Golf analyst David Feherty and NBC have parted ways, and he is expected to join the LIV Golf tour’s broadcasts, The Post has learned.

Feherty is expected to be an analyst on the 8-to-10 LIV Golf tournaments each year, according to sources. LIV Golf had previously signed former NBC soccer play-by-player Arlo White as its host.

Feherty, 63, has been known for his irreverence, which he first displayed on CBS for more than two decades before moving to NBC and the Golf Channel the past seven years.

The Northern Ireland native was a part of NBC’s coverage of the British Open over the weekend.

NBC declined comment. Feherty didn’t immediately return a message.

The Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour has received blowback because of Saudi Arabia’s connections to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudis’ poor record on human rights.

For its next event, the group 9/11 Justice has asked former president Donald Trump to cancel LIV Golf’s next tournament, which will be held at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey.

Last week, TNT’s Charles Barkley said he was set to have talks with LIV Golf to be a part of its broadcasts.

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Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia said he intends to quit the DP World Tour after joining the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series, adding that he no longer feels loved on his home European circuit.

Garcia, who resigned his PGA membership to play in the LIV series, will be ineligible for future Ryder Cups if he quits the DP World Tour.

“I am quite clear about what I am going to do with the European circuit. Probably leave it,” Garcia told Spanish reporters after the Open on Sunday. “I want to play where I feel loved, and right now in the European Tour I am not feeling loved.

“I am very happy with what I have achieved, and I am going to try to enjoy it. I will play less and will spend more time at home. If I cannot play any more major, that’s the way it is, but it is not something that bothers me a lot. I am feeling sad because of the Ryder Cup but right now in the way I am playing I won’t be selected.”

Garcia’s former European Ryder Cup captain, Thomas Bjorn, has been an outspoken critic of LIV Golf and the players who have jumped ship to the breakaway circuit bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Critics say the new series amounts to blatant sportswashing by a nation trying to improve its reputation in light of its history of human rights abuses.

“When Thomas Bjorn — former Ryder Cup captain — came to the BMW Championship and told us: ‘We don’t love any of you and all players say so.’ … I already have an age and had enough suffering to be enduring nonsense like that,” Garcia said. “That’s not pretty. I have given more than half my life to the European Tour and I wanted to continue playing it, but I am not going to be where they don’t want me.

“It is very sad to receive such treatment for a personal and professional decision. … I feel sorry for the Ryder Cup, my resignation is not official, but I’m going to make it effective. I have what I have and I am very happy with it, and I want to enjoy it to the fullest. I will play less; I will be more at home.”

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

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After Rory McIlroy said it would be “better for the sport” if a LIV golfer didn’t win the British Open, this weekend’s winner may be taking the Claret Jug with him to the breakaway league.

Cameron Smith’s victory press conference on Sunday included a grilling on LIV rumors by a Sky Sports reporter, which appeared to annoy the new major champion.

“I just won the British Open, and you’re asking about that. I think that’s pretty not that good,” the Australian said. “I don’t know, mate. My team around me worries about all that stuff. I’m here to win golf tournaments.”

While frustrated, Smith did little to curtail the speculation that has only increased since his victory. Smith ended his weekend with an eight-under 64 on Sunday, which included five straight birdies on the back nine. While Smith was quick to brush off the rumors, he never denied any of them, which raised some eyebrows.

The questions came to the forefront as it is rumored that LIV Golf is set to soon announce a new lineup of players headlined by the 28-year-old Smith. The rumors were further exemplified by the face of LIV, Greg Norman, ecstatically congratulating Smith on Twitter for his victory.

“Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi! A spectacular final round mate,” Norman said to his countryman. “A triumph for you and for Australia as the first Australian to win in 29 years. You’re in good company. Enjoy every moment of your The Open victory.”

Henrik Stenson is also believed to be jumping ship for the Saudi-backed LIV league. If so, the Swede will be stripped of his captaincy for the Ryder Cup.

Despite the speculation, Smith said he isn’t going to focus on those distractions after his win.

“I’m definitely going to see how many beers fit in this thing,” Smith said. “I’ll probably have about 20 Claret Jugs.”

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Every morning this week at St. Andrews, Rory McIlroy looked out his window at the Rusacks Hotel, which stands adjacent to the 18th hole of the Old Course, and he stared at the distinctive manually operated yellow British Open scoreboard.

Every morning, the 33-year-old from Northern Ireland stared at that scoreboard and envisioned his name at the top of it come Sunday night, him standing on that 18th green hoisting the Claret Jug toward the gray Scottish sky as the “Champion Golfer of the Year.”

