Weather sends scores soaring

Muirfield bit back on day three of the Open Championship with driving rain and a fierce wind sending players tumbling off the leaderboard

Those fortunate to have played their rounds in the relative calm of the morning suddenly found themselves back in contention for the title.

But the leaders going out in the afternoon could do little as the dark clouds rumbled in.

Here are just some examples of the calamitous golf played on an unforgettable afternoon:

Steve Stricker (eight) and Warren Bennett (seven) racked up 15 shots between them on the long fifth. The pair eventually signed for scores of 81 and 82 respectively.

Colin Montgomerie suffered what appeared to be a dreaded ‘‘shank’’ on the fifth. The Scot, braving the conditions in only a pullover, had a day to forget after yesterday’s course record 64.

Duffy Waldorf, overnight joint leader, suffered back-to-back double-bogeys on the fifth and sixth and also notched five other bogeys in a nine-over-par outward half of 45.

David Toms, who jointly led the tournament after the first round, slumped to a 10-over 81 that left him 10-over for the tournament. The American’s round included a quadruple-bogey eight at the eighth.

Stephen Ames, who had been just two off the lead overnight, reached the turn in an eight-over 44, including a quadruple-bogey seven on the short fourth.

Two-time US Open champion Lee Janzen, who suffered two double and three single bogeys in his first six holes, added another double on the short 13th before signing for a 13-over par round of 84.

British Open Leaderboard - third round scores

211 Justin Leonard (USA) 71 72 68, Justin Rose 68 75 68, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 71 69 71, Scott McCarron (USA) 71 68 72, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 68 70 73

212 Steve Elkington (Aus) 71 73 68, Peter Lonard (Aus) 72 72 68

213 Stuart Appleby (Aus) 73 70 70, David Duval (USA) 72 71 70, Loren Roberts (USA) 74 69 70, Craig Perks (Nzl) 72 70 71, Ian Garbutt 69 70 74, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 68 74

214 Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 72 72 70, Jerry Kelly (USA) 73 71 70, Greg Norman (Aus) 71 72 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 73 71, Davis Love III (USA) 71 72 71, Scott Hoch (USA) 74 69 71, Chris Smith (USA) 74 69 71, Barry Lane 74 68 72, Bob Estes (USA) 71 70 73, David Park 73 67 74, Gary Evans 72 68 74, Scott Verplank (USA) 72 68 74, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 72 68 74, Andrew Coltart 71 69 74, Corey Pavin (USA) 69 70 75

215 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 72 72 71, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 72 72 71, Peter O’Malley (Aus) 72 68 75, Mark O’Meara (USA) 69 69 77

216 Toshimitsu Izawa (Jpn) 76 68 72, Roger Wessels (Rsa) 72 71 73, Steve Jones (USA) 68 75 73, Joe Durant (USA) 72 71 73, Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn) 70 73 73, Bradley Dredge 70 72 74, Mike Weir (Can) 73 69 74, Chris DiMarco (USA) 72 69 75, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 71 70 75, Darren Clarke 72 67 77, Ian Poulter 69 69 78

217 Ian Woosnam 72 72 73, Sandy Lyle 68 76 73, Jim Carter (USA) 74 70 73, Rocco Mediate (USA) 71 72 74, Chris Riley (USA) 70 71 76

218 Fredrik Andersson (Swe) 74 70 74, Esteban Toledo (Mex)73 70 75, Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 70 73 75, Neal Lancaster (USA) 71 71 76, Nick Faldo 73 69 76, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 70 77, Len Mattiace (USA) 68 73 77, Paul Lawrie 70 70 78

219 Richard Green (Aus) 72 72 75, Pierre Fulke (Swe) 72 69 78, Jeff Maggert (USA) 71 68 80, Tiger Woods (USA) 70 68 81

220 Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 71 73 76, Phil Mickelson (USA) 68 76 76, Paul Eales 73 71 76, Stewart Cink (USA) 71 69 80, Steve Stricker (USA) 69 70 81

221 Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 74 66 81, Warren Bennett 71 68 82

222 Matthew Cort 73 71 78, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 72 79

223 David Toms (USA) 67 75 81, Lee Janzen (USA) 70 69 84