Louis Oosthuizen will tee off his final round at The Open on Sunday with a one-shot lead over playing partner Collin Morikawa.
The 2010 winner, who has finished as runner-up six times in majors, is eyeing a wire-to-wire victory at Royal St George's, where he starts his fourth round at 14:35 local time at 12 under.
American Morikawa also has a second major in his sights, having claimed the 2020 US PGA Championship.
Jordan Spieth is firmly in the mix, the three-time major winner and 2017 Champion Golfer of the Year at nine under, while pre-tournament favourite Jon Rahm is two strokes further back.
Corey Conners and Scottie Scheffler are each on eight under and hoping to earn maiden major triumphs.
Glorious weather means the course is set fair for low scoring for anyone who can summon the courage and accuracy to take on some tough pin positions at the Kent links.
There was promise in the early scores coming in, with American trio Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau all shooting 65.
If any of the leading trio should go that low, it will rule out the chasing pack and reduce the contenders down to the final couple of groups on course.
That would mean Brooks Koepka's surge up the leaderboard would still leave him short, the four-time major winner having made the turn in 31.
This is your time – Luke Donald drives Europe with emotion ahead of Ryder Cup
On the outskirts of the Eternal City, Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald has a simple message for his players: This is your time.
It is written, in their native language, on the wall in their personal area in the team’s dressing room, which also features a space dedicated to the late Seve Ballesteros – Europe’s long-time talisman in the biennial contest.
On their way to the first tee at Marco Simone, the last thing the players will see is a large image of Ballesteros, designed by local art students, bearing the Italian phrase: “Per sempre nei nostri cuori” – Forever in our hearts.
Donald has unashamedly cranked up the emotion in the build-up to Europe’s attempt to regain the Ryder Cup, bringing his players to tears with messages from family and friends and in Rory McIlroy’s case his caddie, Harry Diamond.
“Previous Ryder Cups we’ve gone pretty light-hearted at the start of the week and then we get hit with an emotional bomb before we go play Friday,” McIlroy said.
“It’s a little different this year. It flipped a little bit and I think that was part of Luke’s plan and strategy.”
McIlroy, of course, was famously emotional at the end of the previous Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, the four-time major winner feeling he had let his team down by suffering three heavy defeats before beating Xander Schauffele in the opening singles.
“I just can’t wait to get another shot at this,” McIlroy said in between sobs and, after a tumultuous two years in men’s professional golf, he will finally get his wish.
Joining LIV Golf in June 2022 and subsequently resigning from the DP World Tour meant that Ryder Cup stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood were ineligible for Donald’s team, although whether the ageing trio would have qualified or been selected anyway is up for debate.
US players remained eligible through membership of the PGA of America, but captain Zach Johnson made it clear he had zero interest in performances in the LIV Golf League and only US PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka was selected after narrowly failing to qualify.
That meant no place for the likes of Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, who garnered seven and a half points from eight matches in 2021, yet the visiting team can still boast three of this year’s major winners, six of the world’s top 10 and all 12 players ranked inside the top 25.
Europe have five players outside the top 30, including three of their four rookies, but can call on the world numbers two, three and four in McIlroy, Masters champion Jon Rahm and FedEx Cup winner Viktor Hovland.
They also have home advantage in a contest which has seen just one away victory in the last eight, namely the “Miracle at Medinah” in 2012 when Jose Maria Olazabal’s side recovered from 10-4 down to pull off an incredible win.
That also remains the last close contest and the United States have not won on European soil since 1993, a fact their players have been keen to play down.
“We have so many guys that have not played a foreign Ryder Cup, an away game, if you will. I think that ignorance is bliss in my opinion,” US Open champion Wyndham Clark said.
“We have guys like Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa and Collin Morikawa and myself that have played on Walker Cup and Palmer Cup teams where we dominated and all we know in our years is how to win, both away and at home.
“Then all we’ve ever seen and watched is that we lose on the road for Ryder Cups and so I almost feel like we have a little added chip on our shoulder.
“A lot of us played other sports and we all love that it’s an away game. We feel like we can quiet the crowd and it would be even more fun and more enjoyable to win on the road.”
Clark also said he wants to face McIlroy in the singles to prove he is the better player and that Europe’s team could be “leaking oil” on the final day. Whether he is sipping champagne or eating humble pie on Sunday will be fascinating to see.
Djokovic, Bale and Sainz among stars to take on Ryder Cup match in Rome
Novak Djokovic, Gareth Bale and Carlos Sainz were among the celebrities who turned out in a Ryder Cup ‘All Stars’ match ahead of the main event in Rome on Wednesday.
Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin, opposing captains at Celtic Manor in 2010, reprised their rivalry in a contest between two teams of six over seven holes at Marco Simone.
The competition provided some additional entertainment for the crowd as players from the European and United States teams continued to practice ahead of the 44th Ryder Cup, which begins on Friday.
Djokovic, who won a record-extending 24th grand slam at the US Open earlier this month, and Wales record goalscorer Bale were members of the triumphant ‘Team Monty’, which won 7-4.
Djokovic, who partnered leading disability golfer Kipp Popert in his four-ball match, said: “It’s a great honour to be here. It was something I will marvel and cherish for a very long time.
“Obviously I am much more comfortable hitting a tennis ball with my racket but I don’t think I did too badly today, I hit some good shots and had some good holes.”
The Serb is expected to speak to the European team prior to the start of the Ryder Cup.
“Now I am staying for a few days,” he said. “I have to experience this unique atmosphere. At 7am on Friday, I hear it is this incredible noise.”
Former Real Madrid and Tottenham star Bale, who has become a regular on the pro-am golf circuit since retiring after last year’s World Cup, emphasised the importance of team play in what is normally an individual sport.
He said: “You aren’t playing just for yourself, you are playing for your country, your continent. You have to put your ego to one side and its all about the team, doing your best for the team, whether you win or lose.”
Ferrari Formula One driver Sainz, whose team-mates on the day included 2004 Ballon d’Or winner Andriy Shevchenko and Victor Cruz, a Super Bowl champion with New York Giants, said: “I had a lot of fun.
“It was an incredible feeling to play in front of so many people on such a cool golf course.”
Pain of missing Ryder Cup will hit home now with LIV rebels – Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy believes the Ryder Cup absence of Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood will be felt more keenly by the LIV rebels than it will by the European team in Rome.
The trio have been stalwarts of the event for two decades but made themselves ineligible after joining the Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway and resigning their tour memberships.
Despite Garcia, the Ryder Cup’s all-time leading points scorer, making a forlorn late attempt to find a way back into the reckoning, McIlroy said the current side would not be dwelling on former team-mates.
“I mean, it’s certainly a little strange not having them around,” said the Northern Irishman.
“But I think this week of all weeks it’s going to hit home with them that they are not here and I think they are going to miss being here more than we’re missing them.
“It’s just more this week is a realisation that the decision they made has led to not being a part of this week and that’s tough.
“The landscape in golf is ever-changing and more dynamic, and we’ll see what happens and whether they will be part of it in the future.”
This summer’s surprise decision to merge LIV Golf into the PGA Tour is likely to offer a way back for all those players who initially defected, but there is plenty of negotiation and trade-offs to be done before that picture becomes clear.
But, having probably seen their Ryder Cup playing careers ended, Justin Rose, back after missing the record defeat at Whistling Straits, admits his former team-mates still have something to offer as members of the backroom staff.
“Obviously Westy, Poults as captains or vice-captains or however they may or may not be involved in the future do have a lot to offer,” said the Englishman.
“But the more we can kind of blood the younger generation coming through, the quicker you’re going to kind of skip through that transition phase.
“Maybe the transition started last time around at Whistling Straits and now we’re coming through that already.”
McIlroy is making his seventh Ryder Cup appearance, the most of any player at Marco Simone, and will be viewed as Europe’s leader on and off the course.
However, the world number two is keen to be viewed as just another regular member of the team and no hero figure.
“I’m not there giving rallying cries and speeches. When we came on the practice trip I said to every guy – and some of these guys have watched me play on TV – I don’t want anyone looking up to me,” he added.
“I want them looking over to me. I want them to see me like I’m on their level and there’s no hierarchy on our team.
“I guess that’s the one message I’ve tried to relay to some of the younger guys on the team.”
McIlroy will feel like he has a debt to repay after a paltry one-point return from a singles victory over Xander Schauffele in 2021, but he admits his game is in a much better place than two years ago.
“I felt like I was searching a little bit. I didn’t feel in full control of my game,” he said.
“I got a lot of confidence and belief in myself that Sunday singles at Whistling Straits because I certainly wasn’t believing in myself at that time, but the rest of my team did believe in me and sent me out number one to go get a blue point on the board.
“I realised that just being myself is enough. I think for a good part of 2021, I was trying to be something that maybe wasn’t natural to me.
View this post on InstagramMcIlroy was also asked about the behaviour of fans, particularly in the wake of Open champion and United States team member Brian Harmon being abused at Royal Liverpool this summer.
“There’s certainly a line. Most fans that come out to watch golf are very respectful and they know what that line is,” he added.
“Someone said to me once, ‘If you want to be part of the circus, you have to put up with the clowns’.”
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