When McIlroy woke up Sunday morning, he shared the space at the top of that board with Viktor Hovland as the co-leaders entering the final round. He was 18 holes away from achieving a childhood dream, winning an Open at St. Andrews, the “Home of Golf.”

He could see it, touch it, taste it.

“I’m only human, I’m not a robot; of course, you think about it and you envision it … and you want to envision it,” McIlroy said as he stood dejected and gutted after being lapped by winner Cameron Smith, who overcame a four-shot deficit to McIlroy to start the day to win his first major championship.

McIlroy said every time he looked out his hotel window at that scoreboard, “I’m trying to envision ‘McIlroy’ as the top name on that leaderboard and how that [would] feel. At the start of the day [Sunday]it was at the top, but at the start of tomorrow, it won’t be.”

On this day, McIlroy, who shot a final-round, bogey-free 2-under 70 (six shots more than Smith), could not summon his best when he needed it most.

So, for McIlroy, who hasn’t won a major since 2014, the beat goes on. So, too, will the questions every time he tees it up in a major.

No one had more pressure on him than McIlroy on Sunday at St. Andrews.

He was the most accomplished player atop the leaderboard entering the final round.

He was the tournament betting favorite from the start of the week.

He was, by a wide margin, the most popular player in the field. If you had a dime for every “Come on, Rory” that echoed from the massive galleries, you’d be able to afford to buy one of those rooms in the Rusacks Hotel.

He was in such good form that on more than one occasion this week he spoke freely about how all facets of his game felt great.

He’s been waiting to win his fifth career major for eight years.

He’s been the most out-front, educated and adamant spokesperson for the PGA Tour in its uncomfortable fight with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour.

This is not an excuse for McIlroy. It’s certainly not one he’d make for himself. It’s just a fact. McIlroy carried the weight of all these things with him around the Old Course on Sunday. Maybe at the end of the day, it was too much.

He insisted afterward that he didn’t feel the pressure as much as “maybe I would have let myself previously feel.”

“I’m trying to do it for me at the end of the day,” he said. “Yes, it’s great to get the support, but the happiest person in the world if I won that Claret Jug, would have been me.”

The second happiest people would have been his wife, Erica, and their baby girl, Poppy, who watched the tournament for much of the week out that Rusacks Hotel window.

“I’ll be OK,” McIlroy said, not sounding altogether convincing. “At the end of the day, it’s not life or death. I’ll have other chances to win the Open Championship and other chances to win majors. It’s one that I feel like I let slip away, but there will be other opportunities.

“I’ve just got to keep putting myself in position. Whenever you put yourself in that shining light, you’re going to have to deal with setbacks and deal with failures. Today is one of those times. But I just have to dust myself off and come again and keep working hard and keep believing. So, it’s just a matter of keep knocking on the door, and eventually one will open.”

As McIlroy spoke in the immediate aftermath of his round, the champion’s ceremony taking place on the 18th green was audible, with Smith being handed the Claret Jug and introduced as “The Champion Golfer of the Year.”

“There’s a worthy winner right on the 18th green right now,” McIlroy said. “I got beaten by a better player this week.”

Projecting pure class to the end.

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Australia’s Cameron Smith finally has his major victory. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy will once again have to wait for his next one.

Smith spoiled McIlroy’s party at the 150th edition of The Open at St. Andrews on Sunday. After starting the final round 4 shots behind McIlroy and Norway’s Viktor Hovland, Smith had a sizzling back nine, making five consecutive birdies to card an 8-under 64 and win the Claret Jug.

Smith is only the third player to shoot 64 or better in the final round of The Open, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Henrik Stenson (63 at Royal Troon in 2016) and Greg Norman (64 at Royal St. George’s in 1993) were the others. Smith’s 20-under score also matches Stenson’s 72-hole total in 2016 for the lowest score to par in Open history.

PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young eagled the 18th hole to finish solo second, 1 shot behind Smith. McIlroy, who was trying to win his fifth major, finished a disappointing third at 18-under. He has now gone eight full seasons since winning his last major at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

McIlroy can at least take solace that he didn’t lose this major; Smith won it with one of the best final rounds in major championship history. McIlroy clearly had the crowd behind him.

this young @McIlroyRory fan crossing his fingers for Rory as he drives is too pure for words. #TheOpen

@nbc and @peacockTV pic.twitter.com/sz7vQYn4xN

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 17, 2022

McIlroy didn’t play poorly and still had a nice cushion going into the back nine. He just didn’t give himself enough birdie chances and could only match Smith with pars.

