He's not just the co-leader, he also set a new tournament record for best 18-hole score by an amateur with a 65.
Lewis, 20 years old, got into the Open by winning an International Final Qualifier with rounds of 63-65. The biggest wins on his resume are the 2009 British Boys Championship and the 2011 St. Andrews Links Trophy. Lewis entered the 2011 Open ranked 13th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Lewis' 65 is 5-under at Royal St. George's and tied Thomas Bjorn atop the leaderboard. As noted, it's also a new British Open record for best round by an amateur. The three players who shared the previous record of 66 are:
- Frank Stranahan: Shot 66 in the final round of the 1950 British Open
- Tiger Woods: Shot 66 in the second round of the 1996 British Open
- Justin Rose: Shot 66 in the final round of the 1998 British Open
Stranahan tied for ninth, Woods tied for 22nd and Rose tied for fourth.
The odds of Lewis hanging in there until the end? Not good! But then, nobody thought Tom Watson could hang in there til the end in 2009, and he did.
Lewis now has a shot at the 72-hole British Open record for amateurs, which is currently 281 (Iain Pyman 1993 and Woods 1996). At Royal St. George's this year, 281 would be 1-over par. Lewis is already 5-under, so he can play 6-over the rest of the way and still tie the 72-hole record. Pyman's 281, by the way, came at Royal St. George's.
See also:
British Open leaderboard
British Open records
More about the British Open
Amateur Shares Open Lead With Record-Setting Round originally appeared on About.com Golf on Thursday, July 14th, 2011 at 14:58:36.
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