British Open 2016: Tee Times, Pairings and Predictions for Sunday Schedule
After three rounds at the British Open from Royal Troon Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland, Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson have pulled away from the pack on the leaderboard:
Just 18 more holes separate one golfer from immortality and the Claret Jug. Here are the final round's pairings and tee times:
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| 2:40 a.m. | Colin Montgomerie | |
| 2:50 a.m. | Kodai Ichihara | Kevin Kisner |
| 3 a.m. | Marco Dawson | Charley Hoffman |
| 3:10 a.m. | Mark O'Meara | Daniel Summerhays |
| 3:20 a.m. | Scott Hend | Patton Kizzire |
| 3:30 a.m. | Greg Chalmers | Yuta Ikeda |
| 3:40 a.m. | Branden Grace | Soomin Lee |
| 3:50 a.m. | Ryan Evans | James Hahn |
| 4 a.m. | Paul Lawrie | Danny Willett |
| 4:10 a.m. | Harris English | Zander Lombard |
| 4:25 a.m. | Kevin Chappell | K.T. Kim |
| 4:35 a.m. | Jamie Donaldson | Adam Scott |
| 4:45 a.m. | Richard Sterne | Harold Varner III |
| 4:55 a.m. | Marc Leishman | Justin Thomas |
| 5:05 a.m. | Graeme McDowell | Jon Rahm |
| 5:15 a.m. | Jim Furyk | Jordan Spieth |
| 5:25 a.m. | Anirban Lahiri | Bubba Watson |
| 5:35 a.m. | Rickie Fowler | Russell Knox |
| 5:45 a.m. | Matt Jones | Ryan Moore |
| 5:55 a.m. | Luke Donald | Lee Westwood |
| 6:10 a.m. | Byeong-Hun An | Jason Dufner |
| 6:20 a.m. | Darren Clarke | Ryan Palmer |
| 6:30 a.m. | Padraig Harrington | Alex Noren |
| 6:40 a.m. | David Howell | Justin Rose |
| 6:50 a.m. | Nicolas Colsaerts | Matt Kuchar |
| 7 a.m. | Rafa Cabrera Bello | Matthew Southgate |
| 7:10 a.m. | Jason Day | Andy Sullivan |
| 7:20 a.m. | Thongchai Jaidee | Thomas Pieters |
| 7:30 a.m. | Haydn Porteous | Brandt Snedeker |
| 7:40 a.m. | Martin Kaymer | Francesco Molinari |
| 7:55 a.m. | Emiliano Grillo | Rory McIlroy |
| 8:05 a.m. | Webb Simpson | Gary Woodland |
| 8:15 a.m. | Miguel Angel Jimenez | Zach Johnson |
| 8:25 a.m. | Dustin Johnson | Kevin Na |
| 8:35 a.m. | Tyrrell Hatton | Jim Herman |
| 8:45 a.m. | Keegan Bradley | Charl Schwartzel |
| 8:55 a.m. | Sergio Garcia | Patrick Reed |
| 9:05 a.m. | Tony Finau | Soren Kjeldsen |
| 9:15 a.m. | J.B. Holmes | Steve Stricker |
| 9:25 a.m. | Bill Haas | Andrew Johnston |
| 9:35 a.m. | Phil Mickelson | Henrik Stenson |
Predictions
Henrik Stenson will win the British Open; Phil Mickelson will come up just short
With the way that the conditions at Royal Troon have been, especially on Saturday, the six- and five-stroke advantages that Stenson and Mickelson have built, respectively, will be too much for the rest of the field to make up.
Stenson, along with three other golfers, had the best third round with just a three-under. A challenger would have to card a five- or six-under fourth round just to tie for the lead. And that's if Stenson and Mickelson don't better their scores.
But given their first three rounds, their scores aren't likely to worsen on Sunday.
According to Carl Markham of the Mirror, the current leader said he is out for "revenge," as Mickelson defeated Stenson at the British Open in 2013 by three strokes:
"Yeah, it would be great to hand one back to him tomorrow, absolutely but as we know it's going to take some good golfing to do that but I'm certainly willing to give it a try...I would have had to bring my best no matter who I was out with tomorrow but certainly when you're playing someone like Phil.
I know he's not going to back down and I'm certainly going to try to not back down either so it should be an exciting afternoon.
"
Mickelson came inches away from completing a historic nine-under on Thursday to take the early lead but has since cooled down with a two-under on Friday and a one-under on Saturday.
In the past two rounds, the back nine has given him trouble, as he's bogeyed four times in the combined 18 holes. On such a big stage with the Claret Jug on the line, that could trip Mickelson up.
Stenson, on the other hand, has been more consistent, recording a pair of 68s in the first and third round to sandwich a 65 on Friday. On such a difficult course, the upper hand has to go to the golfer who has played better recently:
| -3 (68) | Score | -1 (70) |
| 71% | Fairways Hit (%) | 57% |
| 50% | Greens In Regulation (%) | 56% |
| 294 yards | Average Drive | 282 yards |
| 1.3 | Putts Per Hole | 1.5 |
Stenson's ability to drive the ball further while keeping it on the fairway will put him in far more favorable positions for lower scores compared to Mickelson.
His ever-improving putting will also help. He went from attempting 31 putts on Thursday to just 24 on Saturday. It's clear he is gaining confidence on these tough-to-read greens.
When it comes down to a big putt late in the final round, that's a nice advantage to have over an opponent and could be the difference between a British Open title and second place.
Stats courtesy of TheOpen.com
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