Here are five observations from the final round at St. Andrews:

Cameron Smith has arrived

Along with Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Hovland, Smith was arguably among the best players in the world without a major championship victory before Sunday. He is ranked sixth in the Official World Golf Ranking. He has now won six times on the PGA Tour and four other times around the world.

Smith had a chance to grab the 54-hole lead Saturday, but his usually reliable putter let him down. Afterward, he told reporters this: “The golfing gods weren’t with me today.”

That certainly wasn’t the case for Smith on Sunday. He had cut McIlroy’s lead to 3 shots when he made the turn. Remarkably, by the 14th hole, Smith was 1 shot ahead. He had five straight birds starting at the 10th.

One of the best putters in the world, Smith drained putts of 5 feet on No. 10, 16 feet ten No. 11, 11 feet ten No. 12 and 18 feet on No. 13. Then on the par-5 14th, Smith nearly made an 87-foot eagle putt and tapped in for birdie and a 1-shot lead.

Smith is the only player over the past 20 years to birdie the first five holes of the back nine in the final round of a major, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Smith put the field away when he nearly drove the green on the 18th hole. From 75 feet away, he putted to 2 feet and made his eighth birdie of the round.

He became the first player to win his first major at St. Andrews by overcoming a deficit entering the final round since Dick Burton in 1939.

Smith seemed to arrive at the Players in March, when he won $3.6 million, the richest purse for a winner in PGA Tour history. He becomes only the fifth player to win both the Players and a major in the same season, joining Jack Nicklaus (1978), Hal Sutton (1983), Tiger Woods (2001) and Martin Kaymer (2014).

McIlroy’s disappointment

McIlroy has suffered plenty of heartache since he won his last major at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla. He had close calls at the Masters and The Open in 2018 and the US Open at Torrey Pines last year. It was the ninth time he has finished in the top five at a major since he last winning one.

The loss on Sunday, in which McIlroy had a four-shot lead at the start and a three-shot cushion at the turn, might end up stinging the most.

“[I’m] disappointed, obviously,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, I felt like I didn’t do much wrong today, but I didn’t do much right, either. It’s just one of those days where I played a really controlled round of golf. I did what I felt like I needed to just apart from capitalizing on the easier holes — around the turn … 9, 12, 14. If I had made the birds there from good positions, it probably would have been a different story .

“But, look, I got beaten by a better player this week. Twenty-under par for four rounds of golf around here is really, really impressive playing, especially to go out and shoot 64 today to get it done.”

Again, most of the galleries were behind McIlroy. Smith and everyone else probably felt like underdogs compared to him. But the Rory roars never came on Sunday.

Playing one group behind Smith, McIlroy made a birdie on the par-4 10th to move to 18-under. He didn’t make another birdie the rest of the way.

McIlroy narrowly missed birdie putts of 14 feet on the 12th before almost sinking a 61-footer on the 13th. McIlroy didn’t take advantage of the par-5 14th. His second shot from 248 yards was short of the green, so he putted from the fairway to 18 feet. Another near-miss left him with a disappointing par. McIlroy also had close misses from 28 feet on No. 16 and 22 feet on No. 17.

“Yeah, I’ll rue a few missed sort of putts that slid by,” McIlroy said. “But it’s been a good week overall. I can’t be too despondent because of how this year’s went and this year’s going. I’m playing some of the best golf I’ve played in a long time. So it’s just a matter of keep knocking on the door, and eventually one will open.”

McIlroy finished in the top 10 in each of the four majors this season. He finished second at the Masters, eighth at the PGA Championship and tied for fifth at the US Open.

“Yeah, obviously, with not just his results this year, but he’s come awfully close and really well played this year,” said Hovland, who finished in a tie for fourth at 14 under. “But at the end of the day, he keeps playing the way he’s doing, he’s going to get one pretty soon, I think at least. Still, yeah, it’s tough. You’ve got to finish it off.”

Golf’s next generation is good

Smith, 28, is the sixth straight winner of a major by a player who is in his 20s. Matt Fitzpatrick (27) won the US Open, Justin Thomas (29) won the PGA Championship and Scottie Scheffler (26) took the Masters. Last year, Collin Morikawa (25) won The Open and Jon Rahm (27) took the US Open.

If you take out Phil Mickelson’s unexpected victory at the 2021 PGA Championship, in which he became the oldest major champion at 50 years old, it would be seven in a row. Hideki Matsuyama won the 2021 Masters at 29.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, players in their 20s haven’t won six consecutive majors since 1921 to 1923, when Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Arthur Havers and Bobby Jones combined to do it.

