British Open: Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen on top

St Andrews (Scotland): South African Louis Oosthuizen and American Zach Johnson were flying high at the top of a massively congested leaderboard early in the delayed final round of the 144th British Open on Monday but amateur Paul Dunne had a rocky start.

 

Oosthuizen, who won the prized Claret Jug the last time golf’s oldest major was held at St Andrews in 2010, rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt at the first as he moved to 13 under par through three holes. 

 

Former US Masters champion Johnson was on the same mark after having squeezed four birdies in the first seven holes on a wet day at St Andrews where the final round was being played on Monday after rain and high winds caused havoc over the weekend.

 

Sharing third place on 12 under were Australian trio Jason Day, Adam Scott and Marc Leishman, Sergio Garcia of Spain, American Jordan Spieth and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington with a host of players breathing down their necks on 11 and 10-under.

 

Spieth, 21, is bidding to become the first player since compatriot Ben Hogan in 1953 to land the opening three majors of the year.  Dunne, who shared the lead with Oosthuizen and Day at the beginning of the round, made a disappointing start with bogeys at the first two holes.

 

The young Irishman then bounced back in style by hitting a dazzling approach shot to four feet at the third and calmly rolling in his birdie putt to go to 11 under. 

Also on 11 under were fellow amateurs Ashley Chesters of Britain and Jordan Niebrugge of the US, through 14 and five holes respectively. 

 

Earlier, only the second Monday finish in Open history got  underway with Spieth poised to become just the second man to win the year’s first three majors, while an Irish amateur was seeking to pull off one of the greatest upsets ever.

 

Early indications were that it could be another day of low-scoring at the Old Course with several of the early starters getting to five or six-under. 

Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald and Brendon Todd all made charges up the leaderboards, but they knew that ultimately their efforts would be in vain.

 

Rain was forecast to move into the area by mid-afternoon, as the leaders set off but it was not expected to be heavy enough to bother them. Spieth, the 21-year-old Texan, has taken the golfing world by storm this year, winning the Masters in April and the US Open last month.