When the British Open was played at Royal Troon in 2016 the wind blew, the rain poured, and Billy Horschel shot a second-round 87 and missed the cut.
Eight years on, as the wind and rain returned to the Ayrshire coast, Horschel again turned his baseball cap back-to-front, gritted his teeth, and shot a third-round 69 that put him a shot clear of an increasingly bedraggled field.
Overnight leader Shane Lowry birdied the fourth to go three clear but then dropped seven shots in the last 11 holes to end with a 77 that left him one under for the tournament in ninth, a shot behind world No.1 Scottie Scheffler.
"It's just hard because I felt like I played unbelievable golf," said the Irishman. "I missed the first fairway but then didn't miss another fairway until 16. It's not much fun out there. Honestly, it was brutal."
Playing partner Dan Brown, playing his debut major with his brother as caddie, was leading at the last after five birdies and five bogeys, but was punished for finding a bunker at the 18th with a double-bogey.
That left him three-under tied for second with Americans Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley and Sam Burns, Thriston Lawrence of South Africa and Justin Rose of England.
Also very much in contention tied for tenth on even par are Australia's Adam Scott, who enjoyed the relatively benign early conditions to shoot a 66, and fellow major winner Justin Thomas who carded 67.
Of the day's positive movers on 'moving day' Horschel had the worst conditions but scrambled superbly. He missed five straight greens from the 13th but made par each time.
"This round in the Open Championship is by far the best I've played in a major. I had to grind out a score coming in," Horschel, who has only twice achieved a top-ten major finish, said.
The Floridian, who played in short sleeves as if at home, added: "I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. I knew it was going to be tough, but I was prepared for what the last nine holes would entail."
The 37-year-old has played the British Open nine times before this year, missed the cut on six occasions and never finished in the top 20.
Many of those who went out in the afternoon described the test they faced as hard as they had experienced.
I'm delighted to pull up at the end of the day just one back. It felt like survival mode," Rose said.
"The back nine is as brutal as I've played in a tournament for a long time."
“That's the hardest nine holes I think you could ever play in golf right now,” said Dustin Johnson, a former world No. 1 with two majors. Like John Rahm and Collin Morikawa, he shot 72 and was five adrift.
“I probably don't hit a three-wood on a par three very often,” Scheffler said. “I probably don't hit driver and a three-wood really solid on a par four and don't get there in two, either.”
He also called it “the hardest nine holes that I'll ever play.”
Scott's fellow Australian former world No.1 Jason Day, struggled in the conditions. The Queenslander began on one under but ended four-over, tied for 33rd
Amid the carnage Si Woo Kim of South Korea made the longest hole-in-one in Open history at the 238-yard par-three 17th, but it was a one-off moment of magic. He is tied for 40th after a 71.
