Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg briefly surrendered the lead before posting 5–under 65 to finish the third round of the Scottish Open with a two-shot lead Saturday at North Berwick, Scotland.
Aberg is at 17–under, with Robert MacIntyre, in his home country, in second place at 15–under after carding a 7–under 63 on Saturday.
Australia’s Adam Scott shot 64 and is at 14–under in third place.
Golfers had to contend with rainy conditions at The Renaissance Club after what was described as ideal conditions a day earlier.
Sahith Theegala (66), Collin Morikawa (66), France’s Antoine Rozner (68) and South Korea’s Sungjae Im (67) are tied for fourth at 13–under. Rozner began the day a shot off the lead.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland shot 67 to move to 12–under. He’s in his first tournament since last month’s late-round struggles on the final day of the U.S. Open.
McIlroy dropped a stroke on the final hole when he took a bogey, chipping from one side of the green and off the surface to the other side before recovering to prevent further damage.
Aberg posted 3–under across the first nine to head to the backside with a share of the lead with MacIntyre. Aberg shook off consecutive bogeys to record a birdie on No. 13 and get back on track.
Aberg’s three-putt bogey on the par-3 12th created a temporary two-shot advantage for MacIntyre.
Following a front-nine 30 that included an eagle on the par-4 fifth hole, MacIntyre took the lead briefly after birdies on Nos. 10 and 11.
He tried to scramble on No. 18, hitting an approach shot from the rough. But he ended up needing three putts from nearly 90 feet and settled for a bogey.
MacIntyre, who was this tournament’s 2023 runner-up, won the Canadian Open on June 2 for his first PGA Tour title.
The Scottish Open is the first of two tournaments co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and European Tour.
