The Open Round 3: Sam Burns Takes a Two-Shot Lead as Ryan Fox Fires Birkdale's Third 62

Two weeks ago Sam Burns was at home with a newborn daughter and no plans to play this week. On Saturday night he was sleeping on a 54-hole lead at The Open.

Burns followed Friday's record-tying 62 with a 5-under 65 at Royal Birkdale to reach 10-under 200 and take a two-shot lead into the final round of the 154th Open Championship. Ryan Fox and Si Woo Kim share second at 8 under after Fox became the third man this week to shoot 62. Ryan Gerard and 36-hole leader Lucas Herbert are three back at 7 under, and Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Aberg and Jackson Suber sit four back at 6 under.

Burns Keeps His Foot Down

There was no hangover from Friday. Burns birdied the second after a terrific approach, holed a putt of about 15 feet at the fourth, then added birdies at the seventh and eighth to get to 9 under. A bogey at the ninth was his only blemish. On the back nine he waited for his moment and found it at 14, where a long birdie putt, about 30 feet per The R&A, moved him alone into the lead for the first time all week. He added one more at 17 with a wedge stuffed close while others around him leaked shots.

The numbers are absurd. Burns has played his last 36 holes in 127, which The R&A says is the lowest second-and-third-round total in Open history, three better than Fuzzy Zoeller in 1994 and Shane Lowry in 2019.

He was not even supposed to be in Southport. His wife, Caroline, was due with their second child the Tuesday of Open week. Their daughter, Belle, arrived on July 3 instead, and after a family conversation and a phone call to close friend Scottie Scheffler, Burns booked the trip a week before the championship, per the AP. The 29-year-old from Shreveport, Louisiana, finished runner-up at the U.S. Open last month and now has a second straight major chance in his hands.

Fox Joins the 62 Club

Fox went off early, when Birkdale was close to windless, and treated it like a birdie buffet. The New Zealander made five birdies on the front nine to turn in 29. He drove the 321-yard fifth to about 30 feet and later wedged it to 4 feet from the rough at the par-5 17th. His only bogey came at 13 after his drive found a pot bunker, and he answered with birdies at 14, 16 and 17.

He still had a 61 in play on the last. After a fairway bunker, Fox reached the green but faced nearly 50 feet for birdie, left it about 5 feet short and holed the par putt for 62. That made it nine birdies and one bogey, and a jump from even par into a tie for second.

"The game plan was to be aggressive," Fox said, per the AP. He said much the same in other interviews, adding that he felt he had gotten away with a couple of scruffy shots on the back nine.

The history keeps piling up. There have now been eight 62s in men's major history, per the AP, and half of them have come at Royal Birkdale, starting with Branden Grace in 2017. Of the 62s before this week, only one came from a player who went on to win, Xander Schauffele at the 2024 PGA Championship.

Kim Plays Through the Pain

Kim quietly shot 67 while playing through an Achilles injury, per The R&A. A 20-footer at the 10th was the highlight, a bogey at 11 followed, and a birdie at 17 got Kim to 8 under and right into the mix.

Herbert and the Chasers

Herbert could not find Friday's magic. He hit only five of 14 fairways, made three bogeys and shot 71. He did not sound like a man surprised by what is ahead of him. "Sam Burns is going to be a man possessed," Herbert said, per the AP.

Gerard, an Open debutant, birdied 13 and 14 on the way to 69 to stay three back. Aberg's 67 included just one bogey, at the first. Suber, the first-round leader, shot 70 and is four back.

DeChambeau shrugged off Friday's penalty with a 69, although a bogey at the last stung. He said the controversy would fire him up, per the AP.

Stars Running Out of Runway

Tommy Fleetwood thrilled the home crowd with birdies at five, seven and 11, the last from 30 feet, before dropping shots at 15 and 18. He shot 69 and is five back at 5 under.

Scheffler, the defending champion, shot 70 and is six back at 4 under. He went 34 holes without a bogey before missing from 3 and a half feet at 16, and he admitted his frustration with the putter. Jon Rahm (70), Xander Schauffele (66) and Dan Brown (69) are also at 4 under. Cameron Young, part of the three-way tie for second on Friday, slipped back with a 73 and sits at 3 under, seven back.

The Sunday Setup

Fox posted his number in the calm of the morning and finished about 90 minutes before the final group even teed off, per the AP. Burns answered anyway. He has two shots in hand, a record-setting 36 holes behind him and 18 to go. Seven players are within four shots of him, and two of them, Fox and Herbert, have already shot 62 this week. Sunday will tell us whether the best middle 36 holes in Open history can carry Burns through one more.

Catch up on Round 1 and Round 2 from Royal Birkdale. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the AP's Round 3 report (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (AP Round 3 reports and leaderboard), The R&A (theopen.com), NBC Sports, AP. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.