SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — The Latest on the British Open (all times local):
3:30 p.m.
China’s Li Haotong is suddenly in the mix at the British Open.
Li birdied his last four holes to shoot a 7-under-63 and move to 6 under in the final round at Royal Birkdale. He was three behind leader Jordan Spieth.
Li, who shot an 84 in the final round of the U.S. Open last month, hit his approach shot to just a few feet on the final hole to cap off his round. The 63 would have tied a record for major championship scoring if Branden Grace had not set a new record of 62 a day earlier.
Spieth, meanwhile, was stumbling early. A day after making no bogeys in shooting a 65 he bogeyed three of his first four holes and saw his three-shot lead evaporate as Kuchar moved into a tie.
But Spieth rebounded on the fifth hole, putting it to 5 feet and making birdie to regain the lead.
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3:05 p.m.
Matt Kuchar is suddenly only one stroke out of the lead in the British Open after Jordan Spieth bogeyed two of his first three holes.
A birdie from just a foot away on the second hole helped close what had been a three-shot gap between Kuchar and third round leader Spieth. Spieth had earlier bogeyed the first hole after hitting it into deep rough left of the fairway, and both players bogeyed the third.
The Open is shaping up to be a two man race. The nearest challengers to Spieth are another five shots back.
Spieth didn’t make a bogey all day in the third round as he shot a 65. But he stumbled out of the blocks after beginning the day with a three-shot lead.
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2:35 p.m.
Jordan Spieth is off in search of his first British Open title.
The two-time major champion teed off Sunday under sunny skies and with a three-shot lead over Matt Kuchar, his playing partner. Spieth hit his tee shot into the left rough, while Kuchar split the fairway.
Spieth has three rounds in the 60s, including two 65s in this Open. He played Saturday without making a bogey at Royal Birkdale.
Kuchar is looking for his first major championship title.
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2:15 p.m.
Some of those trying to chase Jordan Spieth in the final round of the British Open have stumbled early.
Dustin Johnson made a double bogey on the first hole. He shot 64 in the third round, but was eight shots behind Spieth entering Sunday’s final round.
Rory McIlroy was even through three holes, but faced a monumental challenge to get within shouting distance of Spieth. He was nine shots back.
Spieth begins the day with a three-shot lead over Matt Kuchar. Brooks Koepka and Austin Connelly are another three shots back.
Though conditions were mostly favorable for the early starters, they were not shooting the kind of low rounds seen the day before, when Branden Grace set a major championship scoring record with a 62.
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Jordan Spieth faced more blustery conditions at Royal Birkdale as he set out to try to win the third leg of the career Grand Slam at the British Open.
Spieth had a three-shot lead over Matt Kuchar, who is playing in the final group of a major for the first time.
Xander Schauffele put together a 65 on Sunday morning, the best round of the early starters. The wind was expected to increase, though nothing like the second round.
Kuchar was the only player within five shots of Spieth.
A record crowd has taken it all in. The R&A says this is the highest attendance for a British Open in England, topping the 230,000 mark set at Royal Liverpool when Tiger Woods won in 2006.
