markham, Press Association

Ryan Fox became the third man in 24 hours at Royal Birkdale to equal the lowest round in a men’s major with his 62 giving him a share of the lead on The Open’s third day.

The New Zealander went out in 29 after five birdies in seven holes from the second and despite carding his only bogey at the 13th his 33 saw him match the feats of his co-leader Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns.

Australian Herbert and American Burns were still over an hour away from starting their rounds when Fox produced a brilliant escape from a fairway bunker to set up an unlikely 48-foot birdie putt to become the first man to post 61 but he left his attempt four feet short.

Fox’s playing partner Xander Schauffele is the only man to have two 62s on his major record.

Scoring was not as easy for everyone with Masters champion Rory McIlroy frustrated in his hopes of capitalising on the benign conditions.

Back-to-back bogeys at the third and the fourth – where he missed a par putt from inside five feet – dropped him back to one over before picking up his first shot at the driveable par-four fifth, getting up and down from the front hollow.

The highlight of his round was a 348-yard drive just short of the 9th green and a chip in for eagle, which the Northern Irishman looked somewhat bemused by.

But having got to two under at the turn another bogey at the 11th returned him to where he had started the round, still seven off the lead.

Bryson DeChambeau was hoping for a fast start as he arrived back at course bidding to put a rules controversy behind him.

The two-time US Open champion was the focus of attention after being hit with a two-shot penalty after his second round.

DeChambeau shot a four-under-par 66 to move within one of the lead but was punished for inadvertently improving his swing path by treading on long grass around his ball in rough on the fifth.

Following some extraordinary scenes – including him being driven out to the scene of the incident to the right of the fifth fairway and then hitting balls on the range until 10.30pm after the penalty was imposed – the American was set to get his Open bid back on track at 3.30pm.

Local favourite Tommy Fleetwood, fellow Englishman Matt Wallace and world number one Scottie Scheffler, all in the pack four shots back, started their rounds looking to make a move.