Cameron Young is for real

For much of the week, with so much attention on McIlroy and Woods, you might have barely noticed that PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young was in contention. But the golfer from New York shot under par in each round, including a 7-under 65 on Sunday. He had an eagle on the par-14 18th to grab solo second at 19 under.

After finishing in a tie for third at the PGA Championship, Young is only the second player since Morikawa to finish in the top three in his debut in those events. Morikawa won the 2020 PGA Championship at Harding Park and the 2021 Open at Royal St. George’s.

“It probably hurts a little worse to come up one shot short,” Young said. “If you lose by eight you don’t really care. But, yeah, I played well [on Sunday]. I would have signed up for 65 this morning. And to watch Cameron shoot what he did, it was pretty amazing.

Is St. Andrews too easy?

The R&A knew that St. Andrews, the “home of golf,” would be vulnerable to advanced equipment and the best players in the world, especially if the wind wasn’t blowing hard off the North Sea.

The wind didn’t blow much during the final two rounds, so the scores were very, very low. Smith’s 20-under total is the lowest for an Open at St. Andrews. The average score was 71,619. There were 929 birdies and 29 eagles.

“I think we definitely are hitting it too far for the course, probably, if I had to guess,” Xander Schauffele said. “Maybe it’s just too firm. I’m not too sure, to be completely honest.

The R&A tucked the pins as well as it could, but it didn’t seem to make too much of a difference.

“The way they made it difficult was a little tricky in my mind,” Schauffele said. “Some of those pins they tucked — I mean, if you’re on the correct side, you’re going to have 30 feet, 40 feet. But if you try to hit it close and you get a little greedy like I did [Saturday]there’s no grass on top of some of those slopes.

“[Sunday] it was a lot of softer. The ball was kind of staying on the ground. [Saturday] there was no friction. Almost felt like a USGA event back in ’15 or ’16.”

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Ian Poulter objected to the notion that he was getting booed at the British Open for defecting to the LIV Golf Series, carrying out a lengthy exchange with a reporter over the subject following his round at St. Andrews on Saturday.

“Are we still talking about it?” Poulter asked when a question about the crowd support, or lack thereof, was put to him.

“So it’s amazing how we still talk about one person that’s 100 yards down the first [hole], where there’s conveniently a microphone positioned way down halfway down the stand and some young guy says ‘boo,’ and it comes over on the TV,” Poulter said. “And you all assume I’m being booed on the course.

“You just walked, [reporter] Phil Casey walked 17 holes on day one. He’s not here, but he was standing here the other day. And the 17 holes he walked, there was not one comment. There was not one boo. If you guys continue to write that there are people and there’s negative comments and there’s boos, then unfortunately that’s not a true reflection of exactly what happened.”

The group of LIV defectors has been largely ignored by NBC’s coverage of the British Open as the golf world continues to react to the controversial Saudi-backed tour. Of the defectors, Dustin Johnson is up among the contenders, sitting at 10-under, six shots off the lead as the third round wrapped up on Saturday.

Rory McIlroy, an ardent defender of the PGA Tour, currently leads.

Poulter finished his exchange by asking the reporter to note that he had, in fact, been cheered on the Old Course on Saturday.

“Andy, would actually write the truth, that we’re getting quite a lot of support out there on the golf course because it would just be nice,” Poulter said. “It would be a fair reflection of actually what’s happening, rather than this continual press of let’s lead down the path of players being booed who have joined the LIV tour. Let’s just say that, right? Fair, respectful, honest journalism would be great because it would be the truth.”

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — The 150th edition of The Open might very well end up going down as one of the best ones in its storied history, depending on what happens on the Old Course at St. Andrews on Sunday.

Seven of the top 12 players in the Official World Ranking are within 8 shots of the co-leaders, Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy, who are 16 under and have a 4-shot advantage going into the final 18 holes.

There are plenty of storylines: McIlroy will attempt to end an eight-year drought without a major. Hovland, Cameron Young, Cameron Smith, Si Woo Kim and Tommy Fleetwood will be chasing their first major victories. Scottie Scheffler, who is 5 shots back, will attempt to put a bow on one of the greatest seasons in golf history. US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick will try to win a second straight major.

Are we headed for a shootout between Hovland and McIlroy in the final round, or will the Old Course finally show its teeth and allow others back into the mix?

“I don’t know,” said Hovland. “There’s a lot of things that can happen. In these conditions and these pin placements, you can play fine and shoot around even par, and then that brings in a lot of other guys as well. So it just depends what the conditions are going to be like [Sunday]the pin locations, and just frankly how we play.”

