Harman remains five ahead as Young and Rahm make moves – The Open

Round 3

Brian Harman bounced back from a slow start to take a commanding five-shot lead into the final round of The 151st Open and move a big step closer to a maiden major title.

Harman saw his five-stroke overnight lead briefly drop to two shots after two bogeys in his opening four holes at a rainy Royal Liverpool, only to respond brilliantly to register four birdies and play the rest of his round blemish-free to card a two-under 69.

The world No 26 heads into the final round on 12 under and with a big cushion over last year’s runner-up Cameron Young, who posted a second-round 66, while Masters champion Jon Rahm charged into third spot after a stunning bogey-free 63.

Tommy Fleetwood had to settle for a level-par 71, leaving him in the group of five players in tied-fourth, while Rory McIlroy’s hopes of an elusive first major victory since 2014 faded after a two-under 69 kept him nine strokes back.

Harman’s advantage had been cut to four before he had even begun his third round, as Rahm birdied seven of his last 10 holes to post the lowest Open round ever at Royal Liverpool and move to six under.

Harman bogeyed the first after a poor approach saw him miss the opening green, as Fleetwood rolled in from 10 feet to birdie the second and moved within two of the lead when his playing partner dropped another shot at the fourth.

The overnight leader responded with a long-range two-putt birdie at the fifth, where Fleetwood failed to match it from seven feet, while Jason Day – two groups ahead – moved into a share of second when he holed from off the green to birdie the ninth and turn in 32.

Harman holed from six feet to save par at the seventh and made a close-range birdie at the par-three ninth after a stunning tee shot, putting him four clear, as Fleetwood fell five behind after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the 10th.

Back-to-back birdies from the 11th pulled Harman six clear of the chasing pack, while Young rolled in from 15 feet at the 15th and responded to a missed chance from six feet at the 17th to take advantage of the par-five last and jump to seven under.

Harman safely negotiated the closing stretch and scrambled an unlikely par at the last after being forced to gouge out of thick rough down the left fairway, with the 36-year-old missing the green with his third shot but holing from eight feet to remain at 12 under.

Young birdied the two closing par-fives to move to seven under and ensure a final-round pairing with Harman.

Fleetwood finished with eight consecutive pars to remain on five under alongside Day, Viktor Hovland and European Ryder Cup hopefuls Antoine Rozner and Sepp Straka – who carded rounds of 67 and 70 respectively.

Alex Fitzpatrick – brother of former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick – jumped inside the top 10 thanks to a six-under 65, while McIlroy’s hopes of a second successive win at Royal Liverpool suffered a setback after he was unable to build on his fast start.

McIlroy birdied three of his first five holes before failing to add another throughout the remainder of his round, with the Northern Irishman declining to speak to the media after falling back into the group on tied-11th.

Defending champion Cameron Smith posted a three-under 68 to move back under par for the tournament, while world No 1 Scottie Scheffler’s run of seven consecutive top-five finishes on the PGA Tour looks to be over after a one-over 72 dropped him down to tied-63rd.