An amateur's moving day at the Open – DW – 07/19/2015
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An amateur's moving day at the Open

Gabriel BorrudJuly 19, 2015

The only difference between Paul Dunne and the other contenders at the British Open is that professionals get paid and he doesn't. Can Jordan Spieth write yet more history? DW wraps up the third round of the the Open.

https://p.dw.com/p/1G1MV
Image: Reuters/E. Keogh

Paul Dunne, who hails from Wicklow County just south of Dublin on the eastern coast of Ireland, is tied for the lead in the British Open. It's not out of the ordinary for an Irishman to be at the top of the board with one round to play at the Open, but it is for an amateur.

"It's surreal I'm leading the Open, but I can easily believe I shot the three scores I shot," said Dunne, after two rounds of 69 and a record six-under-par 66 on Sunday.

The 66 is the lowest round ever by a non-professional, otherwise known as an amateur, at the British Open.

"If we were playing an amateur event here I wouldn't be too surprised by the scores I shot. It's just lucky that it happens to be in the biggest event in the world," a bizarrely unfazed Dunne added.

The 22-year-old's playing partner, 2010 Open Champion Louis Ousthuizen, was floored by Dunne's play. "He played unbelievable! That second shot on 17 was one of the best I've seen," said the South African, after Dunne knocked his second shot onto the green on the hardest hole on the course.

"It was an amazing shot," Ousthuizen said, conceding that it was "entirely possible" for young Dunne to win the Open on Monday.

But Dunne wasn't the only amateur to turn heads at St Andrews. Jordan Niebrugge, of Mequon, Wisconsin, shot a five-under-par 67 on Sunday to bring him within three shots of the lead.

If one of the two were to win on Monday, it would be the first time an amateur has won the British Open - or any major championship for that matter - since 1930.

Schottland Golfsport British Open Jordan Niebrugge
Niebrugge is heading into his senior year at Oklahoma StateImage: Reuters/R. Cheyne

Can you say, moving day?

To be fair, all the scores were quite low on Sunday.

It's exceptionally rare for the average score of the entire field to be under par on any given day at a major championship. On Sunday at St. Andrews, the average score for all players was almost three under par 69.

What? According to research done at the DW sports desk, that's the most under par the field has ever been on one day in major championship history.

If you weren't moving on this extraordinary Sunday at the British Open, you were most definitely passed by. Take Dustin Johnson, for instance (DW predicted him to take this championship home, incidentally), who shot two over par and was caught by a dozen players.

Schottland Golfsport British Open Jordan Spieth
Spieth is two steps away from filling Bobby Jones' shoesImage: Reuters/E. Keogh

Grand Slam in the making?

One of those movers was Jordan Spieth.

The history being chased by those amateurs is - unbelievably - almost petty when compared to the kind Spieth will be after on Monday. At 11 under par, just one shot back, the 21-year-old is looking to get one step closer to the Grand Slam.

Ever since Bobby Jones (who incidentally is also that last amateur who won a major in 1930), nobody has ever won all four majors in one year. Spieth won the Masters and the US Open earlier this year. If he were to win on Monday, the entire golf world would be buzzing until the fourth major of the year, the PGA championship, at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in August.