British Open Saturday highlights: Scottie Scheffler increases lead on Moving Day

The 2025 Open Championship has moved to the weekend in Northern Ireland, where Royal Portrush is hosting for a third time.

And after three rounds, there's a familiar name on top of the leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler. He'll take his fourth 54-hole lead at a major to Sunday looking for his first Claret Jug, with the three-time major champion going 3 for 3 in the previous instances. He sits at 14 under, four shots in front of Haotong Li with 18 holes to play.

Scheffler shot a bogey-free 4-under 67 on Saturday to increase his lead from one to four, tying the fourth-lowest total in Open Championship history after 54 holes at 199.

Below is a recap of the third round with leaderboard updates, scores, highlights and more from a sunny Saturday at Portrush.

British Open leaderboard after third round

See every score being carded with our 2025 British Open Championship leaderboard from USA Today Sports. Here's the top five after 54 holes:

Scottie birdies 16 ... again

It's called Calamity Corner for a reason. Scottie Scheffler has played the par-3 16th three times and made birdie every time. An incredible feat on what's a dastardly hole. He's at 14 under and leads Haotong Li by three shots.

Lee Westwood psycho scorecard

What a performance from Westy, who goes out in 40 but comes home in 29 and had a birdie putt on 18 to shoot 7-under 28 on the back. Six birdies on the back 9, and he finishes at 2-under 69 for the third round.

Scottie Scheffler increases lead

Yup, he just increased his lead when hitting his worst shot of the day. Scottie is playing beautiful golf this afternoon in Northern Ireland. He's at 13 under and three in front of Matt Fitzpatrick and Haotong Li.

So. Many. Eagles.

Scottie Scheffler played the par-5 seventh perfectly, making an eagle to move to 12 under and take a 1-shot lead. Then, Rory McIlroy responded with one of his own, bringing with it the loudest cheer of the Open Championship thus far.

Rory hits second golf ball on 11th hole

After a wayward tee shot, Rory McIlroy was hitting his second shot right of the 11th when he hit a second ball after making contact with his first. Talk about something that has likely hardly happened in the history of golf, especially in a major.

Another hole-out eagle

Here comes Tyrrell Hatton. The leaderboard is loading up behind Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick, with Tyrrell Hatton moving to two behind with a hole-out eagle on the par-5 seventh. After his best major finish at the U.S. Open, Hatton is up to solo fourth.

Here comes the defending champion

Xander Schauffele has entered the conversation. He eagles the par-5 12th, his second eagle of the day, and has reached 6 under and is four back of Scheffler and Fitzpatrick. With the leaders still early in their rounds, plenty of birdies are remaining out there, but numerous players are stacking up behind them.

Fitzpatrick chips in for eagle

And just like that, there's a tie at the top. Matt Fitzpatrick chips in for eagle on No. 2, and Scottie Scheffler three putts on the par 5 for par. They're both at 10 under thru 3 holes.

Justin Rose shank

The thick rough at the Open Championship is never fun to deal with, and Justin Rose round out the hard way on the eighth hole Saturday. He hit a nasty shank from the thick stuff.

Rory moves to within 4 of Scottie Scheffler

Three birdies in his first four holes for Rory McIlroy, who moves to 6 under and four behind world No. 1, who begins in 10 minutes. Not bad, Rory. He's not the only one pouring in birdies in benign conditions Saturday afternoon.

Rory McIlroy begins with birdie

The loud cheers early in the Irish afternoon? They're for the local kid, who buries a long birdie putt on the first hole to move to 4 under for the tournament and six back of Scottie Scheffler. Rory needs a big Saturday to get into contention, and that's an excellent start. The 36-foot make is his longest this week.

We have an ace!

Take a bow, John Parry. The Englishman makes an ace on the par-3 13th hole, the first 1 of the week at Royal Portrush.

Early fireworks for Tommy Fleetwood

Is this a sign of things to come? Tommy Lad makes a big bird on the par-5 second, the first eagle of the third round on the second. How many more will we see Saturday?

Where to watch the third round of the 2025 British Open

• Streaming: 5 a.m. ET to 7 a.m. ET on USA Network
• TV: 7 a.m. ET to 3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock
• Radio: 2 a.m. ET to end of play on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio

USA's and NBC's coverage will also stream on the NBC Sports app. In addition, TheOpen.com official website has featured groups and a channel dedicated to Calamity Corner, the par-3 16th hole.

Third-round weather report for Royal Portrush

The R&A's updated report for Saturday states low clouds and patchy drizzle should clear quickly and make way for brighter conditions in the afternoon. Dry conditions are likely throughout the evening. Very small chance of some rain as we head into Sunday. S and SE winds with gusts of up to 20mph. The high temperature is going to be 72.

Click here for the full weather forecast this week.

Early movers on 'Moving Day'

There's been a rumor of sunshine this morning on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush on Saturday. The wind isn't whipping either and some golfers have taken advantage of the scorable conditions. Canadian Corey Conners is cruising along at 4 under thru 13 holes and has improved from the cutline to 3 under. The 2016 Open champion, Henrik Stenson made the turn at 4 under for the day too. Bryson DeChambeau is 3 under thru 8. Expect some low scoring today unless the wind picks up later in the day.

British Open Championship 2025 Saturday third round tee times

Click here for the complete list of tee times. Here are some of the notable groups:

• 4:35 a.m. ET: Matti Schmid, Corey Conners (first group off)
• 6:30 a.m. ET: Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm
• 8 a.m. ET: Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland
• 9 a.m. ET: Ludvig Aberg, Justin Rose
• 9:30 a.m. ET: Rory McIlroy, Jordan Smith
• 10:15 a.m. ET: Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Hojgaard
• 10:25 a.m. ET: Haoton Li, Brian Harman
• 10:35 a.m. ET: Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick

All times eastern (add five hours to Scotland time)

British Open Championship 2025 prize money, purse

The 2025 payouts are the same as 2024's, with the winner receiving $3.1 million of the $17 million total purse.

Who won the British Open Championship in 2024?

Xander Schauffele enters Royal Portrush as the defending champion. He was victorious at Royal Troon in 2024, edging out Justin Rose and Billy Horschel by two strokes.

Other recent past winners in the field this week include Brian Harman (2023), Cam Smith (2022), Collin Morikawa (2021), Shane Lowry (2019), Jordan Spieth (2017) and Rory McIlroy (2014), among others.