Brian Harman holds five-shot lead ahead of final round of Open Championship

IN CONTROL: Brian Harman putts on the 17th green during day three of The Open at Royal Liverpool, Wirral. Pic: David Davies/PA Wire

Brian Harman will not cede control of this 151st Open Championship lightly after a dramatic third day at Royal Liverpool.

Third round honours belonged to world number three Jon Rahm who shot an Open course record 63, eight under par, early in the day to throw down the gauntlet to halfway leader Harman.

The American had started the day at 10 under par, five shots ahead of nearest rival Tommy Fleetwood, having shot a 36-hole total of 132 that matched 2006 and 2014 Hoylake winners Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s scores at the same juncture of their marches to victory.

Yet Harman, 36, bogeyed his opening hole and then his fourth as Rahm posted his 63 to narrow his lead to two strokes as others sniffed blood. McIlroy birdied three of his first five holes to get to four under and promised a charge only for his round to fall flat.

With his putter running cold, the Irishman failed to capitalise and fell back to three under with a bogey at the par-four 14th to card a two-under-69. There were more than willing candidates to pick up the mantle and chief among them was Cameron Young, last year’s runner-up behind Cam Smith at St Andrews, whose 66 on Saturday moved him to seven under par after 54 holes.

Harman’s wobble, however, was shortlived. The world number 26 regathered his composure, dialled in his iron play and rebounded in impressive style. Birdies came with a four at the fifth, a two at the ninth, a three at the 12th and another two at the 13th as the golfer from Savannah, Georgia, regained and then extended his lead to six shots at 12 under before Young birdied the last to trim it back to five.

Harman endured a couple of nervy moments at the par-five 18th, finding rough off the tee and laying up before coming up short of the green but managed a strong par save for a 69 that maintains that five-shot lead heading into the final round.

Rahm lies six shots back with Jason Day at five under alongside Fleetwood, Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Frenchman Antoine Rozner, seven strokes in arrears.

Spain’s two-time major winner, the current Masters champion, was understandably delighted, so much so that he forgot he had shot a 62 in the final round at Lahinch in 2019 to claim his second Irish Open title.

“That's the best round I've played on a links golf course ever,” Rahm declared erroneously, though the stage for Saturday’s 63 was altogether grander.

“I think it stands for itself. It's pretty obvious. It's my lowest round on a links course and it's an Open Championship, right? Also the lowest round shot on this course. Yeah, it feels really good, but it's a lot of work to do tomorrow.” 

In a post-round interview conducted in his native Spanish, Rahm said he had felt “invincible” out on the course during a rainy day on the Wirral peninsula.

In English he said: “It feels really, really good. But we practice so hard, and at least a lot of us expect certain things, and it's almost like, okay, it gets to a point where it's like you visualise in your head and what you see is supposed to happen.

“Like if I do this properly, I'm going to hit it here, maybe do this, and it doesn't happen often where you see those shots come out and those shots come out the way they're supposed to and put them in the spots you're supposed to. You see everything the way it's supposed to happen unfold, and it's very unusual.” 

Rahm will clearly hope he finds the same magic during Sunday’s final round.

“There's a lot of golf to go. Honestly, I'm just going to enjoy the afternoon with my family, and that's about it. There's nothing to be done. Feel like I've done a lot of good work the past few weeks, and I've done a lot of good work this week, as well, and I've done what I've needed, which is give myself an opportunity.

“I'm going to go eat, see my physio, and enjoy some family time before we go to bed. It's that simple.” 

Asked if he will do anything differently, Rahm quickly shot down that notion.

“No. What should I do? What else do I need to do? I can't carry momentum if I'm making bogeys. There's nothing different between the player that was there yesterday and today. Not one difference.” 

McIlroy declined his opportunity to speak to the media following his disappointing day and will have a mountain to climb on Sunday if he is to make up a nine-shot deficit on the leader. So too will Fleetwood, who failed to spark in front his hometown fans and sent his approach shot to the last into a grandstand but still managed par for level-par 71.

Harman remains firmly in the driving seat, on the verge of a maiden major championship victory just as he was at Erin Hills when he held the 54-hole lead at the 2017 US Open. He shot a 79 in his final round as Brooks Koepka claimed victory and there are plenty lying in wait to capitalise on any similar missteps, not least American Young and Spain’s Rahm.