2024 British Open leaderboard breakdown: Billy Horschel soars to claim top spot with major stars in pursuit

Horschel put together rounds of 68-69 to claim his first lead at a major championship

The 2024 Open is, well, wide open. Through 54 holes at Royal Troon, the leaderboard remains as congested as ever with Billy Horschel rising to the top of it during a wet and windy Moving Day. Carding a 2-under 69 in some of the most difficult conditions on Saturday, the American stands at 4 under and one shot above everyone else in the final major championship of the season.

While Horschel has become a household name on the PGA Tour given his 2014 FedEx Cup victory, eight tournament wins and a Presidents Cup appearance, the majors have been an inherently different story for the fiery former Florida Gators star. With only two top 10s in his prior 42 majors -- his first coming at the 2013 U.S. Open and his most recent at this year's PGA Championship -- Horschel finds himself in unprecedented territory.

The good news for the American? Many others are in the same position as him on this leaderboard.

Horschel's margin is one heading into Sunday's deciding round, but therere's a half dozen players -- and some big names -- who sit right behind him at 3 under. Among them are Englishmen Daniel Brown and Justin Rose, who are each aiming to become the first man from their country since Nick Faldo in 1990 to claim the Claret Jug. Having to go through qualifying just to play in this championship, the two are alongside Russell Henley, Sam Burns and Thirston Lawrence as possible outside winners. 

While there are a bevy of names on the first page of this leaderboard, eyes are drawn to two who have already claimed crowns in 2024. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is lurking after rounds of 70-70-71, as is PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele from one stroke closer. The two aim to join a list of names that includes Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington and Tiger Woods (four times) as players to win multiple majors in the same year since 2000.

2024 Open Championship leaderboard, Round 3

1. Billy Horschel (-4): Horschel's short game was on full display Saturday. After making the turn in 4 under, the Floridian tried his damnedest to hold on through the difficult back nine. Hitting just one green in regulation across the final half, Horschel got up-and-down from just about everywhere to secure the first 54-hole lead of his major career. At one point, he was successful scrambling for par across five straight holes. 

T2. Daniel Brown, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Sam Burns, Thirston Lawrence (-3): Henley, Burns and Lawrence made the most of their Moving Days as all three carded rounds in the mid 60s. Henley has quietly turned into a strong major competitor with a top-five finish at the 2023 Masters and top 10 at last month's U.S. Open. The Open has been a thorn in his side, but he appeared to figure out the puzzle on Saturday and poses as a real threat to claim the Claret Jug.

Meanwhile, Schauffele carded one of the best scores of the afternoon with his 69. Coming into the week, he had a chance to capture top 10s in all four majors this season. Entering Sunday, he will have a chance to win his second major in his last three tries.

"The first five or six holes was light wind, mainly downwind on the front and not any rain," Henley said. "Made some birdies there, gave myself a lot of looks and made some good putts. Then the rain just picked up and got harder and harder. I'm very, very happy. I don't know how much better I could have played. I hit my driver as good as I could hit it. Links golf has really humbled me as this is my 10th Open and [I] never really feel like I've known what I was doing exactly. So, today was a great round for me, and I'm just really excited about it."

8. Scottie Scheffler (-2): The world No. 1 is one of two men to not card an over-par round this week as his 71 on Saturday kept him within arm's length of the lead. In typical Scheffler fashion, the American struck the ball the best hitting 13 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation in the worst of the conditions. Unfortunately, in vintage Scheffler fashion, his putter failed to show up as he lost more than three strokes on the greens.

"I can think of a couple days with some crazy high winds that may have been more challenging, but overall the back nine, I think that was probably the hardest nine holes that I'll ever play," Scheffler said. "I shouldn't say ever, but it's definitely the hardest that I've played to this point."

9. Shane Lowry (-1): After building up a three-stroke lead early in the third round, Lowry lost his magic. A double bogey on the Postage Stamp was the beginning of the end as he inexplicably missed left in the coffin bunker protecting the putting surface on the short, devilish par 3. Five more bogeys from there saw the Irishman go from the top of the leaderboard to just inside the top 10. The putter betrayed him over the last 10 holes with a heavy diet of low, left misses leading to a 77.

T10. Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, Matthew Jordan (E): Thomas turned in 5-under 31, good for a 14-stroke improvement compared to his front nine on Friday where he needed 45 strokes. He got it as deep as 2 under for the championship, but rain started to roll in during the middle portion of his back nine and dampened his scorcher. Two bogeys in his last six holes aren't the end of the world, but he will need another beauty tomorrow.

"Golf," Thomas said of his up-and-down week. "'Golf' is how I would sum it up. It's a crazy sport, and a lot of things can happen in a lot of conditions. But that's what I signed up for, I guess."

