Open day four: Billy Horschel out in front as Shane Lowry slips back

American Billy Horschel holds the lead at Royal Troon, in front by just one stroke going into the final day of the 152nd Open Championship.

Shane Lowry, who took a two-shot lead into the third round, struggled to a 77 to fall three shots off the pace in pursuit of his second Open title.

England’s Justin Rose and Dan Brown were part of a six-way tie for second behind Horschel, with the top 24 players separated by just six shots on a highly-congested leaderboard.

A second major title for Rose would come 4,053 days after he won the 2013 US Open at Merion, breaking the previous record of 4,026 days set by Julius Boros in winning the US Open in 1952 and 1963.

World number 272 Brown would be the lowest ranked major champion since Ben Curtis won the 2003 Open when ranked 396th. Curtis was also making his major debut at Sandwich, with Brown only securing his first appearance thanks to a birdie on the last hole of a 36-hole qualifier at West Lancs.

All to play for going into Sunday.@nttdata | #Leaderboard | #NTTDATAWall pic.twitter.com/AHrLWl6TJs

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 20, 2024

Brown held the outright lead until an unfortunate double bogey on the 18th but a third round of 73 left him just a shot behind Horschel, who scrambled his way to an astounding 69 in wet and windy conditions to finish four under par.

That gave the 37-year-old a slender lead over six players, with Brown and Rose joined on three under by US PGA champion Xander Schauffele and a trio of players who had exploited ideal early conditions.

South African Thriston Lawrence, who teed off more than three hours before the final group, carded a superb 65 to set a clubhouse target later matched by Sam Burns (65) and Russell Henley (66).

As the weather took a