The Open 2021 LIVE: Leaderboard and reaction as Collin Morikawa wins the Claret Jug at Royal St George’s

Follow all the action live from Royal St George’s

"Major near misses are inspiration" - Open leader Oosthuizen

Collin Morikawa has won The Open after a stunning final round of 66 at Royal St George’s.

The 24-year-old American had started the day one shot adrift of Louis Oosthuizen but surged four clear by the turn thanks to a spectacular front-nine of 32.

Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm both mounted charges over the course of the back nine, but Morikawa then held his nerve under the most heightened pressure, with tremendous putts at the 10th, 14th and 15th to card a round of 66 and ensure himself of a two-shot victory

Follow all the reaction from what was a thrilling afternoon at Royal St George’s:

The Open 2021 latest updates

• -15: Morikawa (66)
• -13: Spieth (66)
• -11: Rahm (66), Oosthuizen (71)

[18 July 2021 11:00 · Tom Kershaw]

THE OPEN 2021: MORIKAWA HAS WINNER’S CONFIDENCE

Collin Morikawa may be making his Open debut, but he already has the confidence of winning a major, becoming the third-youngest PGA champion in history last year.

“I think the biggest thing I can draw from the PGA is just knowing I can get it done,” he said. “But I think confidence just comes from hitting good shots, quality shots, seeing putts go in. There is a lot to draw from, especially this week. I don’t have much experience on links golf, and pretty much all the highlights in my head are from this week. Thankfully there is quite a few. Hopefully we can just use that momentum from the first three days and just bring it into the last 18. It’s going to be a gruelling 18, but I look forward to it.”

[18 July 2021 10:45 · Tom Kershaw]

THE OPEN 2021: MCILROY LAUGHS OFF CLUB THROW

Rory McIlroy produced a stunning four-under-par front nine yesterday but his form deserted him after the turn and he’s among the earlier starters this morning. After dragging his approach at the par-5 14th, he tossed his club but laughed off any comparisons to Tyrrell Hatton, who snapped his gap wedge in half rather more emphatically on Friday.

“The front nine was great. I keep saying I am close and that sort of proved it is there – and it isn’t there,” he said. “It’s turning that nine holes of golf into 18 holes and then turning 18 holes into an entire tournament.

“There are signs there it is going in the right direction, unfortunately I couldn’t keep it going for the rest of the round.

“It was nice to see some of the shots I hit, I holed some putts and got the crowd going a bit – which was nice. I just unfortunately couldn’t keep it going all day. It (Sunday) will be the last round I play here for a while – which is a joy. I’ll try to shoot a good score and finish on a high.”

[18 July 2021 10:30 · Tom Kershaw]

THE OPEN 2021: OOSTHUIZEN HOLDS ONE-SHOT LEAD

Louis Oosthuizen hard to cling on for a while during a shaky back-nine yesterday afternoon, but the South African retains a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa, while Jordan Spieth’s abysmal putt at 18 means he’s not three shots back. Here’s our report from yesterday:

[18 July 2021 10:15 · Tom Kershaw]

THE OPEN 2021: FINAL ROUND

Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage as Louis Oosthuizen takes a one-shot lead into the final round of The Open. The South African, who has finished as a runner-up six times at the majors since lifting the Claret Jug in 2010, is attempting to become the first wire-to-wire winner since Rory McIlroy but will have to fend off competition from Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth on a scorching Sunday in Sandwich.

Round four

(all times BST, * denotes amateur)

08:00 Kevin Kisner (US)

08:10 Richard Mansell (Eng), Poom Saksansin (Tha)

08:20 Sam Burns (US), Rickie Fowler (US)

08:30 Yuxin Lin (Chn), Brendan Steele (US)

08:40 Jazz Janewattananond (Tha), Chan Kim (US)

08:50 Richard Bland (Eng), Padraig Harrington (Ire)

09:00 Ryosuke Kinoshita (Jpn), J. C. Ritchie (SA)

09:10 Bryson DeChambeau (US), Chez Reavie (US)

09:20 Billy Horschel (US), Adam Scott (Aus)

09:30 Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Xander Schauffele (US)

09:45 Harris English (US), Jonathan Thomson (Eng)

09:55 Abraham Ancer (Mex), Benjamin Hebert (Fra)

10:05 Marcus Armitag (Eng)e, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut)

10:15 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Sergio Garcia (Spa)

10:25 Johannes Veerman (US), Jack Senior (Eng)

10:35 Matthias Schmid (Ger), Lee Westwood (Eng)

10:45 Max Homa (US), Justin Thomas (US)

10:55 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (SA), Ian Poulter (Eng)

11:05 Rory McIlroy (NI), Sam Horsfield (Eng)

11:15 Tony Finau (US), Daniel van Tonder (SA)

11:30 Dean Burmester (SA), Brandt Snedeker (US)

11:40 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Viktor Hovland (Nor)

11:50 Talor Gooch (US), Antoine Rozner (Fra)

12:00 Ryan Fox (NZ), Brooks Koepka (US)

12:10 Brian Harman (US), Justin Rose (Eng)

12:20 Aaron Rai (Eng), Matt Wallace (Eng)

12:30 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Lanto Griffin (US)

12:40 Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Dustin Johnson (US)

12:50 Cameron Tringale (US), Danny Willett (Eng)

13:00 Joel Dahmen (US), Jason Kokrak (US)

13:15 Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Andy Sullivan (Eng)

13:25 Paul Casey (Eng), Shane Lowry (Ire)

13:35 Daniel Berger (US), Webb Simpson (US)

13:45 Kevin Streelman (US), Marcel Siem (Ger)

13:55 Justin Harding (SA), Cameron Smith (Aus)

14:05 Dylan Frittelli (SA), Mackenzie Hughes (Can)

14:15 Jon Rahm (Spa), Scottie Scheffler (US)

14:25 Corey Conners (Can), Jordan Spieth (US)

14:35 Collin Morikawa (US), Louis Oosthuizen (SA)