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David Duval showed just how gettable the Old Course is on moving day
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- A bunched leader board after two rounds and three days at the Old Course is getting even more crowded on Sunday. Several members of the early wave of the third round have climbed their way back into contention and a former Open champ led the charge.
David Duval (Yes, that David Duval) was in the first group off and he went off for seven birdies during a 67 that left him just outside of the top 10 when he concluded play.
"There's absolutely no pressure on me tomorrow. There's not. I mean, again, I joke -- when I tee it up and I know you're tired of hearing about it, but I expect to play well, and I haven't a lot of times," said Duval, who also began working for Golf Channel earlier this year. "So tomorrow -- y'all didn't expect to be standing here this morning, did you? No. So I'll go play tomorrow and do the best I can. Maybe I'll shoot 67 again, maybe I'll shoot 77, who knows? But I'll have a smile on my face and enjoy walking around St. Andrews, I can tell you that."
Just having a third-round tee time was a surprise for Duval, who made his first cut at a major in more than five years. Duval's 67 was his lowest round at the Open since the final round in 2001 at Royal Lytham where he captured his lone major title.
Moving Day -- albeit a day later than usual -- looks like it could provide plenty of similar stories. Five of the first six players to complete their rounds shot in the 60s and Graeme McDowell made eight birdies in the fourth group. Hunter Mahan shot 67 in game six; Jim Furyk turned in a 66 the group after that.
In the 11th group, Marc Leishman got to seven under through 13 holes to move into the top five, then made two more birdies coming in to shoot a 64. and get to nine under through 54 holes.
After the conclusion of his round on Saturday, Jordan Spieth figured he needed to shoot 10 under for the final two rounds to have a chance of winning a third consecutive major. Judging by Sunday's early scores, that type of finish certainly looks possible.