Shane Lowry issues defiant response after disaster of a day at The Open

Shane Lowry is adamant he's still in the game at the Open , despite a tough Saturday that saw him slip on the leaderboard during an exceptionally soggy day at Royal Troon .

He ended up with a six-over par 77, but remains just three shots behind the leader, American Billy Horschel, on a day that saw him lose his cool with a member of the media .

Starting 'moving day' with a two-shot lead, Lowry found himself moving the wrong way up the leaderboard in the pouring rain, hitting a six-over par 77.

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However, he's only trailing by three shots from the front-runner, American Billy Horschel, who sits comfortably at four-under after carding a two-under 69.

Six golfers are nipping at Horschel's heels, tied for second place on three-under, while Lowry is one-under, just a stroke behind world number one Scottie Scheffler.

The Irish golfer, who was critical of the decision not to move some tees forward given the challenging weather , expressed his disappointment post-round but promised to keep battling at the South Ayrshire course.

"Obviously there is no doubt but that I am going to go out there tomorrow thinking I can win the tournament but it is just hard right now," he shared.

"You have to give me a bit of leeway. Ten minutes ago I had a putt for par on the 18th green and I'm here now talking to you guys trying to figure out how I hit a 77 in my own head."

"This game is just hard and you nearly feel hard-done by for playing well the first two days in those conditions. It was honestly brutal."

"I guess for me, the eighth hole was a killer really. Get par there and you can still shoot three or four-over from there and I would still be leading the tournament. I just pulled my wedge shot there. I don't really know what to say. It was a grind. It wasn't much fun."

"Driver-driver into 15, 16 was playing ridiculously long, driver into 17 and then you're standing on the 18th tee wondering if you can actually hit the fairway. It's 230 yards to the fairway. Bear in mind my driver pitched to about 220 yards on the 17th hole. It's not much fun out there."

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Starting Saturday ahead of Englishmen Daniel Brown, with whom he played, and Justin Rose, Lowry had added a two-under-par 69 to his opening round 66 on Friday.

Though he began the day steadily enough, despite several short putts, he was one-under through seven before the eighth hole produced disaster; he stumbled upon Coffin bunker and made a double bogey after overshooting his second green stroke.

Over the initial two rounds, Lowry suffered only one bogey and a double bogey. However, between the 11th and 15th holes on Saturday, he collected four bogeys before finishing with pars on the 16th and 17th, where he recovered with a 20ft putt.

For the second consecutive day, Shane Lowry lost his cool on the 11th, cursing at what seemed to be a broadcast media member after his ball hit them. He was overheard saying: "In the future, don't stand in the middle of the ******* fairway when we're trying to hit, OK? " Following that, he three-putted from off the green.

The lad from Co Offaly managed to birdie the 18th on Thursday and Friday, but on Saturday, his shot ended up in the stands, nearly hitting a Galway GAA flag. His chip after the drop fell short, leaving him with a tricky 21ft putt, which he just missed, resulting in a bogey.

Post-round, Lowry expressed his disappointment: "I really wanted to hole that putt on the last," acknowledging that he knew where his competitors stood and that being two shots behind would have been preferable. "At three back, you are still right in the tournament, but it is going to take me a couple of hours to get over today. I am obviously very gutted now but I have a job to do tomorrow and a chance to win this tournament."

He reflected on his performance, noting the quality of his play: "It is just hard because I felt I played a lot of unbelievable golf today. I didn't miss my first fairway until 16 and hit some great iron shots. I just didn't hole the putts early on when I had chances and then I missed a few par putts."

Lowry also shared the mental challenge of the game: "On the way in I felt I couldn't make a par. Honestly, it was hard. It is hard when you are in that situation but it is what it is."

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