LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — It was looking too easy for Brant Snedeker through the first two rounds of the Open Championship.
His British Open-record 36-hole score of 130 (10-under) was good for a one-shot lead entering yesterday’s third round and, more impressively, he had played 36 holes on a course with 206 bunkers without a bogey or a ball in the sand.
Snedeker extended that bogey-less streak to 40 holes before he suddenly became unhinged yesterday, carding three bogeys in a five-hole span from Nos. 5 through 9, and it resulted in a rather harrowing 3-over 73.
Coupled with Adam Scott’s 68, it resulted in Snedeker’s one-shot lead turning into a four-shot deficit to Scott entering today’s final round. Snedeker is 7-under to Scott’s 11-under.
It could have been worse, however, had it not been for birdies on the 17th and 18th.
“It’s one of those things where you’ve got to find out if you have some guts or don’t,’’ Snedeker said. “I could have packed up and gone home, but I didn’t. I could have easily turned a 3”‘-over round into a 7- or 8”‘-over round, if I wasn’t still fighting, still hanging in there.
“I still have a chance. If Scottie plays poorly tomorrow, everybody is right back in it. So I have to keep my head up and keep plugging along.’’
Scott, who played with Snedeker, said, “Yeah, he had a tough day, I think, around the turn and probably the holes where he was expecting to score well on, he got himself out of position a little bit, and it compounded kind of quickly on him.
“But he finished two birdies in the last three holes and he’s given himself a chance [today] to play a good round of golf and be right there. So I’m sure he’d be slightly disappointed, but he’s still in it.’’
Snedeker described the day as “frustrating.’’
“I played very poorly on about as easy as we’re going to see [the course],’’ he said. “I’m not happy with it at all. But those two birdies late salvaged what could have been a horrific round into a pretty awful round. So I’ve still got a chance [today]. I’ve come from behind before, I can do it again. The conditions will be tough, which is good.’’
On Friday, Snedeker said he was “making every 25-footer I looked at’’ on the greens. Yesterday was quite a different story with the putter.
“The putter is what really let me down,’’ he said. “I had some chances to get some momentum going and I kept missing some putts. What I’ve been doing so well I did so poorly. That’s why it was frustrating. It was one of those days where you shake your head and wonder what you’re doing out there. And I hate those.
“I realize there’s a ton of golf left. I’ve played a lot of great golf to get to this point. I know it’s not far off. I know it’s in there somewhere. I knew that [today] it’s going to be a very, very tough golf course, and as long as you hang in there and keep fighting, you never know what might happen.’’