Billy Horschel battles into Open lead at treacherous Troon

Billy Horschel will take a one-shot lead into the final round of The 152nd Open Championship after battling torrential rain all the way round Royal Troon to card a 69.

The American started the day five shots off the lead but found himself in a share as he turned in 32, with many of the leading players moving backwards in treacherous conditions on the Scottish coast.

Despite some brilliant par saves on the back nine, he dropped two shots on the way home but still led the way at four under as he goes in search of a first Major Championship.

English pair Dan Brown and Justin Rose, American trio Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Xander Schauffele, and South African Thriston Lawrence were then at three under, a shot clear of World Number One Scottie Scheffler, with overnight leader Shane Lowry the only other player under par.

Burns and Lawrence carded rounds of 65 in the favourable early conditions, with Henley also taking advantage with a 66.

Schauffele matched Horschel with a brilliant 69 in the rain, while Rose and Brown both carded rounds of 73, with the Major debutant seeing the gloss taken off an excellent effort with a bogey, double-bogey finish.

American Scheffler carded a level par 71 and Irish 2019 champion Lowry is still in contention for a second Claret Jug despite a 77.

Horschel is the man in the box seat, however, as he looks to add another of golf's biggest prizes to his glittering CV.

He has won a Rolex Series title, a World Golf Championships title and the FedEx Cup on the PGA TOUR but claiming a maiden Major in the United Kingdom which he loves so much would top the lot.

"I've worked my entire life to be in this position," he said. "I've been in the lead many times going into a final round. Obviously this is a Major. It means a little bit more. We all know that. We know what this means to everyone. I know what it means to my legacy in the game of golf and what I want to do and accomplish.

"But I'm excited to be here. I've wanted to be here my entire life. I'm finally here. I'm embracing it.

"I've won a lot of really good events on the PGA Tour. I've won some great events on DP World Tour. There's a couple of things that are missing on my CV: a Ryder Cup, being part of a Ryder Cup, hopefully a victorious Ryder Cup; then a Major. I want to win more than one Major.

"I'm also content that if a Major doesn't happen in my career, I can be satisfied with what I've done in the game of golf, that I've given it everything I've had. And if it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be."

Brown flew the first green after finding an awkward stance with his tee-shot but recovered the stroke on the third after hitting the green from the rough and holing a 24-footer.

Lowry was three ahead when he holed from 16 feet on the par-five fourth but Brown birdied the par-five sixth after a smart lay-up and made the most of a good break on the seventh, finding a lie and a line to the flag despite sending his tee-shot over the eighth tee and putting his second to four feet to close the gap to one.

The final duo then both found the Coffin bunker at the Postage Stamp and while Brown managed to find the green from the sand and drop a single shot, Lowry was in a more difficult position, went over the putting surface and surrendered a double.

That saw the duo locked together at six under and there was soon a three-way tie as the charging Horschel turned in 32.

The 37-year-old got up and down from the sand at the fourth and then played a tidy lay-up at the sixth before holing a 31-footer at the seventh and putting an approach to ten feet at the ninth.

The wind was now into the players on the tougher back nine and Brown found rough twice on the tenth en route to a bogey, while Horschel found trouble off the tee at the 11th and Lowry bogeyed the same hole after making very poor contact with his second from the fairway.

Brown then put a stunning second to five feet at the 12th to lead on his own and Lowry found himself two back when he saw his approach roll off the green at the same hole.

A bogey at the 13th after missing the fairway dropped Brown back into a share of the lead and while both he and Horschel made brilliant par saves at the 14th after finding sand and rough respectively, Lowry bogeyed the 14th and 15th to tumble backwards.

Another fantastic iron shot from Brown at the 16th, this time to five feet, saw him edge ahead once again but he gave the shot back on the 17th after finding sand, with Horschel leaving himself tap-ins from a tough spot in a bunker on the 16th and short of the 17th to save pars.

Horschel could not repeat the magic on the last as he failed to get up and down but Brown then had an almost carbon copy of his stance on the first for his second shot on the 18th, hitting sand with his third and failing to get up and down.

Rose gave a gutsy performance with a single birdie and three bogeys, while Lawrence did not have the wind and the rain to contend with as he turned in 30 with six birdies, added another at the 11th but gave the shot back at the 13th.

Schauffele already has a Major to his name this season and carded four birdies and two bogeys, with Burns also dropping two shots with eight birdies and Henley making six birdies alongside a single dropped shot.

Masters champion Scheffler carded two birdies and two bogeys and Lowry dropped another shot on the last to finish at one under, one ahead of England's Matthew Jordan, Australian Adam Scott and American Justin Thomas.