'It's amazing': Thriston Lawrence makes move to emulate Els, Player

Twelve years ago, South Africa's Thriston Lawrence competed in the Junior British Open at Fairhaven Golf Club days before his compatriot Ernie Els won the Open at nearby Royal Lytham.

On Saturday at Royal Troon, Lawrence made his own mark at the Major championship by carding a superb third-round six-under 65 to rocket into contention for the title.

The 27-year-old from Mbombela took advantage of calm early conditions as he covered the front nine in a sizzling six-under 30, and held firm with one more birdie and a single bogey as heavy rain swept across the Irish Sea.

“It's amazing,” four-time DP World Tour winner Lawrence said after finishing at three under — five strokes off the early lead. “I had perfect conditions on the front nine and just took full advantage of it.

“I had a pretty aggressive game plan starting from Monday, Tuesday, and was hitting a lot of drivers, especially if that wind is in that direction. I executed very well, didn't miss a fairway on the front nine and made a couple of putts.”

Lawrence, who qualified for the Open by finishing in the top 30 in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings for 2023, reeled off birdies at the first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and the “Postage Stamp” par-three eighth to vault up the leader board into fourth place.

He also birdied the 11th before running up his only bogey at the par-four 13th, where he ended up in the rough off the tee and failed to reach the green in two.

“The putter was hot, but I didn't miss a lot of greens,” said Lawrence, who is bidding to emulate his countrymen Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Els and Louis Oosthuizen by winning the Open title.

“I think I missed my first green maybe on the 10th hole and I was just on the fringe. It's not fun out there now. I'm very happy with myself, how patient I stayed with those holes coming in.” 

Reuters