Who’s going to win the Claret Jug on Sunday? Here’s why the top contenders will win and why they won’t:

Why he can win: Hovland, who learned to play golf in an indoor facility in Norway, is one of the most talented young players in the world. The 24-year-old has already won twice on the European Tour and three times on the PGA Tour, including the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in November. He is the first Norwegian player to hold a lead or co-lead after a round at a major.

“I don’t think there’s any other place that would top it,” Hovland said. “Growing up in Norway, I always watched the Open Championship for way longer than I ever did, for example, the Masters. Yeah, to win a major that’s closest to home, that would be really cool.”

Hovland drives the ball extremely well and is a great ball striker. He came into the week ranked 10th on tour in shots gained: approach the green. He hit 44 of 54 greens through the first three rounds at the Old Course. Hovland also is becoming a better putter; he made putts of 38 feet, 42 feet and 19 feet during a streak of four straight birds on Saturday.

Why he can’t win: As talented as Hovland is, he hasn’t been great in the majors, albeit in limited opportunities. He doesn’t have a top-10 finish in his past eight major starts as a pro. His best finish in a major is a tie for 12th, which he did as the low amateur at the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach and in last year’s Open at Royal St. George’s.

As good as Hovland’s putter has been lately, will it hold up under pressure? And what about the rest of his short game? His chipping has been atrocious during the early part of his career. He came into the week ranked 204th in shots gained around the green. Will it bite him during the final round?

Why he can win: Outside of Scheffler, McIlroy might be the best player in the world this season. He has won twice on tour and finished in the top 10 of each of the first three majors for the first time in his career, including a solo second at the Masters. He drives the ball as well as anyone and is putting the ball at a world-class level.

Even though McIlroy hasn’t won a major in nearly eight full seasons, he has been exceptionally good on the weekends of majors. Yes, some of his success came when he was out of contention and back-doored his way into top-5 finishes. Still, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, McIlroy is 33 under in the final round of majors, best by any golfer in the Masters era. He’s going to have most of the gallery behind him on Sunday, and it feels like it’s finally McIlroy’s time again.

Why he can’t win: How many times have we been here before? There have been 30 majors played since McIlroy won his latest one, the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla. Twenty-two golfers have won majors during that span, but not McIlroy. Can he finally avoid the disasters that have derailed his chances in the past?

Why he can win: The PGA Tour rookie has looked like he belonged since his second start of the season, when he tied for second at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Since then, Young tied for second at the Genesis Invitational and tied for third at the PGA Championship. He already has five top-10s in his first 20 starts. Clearly, the New York product isn’t afraid of the big stage.

Young, who played at Wake Forest, is one of the longest hitters off the tee on tour. He averaged a whopping 369.6 yards per drive on Saturday. His iron play has also been better this week, too. He led The Open field in shots gained: tee to green by more than a stroke in each of the first two rounds.

Why he can’t win: Young is playing in his first Open — at the “home of golf” no less. Can there be any more pressure than that? It’s not that first-timers never win The Open in their debuts; Collin Morikawa did at Royal St. George’s last year. But it has happened only 10 times in 150 years, and Young is a rookie.

Why he can win: Smith loves birdie fests (his 34-under total at the Sentry Tournament of Champions is evidence) and no one on tour has been better at converting birdie chances than him this season. He has also performed well under pressure. When Smith won the Players in March, he had eight one-putts in the final nine holes to put it away.

The Australian is one of the best putters in the world, and his flat stick was red hot through the first two rounds. He made an incredible 253 feet of putts when he shot 8-under 64 in the second round. Even though Smith missed more than a few opportunities in the third round, he won’t be lacking in confidence on Sunday. It’s obvious he does n’t fear much, considering his shirt selection on Saturday.

Why he won’t win: As good as Smith’s putter was over the first 36 holes, it wasn’t very reliable at all on Saturday. After needing only 28 putts in each of the first two rounds, he needed 35 in the third. Smith missed a 5-footer on the very first hole and made a bogey. He never got anything going from there.

Just like his tee shot at the 12th hole in the final round of the Masters, which splashed into Rae’s Creek and resulted in a triple bogey, you have to wonder if Smith’s double bogey on No. 13 on Saturday might have cost him another chance at his first major victory.

Why he can win: In its 150-year history, The Open has produced some pretty unexpected champions, including Ian Baker-Finch (1991), Paul Lawrie (1999), Ben Curtis (2003) and Todd Hamilton (2004). Who would certainly fit the bill, given his recent form and history in majors.

