How often do the buses run at Birkdale?
You wait nine years for a round of 62 in the Open and three come along in little over 24 hours.
Early on Saturday, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox carded an eight-under-par 62 in the third round at Royal Birkdale, to match the efforts of Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns on Friday and equal the lowest round in men’s major history.
Fox, like Herbert, had the chance to shoot 61, but after finding the bunker off the tee on the 18th, left himself a 48-foot putt for a place in history.
His attempt pulled up five feet short of the hole but he knocked that in to record the eighth round of 62 in a major championship, with half of those coming at Royal Birkdale.
“I probably didn’t think about it [the record] too much until I got up and down on 14 for birdie,” he told BBC Sport.
“I got a little lucky on the last to have a shot out of the fairway bunker.
“I clipped the very top of the lip with my second shot and wasn’t quite sure how it ended up where it did, but I was happy to see it go forward.
“It was a nervy first putt, but I was happy to see the second one go in.
He added: “We’ve had it as good as you can get weather wise. The wind was down, the greens are perfect, the ball is going miles with the fairways so baked out.
“I had a lot of fun and it’s nice knowing I’m going to be in the mix [on Sunday].”
Playing alongside 2024 Open champion Xander Schauffele, Fox made a fast start, with five birdies in his opening eight holes.
His only blemish came on the par-four 13th, failing to get up and down from the left rough after his tee shot was pushed into the fairway bunker.
He responded with three birdies in the next four holes to give himself a shot at breaking history, only to once more find his driving wanting on the last.
Fox holds the clubhouse lead on eight under par. That score tied with Australian Herbert, who tees off at 15:50 BST.
“I’m going to have a chance to win the Open which is pretty exciting,” Fox said.
“It’ll be pretty nerve wracking out there but being aggressive the last couple of days has served me well. I’ll try to do the same [on Sunday] and hope it works out.”
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