Moving Day at The 2022 Open at St Andrews
Posted on July 16, 2022
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Moving Day at The Open
The Old Course was running hard and firm and it seemed to be a course that would surrender, but St Andrews still delivered its share of trial and tribulations. Players did enjoy birdie opportunities throughout, but the leaders still suffered bogeys and worse down the closing stretch.
Through 9 holes, it was pretty jam packed around the top of the leaderboard, until a few dropped shots on the back 9 separated the pack.
Viktor was the first to put the hammer down, making 4 birdies in a row to vault into the lead. He then went a little cold around the turn and made a string of par saves to keep the momentum going.
Playing with Viktor was Rory who took a little longer to get going, but did still shoot 33 on the front 9, before a sensational eagle on 10 from the sand. The balance of the back 9 was a struggle coming home, but the ships were steady regardless.
The 2 Cambo’s were playing together in the final pairing and found the going tough all day. Its a memory that will last with them forever, final pairing at The Open at the Old Course. Wow.
The 2 Cambo’s did manage to keep going though and sit 4 shots back headed into Sunday. Its a key number as every champion of The Open at St Andrews has been within 4 shots of the lead headed into the last round. No man named Cameron has ever won a major - it might not change at The Open, but surely destined to change 1 day with these 2!
Scottie & Si Woo sit a further shot back on 11 under, but you can’t see any winners from further back.
Viktor & Rory rallied late to post birdies on the last to end on 16 under and will be in the final pairing tomorrow after matching 66s.
Its going to be a brilliant Final Day Sunday with the forecast of moderate winds and lots of sun. Expect plenty of birdies and eagles, but the pins will be cleverly stacked into corners. This will yield a combination of birdies and bogeys which will make for great viewing!
There are some brilliant potentials heading into the Final Day:
Rory: ends a major drought of 8 years and ties Seve with 5 majors and impeccable 2022 major record
Viktor: first major win
2 x Cambo win: both first wins and both rounding off superb years in the majors
Round of the Day
There were a few 66s on Moving Day, moving those up the board. 2 of those came from the leaders, creating a 4 shot gulf for them.
There was one 65 though which had Kiz 7 under trough 10 and thinking he could go much lower before a bogey on 12 stalled him.
Like everyone, the back 9 proved very tough and most of the low scores were tee’d up early on the front 9.
Shot of the Day
There were some incredible long range and chip-in eagles throughout the day - mainly across the turn. Lowry even made eagles on 9 and 10!
Performance of the Day
The 2 top players went toe to toe all day on Moving Day in the penultimate group, lighting up the Old Course and getting fans out their seats.
The Leaders
The Chasers
Reminder of the Stats:
Bucket 1: Rory 45%, Jordan 18%, Rahmbo 10% & Cambo 8% (1 leads, ALL 4 are under par)
Bucket 2: Xander 24%, Zala 19%, Fitzy 17% & Lowry 12% (ALL 4 are under par)
Bucket 3: Power 17%, Tiger 10%, Scotty 8% & JRose 8% (1 is under par, 2 MCs and a WD)
For a full view of the scores head to Open Leaderboard and
majorpunter leaderboard.
majorpunter Leaderboard:
| Rank | Team | Punter | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Burry | Dale Burraston | -40 |
| T1 | Team Scrotum | Jovan Tutunovic | -40 |
| T3 | Historic Heroes | Greg Dane | -38 |
| T3 | Bradthig3 | Bradley Thigpen | -38 |
| T3 | Fitzmagic3 | Wil Harper | -38 |
| T6 | WRPHILLIPS21 (2) | William Phillips | -36 |
| T6 | Little General | Graeme East | -36 |
| 8 | hitting shapes | Bruce Wylie | -35 |
| T9 | Cook’s Quintet | Eric Cook | -34 |
| T9 | Tee time | Claire Botha | -34 |
The leaderboard bounced around on Moving Day before settling into seemingly a 5-horse race.
Team Scrotum and Burry are tied up the top with a 2 shot lead over Historic Heroes, Bradthig3 and Fitzmagic3.
Its going to be an exciting final day with 4 of the 5 leaders having MC’s and choosing NOT to sub them out. Historic Heroes was the only one to SUB, has taken the hit in round 3 and thus could be poised for a charge with all 5 ponies in place. Added to this, has the longest form headed into the final round.
Pressure told on Moving Day and cleared affected some of the early chargers, Sunday will be much the same. A melting pot of stress. We can’t wait!
| Rank | Team | Punter | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| T69 | Fitzmagic2 | Wil Harper | -14 |
| T69 | Em Zee | Matt Zarzour | -14 |
| T71 | Golfers Block | Knox Wyatt | -9 |
| T71 | Lilys Boyz | Lilian East | -9 |
| 73 | PokeyAU4 | Preston Barnes | -8 |
| T74 | Fitzmagic4 | Wil Harper | -5 |
| T74 | Thirstbucket | James Bisset | -5 |
| 76 | Bradthig1 | Bradley Thigpen | -4 |
| 77 | RLW-4 | Luke West | +5 |
| 78 | I HATE MIKE ADAMS | David Alexander | +7 |
The bottomboard only has 2 over par now - with a clear gap developing at the bottom.
I HATE MIKE ADAMS & RLW-4 have been bringing up the bottom all week. They are joined by Fitzmagic4 & Bradthig1, who show how quickly you can shift from the top to bottom with a small shift in focus.
For more news and information head over to majorpunter.
Final Day Sunday at The Open is going to be brilliant. Enjoy what unfolds, as it’s going to be unbelievable regardless of the outcome.