TRACKING LOCALS AT THE BRITISH OPEN
This week: The 141st British Open, through today, Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England.
In the field: Gig Harbor’s Kyle Stanley and Tacoma’s Troy Kelly.
Stanley’s third-round score: Even-par 70.
Position: Stanley (1-under 209) is tied for 14th, 10 strokes behind leader Adam Scott (11-under 199), who shot a 68 on Saturday. Kelly (8-over 148) missed the cut Friday.
Recap: There cannot be too many worse feelings on a golf course for long hitters than making bogeys on par-5 holes. And all the steam Stanley had built up from the front nine – he made the turn in 2-under 32 to get near the top 10 at 3-under overall – went away when he got tangled up in the long grass along the par-5 11th hole and walked off with a bogey. It was a hole that Stanley had birdied in the previous two rounds. Par-5 scoring has been an issue this week – he is a combined 2 over on the pair of long holes for the week and has had at least a bogey on one of them in each round. Otherwise, Stanley’s ball-striking has been more than adequate. He is among the leaders in greens hit in regulation (39 of 54, tied for eighth) and fairways hit (29 of 42, tied for 26th).
Tee time today: 5:20 a.m. (PDT) with England’s Luke Donald.
todd.milles@thenewstribune.com