It's true: 22-year-old amateur Paul Dunne leads the Open Championship at St. Andrews.
Dunne shot 6-under 66 on a rare third-round Sunday in the game's oldest major, reaching 12-under 204 for a share of the clubhouse lead with 2010 Open winner and Sunday playing partner Louis Oosthuizen.
The Irishman posted a bogey-free round on Sunday, which was also the lowest-ever round by an amateur in an Open at the Old Course. The 204 total is the lowest-ever 54 hole total posted by an amateur in the history of the Open, which dates back to 1860. Fellow amateur Jordan Niebrugge has the second-lowest total, sitting at 9-under 207 through three rounds.
Dunne earned his way into the field as the medalist at the Woburn qualifier for the second consecutive year. Like Graeme McDowell, Dunne went to college in the U.S. at the University of Alabama - Birmingham. He finished fifth in the 2015 NCAA men's individual golf championship.
Going into the week, no one could have seen this coming. Though the World Amateur Golf Rankings are somewhat deceptive, Dunne is the 80th-ranked amateur in the world heading into this week.
We'll see if he can hold onto the lead, or at least a share of it. If he can, he'll be the first amateur since Bobby Jones in 1927 to have a piece of the 54-hole lead in the British Open. Jones won that week, but Jones' last Claret Jug in 1930 is the last time an amateur won.
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