Ireland’s Paul Dunne believes he can become the first amateur to win the Open championship since Bobby Jones in 1930 at St Andrews today.
The 22-year-old shares the lead with 2010 winner Louis Oosthuizen and Australian Jason Day on 12-under-par 204 after 54 holes of golf’s oldest major, which will finish on a Monday for only the second time in its 144-year history due to the adverse weather on Friday and Saturday.
The Wicklow golfer, who graduated from the University of Alabama in April, earned his place at the Open by winning the final qualifier at Woburn this month.
But Dunne, who shot a third round of six-under 66, sees no reason why his name cannot remain at the top of the leaderboard following the conclusion of play today.
He said: “I don’t see why not. I’m well capable of shooting the scores that I need to win if everyone else doesn’t play their best.
“Whether it happens or not, I can’t really control. I can just go out and try to play my game and see where it leaves me at the end of the day. Hopefully I play great again and post a good number.
“It’s quite surreal I’m leading the Open but I can easily believe that I shot the three scores that I did. If we were playing in an amateur event here, I wouldn’t be too surprised by the scores I shot. It’s just lucky that it happens to be in the biggest event in the world.”
Oosthuizen, who shot a 67 yesterday, said: “It’s so much fun to be playing the Open, playing for the Claret Jug.
“It’s the biggest tournament that I can play in and playing it around St Andrews makes it a lot more special. I think confidence-wise, knowing I’ve done it before at this golf course, I will take a lot from that. But there’s a lot of golf that needs to be played. There are so many players who can still win this. It’s going to be one of the tightest Opens.”
Dunne is not the only amateur to feature on the leaderboard, with American Jordan Niebrugge tied sixth on nine-under.
Jordan Spieth, who is chasing the third leg of an unprecedented grand slam, is only one shot behind the leaders after a superb 66, but the American reckons it is only a matter of time before an amateur player wins one of golf’s big four competitions.
He said: “I’m not surprised. We’re going to see more and more of it. The amateur game has changed to be more like the professional game in that there’s more tournaments, better golf courses, harder golf courses and better competition.
“There will be an amateur who wins a PGA event or, possibly, even a major in the next decade or so.
“That’s because the amateur game across the world is getting more diverse and more intense. It’s awesome for guys to step up and do this.”
Open focus, Pages 53-55