Aussie in the hunt in fog-hampered Scottish Open

Michael Thorbjornsen and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick are tied at 11 under through a partial third round of the fog-hampered Scottish Open ‌- but Australian Min Woo Lee is still on the hunt to regain the title he won back in 2021 just a shot behind.

After play was suspended on Saturday at North Berwick, a marathon day was left in prospect for Sunday at The Renaissance Club, with many players, including the two leaders and Lee, still to finish their third rounds.

Johnny Keefer shot a six-under-par 64 to ‌become the leader in the clubhouse at 10 under. Others at 10 are Kevin Roy (through 16 holes), Wyndham Clark (through 15), defending champion Chris Gotterup (through 10), Lee (through eight) and England’s Jordan Smith (through seven).

Fitzpatrick has played eight holes, while Thorbjorsen has gone through 13 and, like many others, will be back at 7am to complete his round.

Smith was the second-round co-leader along with ‌South Korea’s Tom ‌Kim, ⁠who sits tied for ninth place through seven holes, and ​Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who is tied for 25th through eight holes after struggling Saturday. McIlroy made three bogeys to fall back to six under for the tournament.

A fog delay of about two-and-a-half hours in the morning shortly after play began put the ⁠round off schedule and caused most of ‌the ​field to have revised tee times.

Mac Meissner shot 64 and moved to within ​one stroke ‌of the lead at eight under before many of the groups even began their ​third rounds.

Play was halted again in the early evening because of fog and wasn’t resumed.

For many, the Scottish Open ‌is merely a pit stop on the way to next week’s British Open Championship.

No golfer has won the Scottish Open in ​back-to-back years. Gotterup is also attempting to become the first golfer on the ​PGA Tour to win ⁠in back-to-back weeks this year after capturing the John Deere ​Classic last weekend.