Justin Rose chases Englishman’s ‘dream’ on heels of British Open leader

TRON, Scotland — Justin Rose loves his position.

The 43-year-old Englishman is chasing his second major championship of his career.

And he does so after qualifying for the 152nd British Open.

He enters Sunday’s final round at Royal Troon at 3 under par, one stroke behind leader Billy Horschel.

Rose won the US Open in 2013 and is looking to further his legacy in the sport with a Claret Jug.

“It’s going to be huge, just from an experience perspective,” he said. “Those are days that I dream about. Those are days that I’ve worked hard for. Those are days that I still believe I can have. The key tomorrow is to do my best to make the most of it.

“It’s still my dream. In a few years it will be someone else’s dream. But yeah, it’s still my dream right now. Great opportunity to go and live it tomorrow.”

Rose predicted that “someone in the 3-under group is going to play some great golf tomorrow.”

He is assisted by five other players (3-under).

“Of course there are a few other players who have a chance, but I think we have to fight really hard tomorrow and run to the finish,” he said.

One of the most unlikely contenders is Thriston Lawrence, a 27-year-old from South Africa, who is one of six players at 3-under.

“We turned it down on Thursday to try to win,” he said. “Whatever happens until Sunday, I can’t control it, but the game plan doesn’t change and the mentality doesn’t change. Hopefully I’ll be a few strokes ahead tomorrow, but I’m just going to try to do the same thing, be aggressive and try to win a golf tournament.”

Sam Burns was one of the players who got the best of the good weather on Saturday and he took advantage by shooting 6-under to move to 3-under for the week, one stroke behind the leader.

Burns recovered from a bad start on Thursday.

“7-over to 11 wasn’t what I had in mind, or what I had in mind to start the week,” he said. “I was 5-over to eight at the US Open and played well there, finished ninth. I knew I wasn’t out of it. I knew it was going to be tough and I made it a lot tougher for myself. I was proud of how I hung in there and kept fighting.”

Si Woo Kim made his first hole-in-one of the week on Saturday when he made an ace on the par-3 17th hole.

“It was amazing,” Kim said. “I’ve made a lot of holes-in-ones in my life — maybe 10-plus — but I think this is the most memorable hole-in-one, because it’s a major and it’s the Open.

“My caddie said to me, ‘You better hit it hard with a 3-iron.’ So I did, and as soon as I made good contact, I saw the ball over the fringe.

“He shot off the ground and went back to the back and people were screaming at me, like I didn’t realize the ball was going in.”

Two-time Claret Jug winner Greg Norman was welcomed to the British Open this week with a guest badge from the R&A.

Two years ago, when the R&A celebrated the 150th Open at St Andrews, Norman — somewhat controversially — was not invited to the championship dinner.

Norman obviously helped launch LIV as CEO and director and the R&A felt that Norman’s presence would disrupt the festivities.

Three months ago, Norman attended the Masters at Augusta National as a ticket holder.

The R&A has given Norman the same official privileges that all former Open champions enjoy each year.

“It’s good to be back,” Norman told Golf Digest. “The Open has a lot of history for me. For me, it was the greatest championship of all. In my professional career, I was proud to come back and play the Open Championship.”

“In 1989, I birdied the first six holes of the final, shot 64, then birdied the first two holes of the (four-hole total playoff) and still didn’t win,” Norman said. “I’m still trying to figure this place out.”

Mark Calcavecchia won the play-off against Norman and another Australian, Wayne Grady.

Norman said he is excited to see “how things have stabilized” between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. He said: “Everyone has seen that LIV Golf has been accepted within the ecosystem and that the players deserve to play in these major championships.”

Norman was referring to the special exemption Augusta National granted to LIV player Joaquin Niemann for the Masters this year and a month later seven LIV players were granted exemptions by the PGA of America for the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

LIV player Bryson DeChambeau won the US Open in Pinehurst last month.