TRON, Scotland — Few had heard of Thriston Lawrence before he topped the British Open leaderboard on Saturday.
The 27-year-old South African led for much of Sunday’s final round at Troon Golf Club.
He was 4 under on the front nine and finished at 7 under.
But he struggled on the back nine, bogeyed the 12th hole and failed to make a birdie, finishing third at 6 under.
Afterward, Billy Horschel, his partner in second place, spent some quality time in the scorer's trailer with Lawrence, who is competing on the DP World Tour, and said, “We'll see you on the PGA Tour soon.”
“He's a really good player,” Horschel said. “I've been watching him over the last few years. His game is good enough to compete with anyone at any level. We're going to see a lot more from him, not only on this stage but on the PGA Tour as well.”
Lawrence said: “Yeah, I thought I played pretty well there. I didn’t actually put as much pressure on myself as some people would. I just looked at it as a normal Sunday in a normal golf tournament.
“Yes, it's the British Open, it's a bigger stage. But in that moment, I felt very calm.”
Jon Rahm got off to a dream start on Sunday and earned himself a spot in contention.
Rahm started the day at 2 over, six shots behind the leader, but birdied his first three holes to finish the tournament at 1 under, just three shots behind then-leader Horschel.
Rahm said after playing on Saturday that he has not given up on his dream of winning the Open for the first time. He said: “There is still room to dream about a good Sunday that may come and give it a chance.”
Rahm was unable to maintain that momentum and finished tied for seventh with a 68.
Justin Thomas, who had a wildly inconsistent start to the Open, started the final round at even par, just four shots behind the leader and with a lead of more than a shot.
However, on the first hole on Sunday, his tee shot went off track and he hit the ball onto the beach on the right, out of bounds.
He re-tee-pedaled and hit his second tee shot into a bunker, ending with a triple-bogey 7 and ending his chances of a shot at the Claret Jug in this tournament.
Royal Troon Open Golf Championship finals. Jake Gruber-USA TODAY Sports
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was two shots behind the leader at 1-under for the day but failed to improve, finishing with a 72 and double bogey on the 18th hole to tie for seventh.
Schaeffler then, uncharacteristically, declined an interview request from the Royal Ancient Museum.
Calum Scott, a 20-year-old Scottish amateur who plays golf at Texas Tech University, won a silver medal as the lowest-scoring amateur.
Scott’s magical week began when he found his locker with Scheffler and Adam Scott, and he started the day at 3-over and finished with a 76 at 8-over.
“In the beginning, I was like, 'I don't know if I should stay here,'” Scott said. “But I settled in and was like, 'Let's put aside this obsession with stardom and just work. I'm here to work.'”
