Southport, England: South Africa’s Branden Grace shot a blistering round of 62, the lowest ever in a men’s major championship, as the players made hay in benign conditions at the British Open on Saturday.
Grace, the world No. 35, picked up eight birdies in a flawless third round to move to four-under par, two shots behind leader Jordan Spieth.
There have been 31 rounds of 63 in major championships and Grace’s feat prompted a standing ovation at the 18th green as he saluted the packed galleries at Royal Birkdale.
“I honestly had no idea that was something historic,” Grace told reporters.
“I knew I was playing well and I was just in the zone. I didn’t know 62 was the lowest ever but now it makes it even more special. If my caddie knew he never said anything; good on him!”
American world No. 1 Dustin Johnson also made a significant move up the leaderboard by collecting six birdies in his first 15 holes to get to three under.
Heavy rain and swirling crosswinds had made scoring difficult in the second round but the sun came out on Saturday morning and the world’s top players took full advantage.
Local favourite Tommy Fleetwood, the world No. 14, gave the home fans something to cheer about with a fine round of 66 and former world number one Jason Day of Australia shot 65 to move to level par.
Day, the PGA champion in 2015, was one of a host of players to profit from the benign early conditions that contrasted sharply with the miserable weather late on Friday.
Day had five birdies and not a single bogey in his five-under-par round that saw him rocket up to even par for the championship.
He had only just made the cut on five-over after a dreadful round of 76 on Friday. He was five-over through his last three holes in his second round.
Day’s compatriot Scott Hend produced the best consecutive run of birdies this week as he had five in a row from the 13th en route to a 65, the joint-best score of the week.
Hend is level-par for the championship, as is South Africa’s Shaun Norris, who went out on his own in the first tee time of the day at 9:20am (0820 GMT) and also shot 65.
