Estes gives hope to chasing pack

American Bob Estes today gave hope to the chasing pack in the early stages of the third round of the British Open championship at Royal Troon.

Estes was one of 73 players to survive the halfway cut, rounds of 73 and 72 seeing him through to the weekend for the ninth time in 11 attempts right on the mark of three over par.

But four birdies in the first eight holes this morning quickly took the 38-year-old to one under par and just six shots off the lead held by compatriot Skip Kendall.

That proved just what was possible on the front nine where the players chasing surprise leader Kendall would be hoping to make their score this afternoon.

Local favourite Colin Montgomerie was among those hoping to close the gap. The Scot was just three off the lead on his home course despite three-putting the 18th on Friday.

Montgomerie was among a high-class contingent hot on the heels of the leader, pre-tournament favourite Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and New Zealand’s Michael Campbell all also on four under par.

US Masters champion Phil Mickelson, US Open champion Retief Goosen and former Masters champion Mike Weir were on three under, with world number one Tiger Woods two strokes further back.

Earlier in the day, Enfield’s Sean Whiffin was the unlucky odd man out drawn to play on his own in the first match out.

However the 33-year-old, who came through regional and final qualifying to make his Open debut, exercised his option of playing with a marker, head assistant professional at Troon, David Andrews.

If Whiffin was hoping to gain some local knowledge he would have been disappointed on the first hole, his drive splitting the fairway while Andrews almost carved his out of bounds.

Whiffin reached the turn in 36 to remain three over, while Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, all but assured of his place in the Ryder Cup team after three wins this season and another at the end of last year, birdied the third to improve to two over par.