Give the South Korean player credit, though. He is imaginative and has some guts. On Saturday, he hit a fabulous flop shot from on the green on the Road Hole and saved par. He’s a three-time winner on tour, so it’s not like he has never won before.

Why he can’t win: It’s probably asking too much of Kim to put together a round that would take down the best players in the world.

Who picked up his third PGA Tour victory at the American Express in January 2021, but he hasn’t done much this season. He has one top-10 finish in 24 starts, at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October, and had missed the cut in each of his past three starts. He has never had a top-10 in 22 major starts and had missed more cuts (11) than he had made (10).

Why he can win: Scheffler is the No. 1-ranked player in the world and has won more than anyone else this season. He had never won on tour coming into 2021, but then he picked up four victories in six starts this spring, including the Masters. He tied for second in the US Open.

Scheffler is even-keeled and seems unfazed by pressure. If he wins the Claret Jug, he’ll be the author of one of the greatest seasons in golf history. Only four other players have won five times in a single season, including the Masters and The Open: Ben Hogan in 1953, Arnold Palmer in 1962, Tom Watson in 1977 and Tiger Woods in 2005. That’s some elite company, and that’s how good Scheffler has been over the past five months.

Why he won’t win: Is Scheffler too far back? The biggest Open 54-hole comeback came in 1999, when Lawrie rallyed from a 10-shot deficit. Unfortunately for Scheffler, Jean van de Velde isn’t ahead of him on the scoreboard. Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els came back from 6 shots back in 2007 and 2012, respectively.

“Guys are pretty good at golf,” Scheffler said. “There’s a lot of talent out here and I’m hanging in there. Outside of a few putts going in [Saturday], I could have been a lot closer to the lead, but that’s how it goes. I hit a lot of good putts out there. They’re just dodging the cup. But looks like I’ll probably be about 6 shots back going into [Sunday]. Never know what can happen.”

Why he can win: DJ is one of the best players in the world and has won 24 times on tour, including two majors. How much talent does he have? On Sunday, Johnson skulled his tee shot on No. 18, one of the most famous holes in golf, but still somehow made birdie. He got as low as 12 under after 12 holes in the third round but made too many mistakes down the stretch. Still, he has the talent to come back if the leaders falter on Sunday.

Why he won’t win: There are 72 holes in The Open.

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Rory McIlroy has been chasing golf’s holy grail at St. Andrews for more than a decade. He lost his way in the wind at The Open here in 2010. His mission in 2015 failed before it started because of the ankle injury he sustained playing soccer with friends. This time around his quest could have been lost in the sand, or derailed between a rock and a hard place. But unlike previous attempts, this one is going to plan.

Now, after 54 holes, McIlroy faces one of the biggest rounds of his life.

But the emphasis on the next 24 hours is to ensure that even though he is in a remarkable space in his life, nothing changes. His first concern after finishing Saturday tied with Viktor Hovland for the lead? Finding something to do Sunday morning.

On Saturday, he woke early to watch his Ireland rugby team secure a historic series win over New Zealand.

“I got a little emotional when Ireland won, actually,” he said. “It was an unbelievable achievement for them.”

He then took a nap, got to the course three hours before his tee time, did some gym work, had some lunch. Then he went out and shot 6-under 66.

There’s something about this year as he remains firmly in the mix at St. Andrews, in the 150th playing the sport’s oldest major championship, at a time when those outside LIV Golf have looked to McIlroy as the sport’s voice of reason.

We’ve been here before with McIlroy. Since his last major win in the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla, he’s had top-five finishes eight times. He himself this week referenced missed opportunities — such as the Masters and The Open in 2018, and again last year at the US Open. He’s bored of being the nearly man, and the key to changing that is staying true to his processes.

“It makes me play better,” he said. “Going all the way back to Augusta in 2011, I got out of my process. I got out of what I did for three days and it was a tough lesson. It was a really tough pill to swallow.

“And I went to [the U.S. Open at] Congressional, and that’s all I focused on all week. I sort of called it my little cocoon, just trying to stay in my little cocoon for the whole week. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do this week as well.”

Horse St. Andrews, he has kept his emotions in check as much as possible – aside from the odd fist pump and chest-bump-awkward-hug with his caddie. He allowed himself a moment Saturday to look at the windows of a nearby hotel where he knew his family would be watching.

“I try to acknowledge as much as I can, but I’m just trying to stay in my process, stay in my own little bubble and I just have to do that for one more day,” he said.

That “cocoon” is the protection of process, patience and pragmatism.