T13. Sungjae Im, Byeong Hun An (+1): Im's third-round 66 moved him inside the top 20 during a season that has been peculiar to say the least. Rattling off six straight top 10s in non-major tournaments, the South Korean has been a weekend omission in each major so far in 2024. Despite hitting only 10 greens in regulation, he rattled off six birdies on Saturday.

T15. Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson and seven others (+2): Rahm, Johnson and Morikawa's rounds of 1 over came in higher than the third-round average but below the afternoon average. Battling tough to hang around, the two-time major champions may only have a slim chance to grab No. 3, but still, they have a chance.

"I mean, the back nine, that's the hardest nine holes I think you could ever play in golf right now -- into the wind and rain. I mean, it's so long I could barely reach the par-4s; I had to smash 2 to get there, same with Brooks [Koepka]," Johnson said. "That's how long it was playing."

T25. Patrick Cantlay, Dean Burmester, Gay Woodland and five others (+3)
T33. Cameron Young, Jason Day, Sepp Straka and four others (+4)
T40. Brian Harman, Davis Thompson, Joaquin Niemann, Max Homa and seven others (+5)
T51. Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Robert MacIntyre and five others (+6)

Rick Gehman, Patrick McDonald and Greg DuCharme recap a busy moving day at Royal Troon and set you up for Sunday's final round at the Open Championship. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

[Jul 20, 2024 at 2:38 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Horschel scrambling his face off

That's four straight up-and-downs from one of our leaders. The last two have come from greenside bunkers and he has produced a pair of pearls to remain at 5 under. He stands there with Dan Brown who will have a chance to grab a rare back-nine birdie as he plays the par-5 16th.

[Jul 20, 2024 at 2:19 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Xander Schauffele playing 18

At -4, Xander has a real chance to lead the Open outright if he makes par at 18. Everybody around him is still out on the course, and the back nine is currently playing to an average of 2.32 in the afternoon wave. Lots of bogey opportunities for the leaders.

[Jul 20, 2024 at 2:15 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Lowry continues to leak oil

The putter has betrayed the Irishman over the last six holes. He makes another bogey on the par-3 14th and is now 4 over for the day and 3 under for the championship. The good news is he is only two strokes behind, the bad news is he is 5 over in his last seven holes.

[Jul 20, 2024 at 2:06 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

This is insane.

[Jul 20, 2024 at 1:46 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Dan Brown takes the solo lead

The Englishman is going about his business effectively. A birdie on No. 12 pushes the lead out to 6 under where he stands alone. Billy Horschel is his nearest pursuer just one back and all of a sudden, Shane Lowry is two strokes off the lead. This might be the first time since early Friday morning where the Irishman has not been the top name on the board.

[Jul 20, 2024 at 1:34 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Lead goes to -5

Lowry bogeys the par-4 11th hole, and now the lead is -5. Suddenly, guys like Sam Burns who shot 65 earlier in the day are in the mix. It will be interesting to see if Xander Schauffele (-4) or Scottie Scheffler (-3) get any closer over the next few hours. 

[Jul 20, 2024 at 1:11 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Scheffler hanging around

He's hitting the golf ball so so so well and getting absolutely nothing out of it. He's three back and very much in it but there's not a ton of momentum right now. The tournament swings on whatever he does on these next seven holes.

[Jul 20, 2024 at 12:43 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Game on

Well, that changes everything. Shane Lowry has two blemishes on his scorecard this week and they are two big ones. The latest comes on the Postage Stamp where he cards a double bogey and drops to 6 under. Dan Brown makes a 4 himself to drop a stroke but he catches Lowry in the process. The final game also has company atop the leaderboard as Billy Horschel has carded yet another birdie on No. 9. He's at 6 under as well after turning in 4 under.

[Jul 20, 2024 at 12:31 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Lowry's lead trimmed to one

Dan Brown is VIBING. Hunting the mega angle on No. 7, the Englishman's tee shot lands on the green on No. 8 and finds the short grass on the hole running parallel. It opens up the green and he pays off the break with his second straight dart (non-cigarette division). He reaches 7 under and only one behind Shane Lowry who is letting some chances go by the wayside.

[Jul 20, 2024 at 12:21 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Backwards hat Billy battling tough

It is the Florida Gator who has the best round among those who have played primarily in the rain. He cards back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6-7 to reach 5 under and get within three of Shane Lowry. 

[Jul 20, 2024 at 12:09 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Chance for separation

Depending on how the weather breaks this afternoon, I think there is a chance Lowry and Dan Brown could separate a bit over the next two hours. They might get the back nine in much better weather than players are currently getting it.