Amateur Leads At The Open After Three Rounds For First Time Since 1927

Former UAB golfer Paul Dunne shot a 6-under 66 at St. Andrews on Sunday, putting him at 12-under for the tournament and tied for the lead after 54 holes, the first time an amateur has led The Open at St. Andrews after three rounds since Bobby Jones in 1927.

The tournament has been a pretty wild affair so far, with a bottleneck of golfers at the top battling some wacky weather. Tied with Dunne in first place are seasoned vets Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen. Hot young thing Jordan Spieth, who is actually eight months younger than Dunne, is one shot behind at 11-under. There are 14 players within three shots of the lead after three rounds, which should set up an exciting finish Monday.

A Dunne win would be the first for an amateur at a major since Johnny Goodman at the 1933 U.S. Open. It would also be somewhat bittersweet for Dunne. Because of his amateur status, he wouldn’t receive a single dollar of The Open’s $1.8 million prize money if he emerged victorious. The Dublin-born Dunne was a business finance major at UAB, which begs the question, did he ever go to class? Because this whole amateur thing seems like a pretty bad business finance decision.

Amidst the weather delays and continuing implosion of Tiger Woods, there has been some pretty awesome golf being played at The Open this year. We’re looking forward to how everything shakes down on the last day.

Photo via Associated Press