The Open, Matteo Manassero climbs back up the ladder.

The Open, Matteo Manassero climbs the slope

È Billy Horschel is the new leader of The Open. In Scotland, at the end of the "moving day" of the fourth and final Major of 2024, the American with a score of 209 (72 68 69, -4), leads the leaderboard by a single stroke over a sextet of pursuers, all 2/i with 210 (-3), consisting of his compatriots Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Sum Burns, as well as Englishmen Justin Rose and Daniel Brown, and South African Thriston Lawrence. In the Top 10, 8° with 204 (-2), is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler of the United States.

È slipped instead from first to ninth place, with 205 (-1), Shane Lowry of Ireland. These are only these players who, so far, have recorded an overall score under par. Making the difference in the third round was rain. At Ayrshire, on the Royal Troon Golf Club course (par 71), after a dry and windless morning, the change of plan, which caused Lowry to lose strokes and ground, allowed Horschel to fly to the top.

A West Ham fan, the 37-year-old from Grant, Florida, who boasts eight career titles on the PGA Tour, dreams of the feat. Fourth place at the 2013 U.S. Open represents his best finish in a major. But watch out for Scheffler. The king of the green has won six of the last 10 events played and, after the Masters, is now also aiming for the oldest Slam on the green, now in its 152nd year and born in 1860.

As for the Azzurri, good performance for Matteo Manassero. The Venetian è climbed from 38ª to 25ª place with 216 (73 73 70, +3), after a round in 70 (-1) with four birdies and three bogeys. È instead 51° with 219 (73 75 71, +6) Vicenza’s Guido Migliozzi. And now the final sprint for the title. The Open puts up for grabs not only $17,000,000, of which $3,100,000 will go to the winner, but also the Claret Jug, the tournament's famous iconic silver jug.