So, this was weird: Rory McIlroy, playing his second shot from the rough on the 11th at Royal Portrush in Round 3 of the British Open, somehow managed to unearth another ball in mid-swing. The second ball was apparently embedded in the ground a few inches ahead of McIlroy's ball, and popped into the air as McIlroy's shot flew greenward.

Finau fired a 1-over-par 72 in the third round to go with his rounds of 70-68 and that effort left him watching the contenders pull away. Most of the movers and shakers fired rounds of four to five under par as Scottie Scheffler rocketed to a huge lead heading into Sunday.

Widespread showers in the morning become scattered in the afternoon on Friday, but forecasters expect a much lighter wind of 5-10 mph coming from the southwest with a high temperature around 65 degrees. Much of the same Saturday. Cloudy with off-and-on rain, high temperatures in the mid 60s and winds from the southeast at 5-10 mph.

With six birdies coming home, Westwood rocketed back up the leaderboard with an Open record-tying back-nine 29.

The jug goes to the winner of the Open Championship, who is otherwise known as the champion golfer of the year. The face belongs to Shane Lowry, who won the Open in 2019, the last time it was played in Portrush, a seaside town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The R&A announced The Open will carry the same prize pool as 2024's record-setting purse with the winner taking home a $3.1 million check like Xander Schauffele did last year. That is a handsome payday but not one all that uncommon at this time in professional golf.

British Open tickets are available on marketplace sites, including StubHub. However, the only official place to buy tickets for golf's final major is TheOpen.com. Fans can sell their unwanted tickets through the official Resale Platform throughout the tournament.

Five golfers are on top of The Open Championship leaderboard after one round of play at Royal Portrush. Matthew Fitzpatrick, Harris English, Jacob Skov Olesen, Haotong Li and Christaan Bezuidenhout all sit at four-under.