“I’m trying to play with discipline,” he said. “I’m trying to play the percentages.”

But don’t for one minute mistake pragmatism for lack of drama — the man was the draw Saturday. Wherever he went, he had what felt like the whole of St. Andrews hanging on his every putt, chip or clenched fist.

After being 10 under through 36 holes — 3 shots off the lead — he planned to “minimize the danger” ahead of Saturday. After going out in 3-under 33, all was well. And then he approached the 10th. The hole is fittingly named after Bobby Jones. He’s the man who planted the seed of St. Andrews’ significance within the world of golf, saying if a player wanted true fulfillment they needed to win The Open here — leading to McIlroy’s “holy grail” comment earlier in the week. But as he launched a 334-yard drive down the fairway, he fell straight into the Old Course’s trap.

Of the 112 bunkers here, this one lying off the 10th green is less notorious, but still, when you’re watching a player fly around the course, you fear the slightest error could lead to a nose-dive. But a patient McIlroy twice backed off the shot as he navigated the claustrophobia of the course with Cameron Young and Cameron Smith both teeing off from the nearby ninth. On the third approach and the third time the hubbub of the crowd fell to silence, McIlroy blasted to the front of the green and it rolled into the hole for an eagle, triggering a roar to rival anything we’ve heard this week.

That was the box-office moment, but within this round were equally important shots, the sorts that may not make a highlight reel but are the building blocks for major charges. McIlroy said after his first round he was trying to make the “fiddly” side of the sport his “forte” this week — and he needed to produce all sorts of golfing contortion and nuance to keep this round moving in the right direction.

The first instance was at the 11th with his tricky 10-foot putt to save par, which received a fist pump, too. There was the 15th, where his drive found the worst of the rough. Somehow his approach found the green, and his 49-foot putt left him 5 feet for par.

He managed to avoid the infamous Road Hole bunker on the 17th, but he did find himself between a rock and a hard place as his second shot ended up a foot or so from the wall over to the right of the green. He escaped with bogey, though it could have been far, far worse and the dent on his round far greater.

McIlroy came to St. Andrews as the favorite for the Claret Jug, having won two PGA titles this year, at the CJ Cup and the Canadian Open. But his title chances were one of the several narratives here, with few looming larger than Tiger Woods. Woods and McIlroy have grown to be close friends. Before arriving at St. Andrews, the two played Ballybunion in Ireland. McIlroy said earlier in the week he was expecting to see Woods play the full four days here. Instead, as McIlroy waited on the first hole as part of the 45th grouping Friday, he saw the 19th grouping walk up the 18th. Justin Thomas, in the group behind McIlroy waiting to tee off, was there, too. Thomas is another great friend of Woods. The old master managed to hold it together until he looked over and saw his two pals tilting their caps in his direction.

That moment may grow in significance over the next few years, becoming that serendipitous instance when two careers cross — one passing the responsibility to drive the sport forward to the other. But McIlroy only let the emotion of that moment flitter through him for a millisecond.

“It was cool to be on that fairway when that was happening,” he said. “But I was concentrating on my start to the round.”

It was back to the job at hand.

Sunday offers him the chance to end the eight-year wait for another McIlroy major. but he’s not drawing on experience from where he’s gone wrong previously when he’s been in the mix; instead, he’s playing golf until he runs out of holes. There are positive omens for McIlroy. This is the sixth time he has held the lead after 54 holes in a major. Of the five previous instances, he won four of them. And this is now the first time he’s led at a major after 54 holes since 2014 and that triumph at Valhalla.

“I’m not going to take anything for granted,” he said. “I don’t feel like I can fall back in any sort of experience.

“Just like being here before and I’ve done it. But nothing’s given to you and I have to go out there and earn it just like I’ve earned everything else in my career.”

It’s been 32 years since The Open had a British winner at St. Andrews when Nick Faldo won in 1990. Woods made his Open debut here five years after Faldo’s victory and won in 2000 and 2005. This year’s championship offers McIlroy a career-affirming chance.

But above all, it would grant McIlroy peace.

As he walked over the Swilcan Bridge on Saturday, he didn’t remove his cap. It wasn’t time for celebration. He does not yet have one hand on the Claret Jug, let alone two. Until he’s there in the middle of the 18th on Sunday lifting aloft his Holy Grail, he won’t be thinking of anything apart from the next shot and staying in his cocoon.

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Cheers from every corner of the Old Course that belonged to Tiger Woods for two days at St. Andrews switched over to Rory McIlroy in The Open, and he certainly did his part to give them what came to see Saturday.

