The 151st Open Championship - Day three digest

Rahm rewrote records and Harman had a cricketing lookalike while Otaegui turned to baseball.

Here is everything you need to know from Moving Day at the final Major Championship of 2023.

Rahm on the charge

Jon Rahm set a record for the lowest round in an Open Championship at Royal Liverpool with a 63 to surge into third place, still six shots behind leader Brian Harman and one behind Cameron Young. Rahm made four birdies in a row from the ninth and three in the last four holes, and an understated but intense fist-pump after holing from 11 feet at the last indicated he is in the mood for more on Sunday.

Just not cricket

Leader Harman has made an impression not only with his game but also with fans noting his striking physical likeness to cricket great Ricky Ponting. The former Australia captain is in England for the Ashes and even visited Hoylake during a prolonged rain break at nearby Old Trafford. Harman’s cricket knowledge may be a work in progress but he said: “Yeah, I hear a lot of ‘Ricky, Ricky's out there’. Yeah, I look like him. Handsome fella. I think I would be the typical American cricket fan in that – what's the one where they just try to knock the hell out of the thing all the time? Over 20? (Twenty20) I enjoy that where the guy was just knocking it over the fence. They're running back and forth - is that a run every time? I'm getting there.”

‘Ricky’ is not Harman’s only new nickname, with tabloid newspapers christening the keen hunter ‘The Butcher of Hoylake’. “I like that one better than the ‘Harmanator’,” he said. “Someone texted me that yesterday. That's funny.”

Otaegui gets creative

From cricket to baseball, as Adrian Otaegui channelled the rich Spanish spirit of links improvisation with this three-wood swing after finding himself on the edge of a deep fairway bunker on the first hole:

Alex Fitz the bill on Major debut

This week mark’s Alex Fitzpatrick’s first chance at a Major Championship to step out of the shadow of his older brother, 2022 U.S. Open Champion Matt Fitzpatrick. He made the most of it on Moving Day with a stunning 65, with seven birdies and a solitary bogey, to reach four under - two strokes ahead of Matt, who himself birdied four of his last five holes for a 67.

It is worth also reflecting on this moment of magic that helped the younger Fitzpatrick qualify for Hoylake in the first place, as shared at the time by his brother…

Hovland in the hunt again

Norway’s Viktor Hovland has been a constant presence in the Major Championships this year, runner-up at the US PGA Championship and tied seventh at the Masters Tournament after another top-20 finish at the U.S. Open. He had a false start on Saturday as he immediately handed back his opening birdie, but five more took him into Sunday at five under and sharing fourth place.

Cinking feeling

Royal Liverpool member Matthew Jordan had a novel experience on Saturday, partnering a player who turned pro before Jordan was born. He had to be patient before four birdies in the last five holes saw him better Stewart Cink’s 71 by two to sit tied 11th at three under.