McIlroy holed a bunker shot for eagle on the 10th hole that he described as part skill and part luck, but it was pure magic. He showed discipline to know when to aim away from the flag, and to take bogey when he was stuck between a wall and a road behind the 17th green.

McIlroy now shares the stage at the home of golf with Viktor Hovland, the emerging Norwegian star who was every bit as good in making birds and avoiding the blunders that cost so many other potential contenders.

Both made birdie on the final hole for a 6-under 66. No one else was closer than four shots. They have the same score at 16-under 200, though the support is one-sided.

“They’re chanting his name out there. I think he’s definitely a crowd favorite,” Masters champion Scottie Scheffler said. “How can you not root for Rory?”

McIlroy is one round away from ending eight long years without a major. He wants to stay in his world without ignoring the support raining down on him.

“I think it’s appreciating the moment as well and appreciating the fact that it’s unbelievably cool to have a chance to win The Open at St Andrews,” McIlroy said. “It’s what dreams are made of. And I’m going to try to make a dream come true tomorrow.”

Hovland, already with six victories worldwide in his four years since leaving Oklahoma State as a US Amateur champion, could appreciate the support for McIlroy and all he has done. He played mistake-free and sounded as though he were up for the task.

“I’m going against one of the best players in the world and I’m certainly not going to hold back, because he’s certainly not,” Hovland said.

It wasn’t a two-man race, even if it felt that way as the Old Course emptied and bagpipes began to skirl at the end of the day.

Cameron Smith, who started with a two-shot lead, took double bogey on the 13th hole when he tried a bold play with his feet in a pot bunker. Cameron Young went over the 16th green and then back down the other side for a double bogey on the 16th hole.

They were four shots behind, still in the game. Two-time major champion Dustin Johnson, the best candidate from the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league to claim this major, putted across the green and into a bunker for one of three bogeys on the back nine. He fell six shots behind.

McIlroy and Hovland had no such trouble.

Hovland holed a pair of 40-foot putts on his way to four straight birdies on the front nine to seize the lead. McIlroy finally caught him by holing out from a pot bunker some 80 feet away for eagle on the 10th hole, setting off a roar that could be heard all the way back at the Royal & Ancient clubhouse.

McIlroy only a day earlier tipped his cap to Woods as he started his second round and Woods was on his way to missing the cut, crossing the Swilcan Bridge for what might have been last time. The R&A set the tee times that way so they would pass each other.

Woods stands alone in driving the sport, though McIlroy is the most popular worldwide, and it sounded like that – on the first tee when McIlroy was introduced, for every birdie, and when he took the lead for the first time with a birdie on the 14th.

“I love that I’ve got so much support,” McIlroy said. “But at the same time, I need to keep in my own little world and try to play a good round of golf. Hopefully, that’s enough.”

His lone mistake was coming out of the left rough and over the 17th green, across the road and near the stone wall. He played a safe pitch onto the green and two-putted for bogey.

Hovland, bogey-free for the round, showed off some magic of his own on the 17th by putting off the dirt path just short of the road, up the hill to about 5 feet for a par.

“I’ve never been in a bigger spot in my career,” Hovland said. He sounded up to the task, and the popular Norwegian also saw – and heard – what he will be up against Sunday.

“I get a couple in there,” he said of the cheers so heavily slanted toward McIlroy. “I’m probably an underdog, but I don’t mind that at all. Hopefully, we can push ourselves tomorrow.”

Smith missed a short birdie chance on the 18th and had a 73. His biggest mistake was not getting the ball back in play on the 13th, instead trying to advance the ball and getting into tough spots. He also three-putted from 30 feet to start his round and made just two birdies.

Young, the PGA Tour rookie who finished one shot out of a playoff at the PGA Championship two months ago, had a 71.

Scheffler was lurking after a 69. He missed a 10-foot birdie chance on the 16th and then three-putted the 17th for a bogey. Scheffler, who finished one shot behind in the US Open, had a 69 and was five back along with Si Woo Kim (67).

Johnson also within three shots until a bogey on the 13th and another on the par-5 14th, where his long eagle putt raced up a hill, across the green and into a pot bunker. Instead of birdie, he had to scramble for bogey. He dropped two more shots coming in for a 71 and was six behind.

McIlroy last won a major in 2014 at the PGA Championship at Valhalla. He would love nothing more than to win at the home of golf, on the Old Course where Jack Nicklaus once said a player’s career would not be complete without winning a claret jug at St. Andrews.

“Every part of my game has felt good this week,” McIlroy said. “I just need to keep it going for one more day.”

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