The 154th Open - Day three digest

Sam climbed to the top, a host of fellow would-be first-time Major winners are in the chasing pack and Ryan equaled the Open record.

Here is everything you need to know from day three of The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.

Burns on top at Birkdale

Sam Burns is in pole position to win his first Major Championship after emerging from the chasing pack to take a two-shot lead into the final round at The 154th Open. The American entered the third round three shots adrift of 36-hole leader Lucas Herbert but produced an assured 65 to reach ten under at Royal Birkdale. After a fast start helped him to turn in 31, the World Number 18 made birdies at each of the par fives on the back nine to put him on track to become the fourth consecutive player from the United States, and fifth in the last six years, to win the Claret Jug. His 36-hole score of 127 across days two and three over the Southport links is the lowest total across any two rounds in men's Major Championship history. "I think coming into the day, I was just trying to focus on executing and give myself as many looks as possible, and we did a good job of that," said Burns, whose last worldwide win came at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in March 2023.

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The chase is on

There are 18 players within six shots of the 54-hole lead held by Burns, with an intriguing final round in store at The 154th Open. While American Burns may be in pole position to claim the Claret Jug, there are a host of fellow would-be first-time Major champions in contention. Among those are a pair of Ryder Cup team-mates in Sweden's Ludvig Åberg and Southport native Tommy Fleetwood. Bryson DeChambeau is the only player with Major-winning experience in the top ten on the leaderboard, but the likes of Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm and defending champion Scottie Scheffler also can't be discounted.

Fleetwood still dreaming of fairytale win

Victory this week for Fleetwood would undoubtedly be a fairytale story. The 35-year-old used to sneak onto the Southport links as a child and there wouldn't be many with a dry eye in the house if he was to be crowned Champion Golfer of the Year. After rounds of 69 and 67 saw him head into the weekend at four under, he got within one of the lead after a birdie at the 11th - his third of the day - but bogeys at the 15th and 18th saw him finish at five under and sit adrift of Burns. However, he's continuing to allow himself to dream of winning a home Open. "I've done it most days since I was seven years old, and it still hasn't stopped," he said. "That's what life's about, right? You daydream and you dream about the biggest things possible and then you try and make it a reality."

A third 62 of the week

Ryan Fox became the third player in two days to shoot a men's Major Championship record-equalling 62 to vault up the leaderboard on day three. The New Zealander made nine birdies and one bogey to reach eight under and will be in the final group on Sunday alongside Burns. The World Number 56, who required a birdie at the par four 18th to make history on his own, recovered from finding a fairway bunker off the tee to find the green and safely take two putts from 48 feet for his closing par. Fox is the seventh different player to card a 62 in one of golf's four men's marquee championships after Herbert and Sam Burns achieved the feat in the space of 20 minutes on Friday. There have now been eight scores of 62 in a men's Major, with four coming at the Open Championship and all of those coming at Birkdale after South Africa's Branden Grace was the first to do so in 2017.

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Having a blast

Kristoffer Reitan and Marco Penge have known each other since they were teenagers. On Saturday, the pair shared the fairways together on the "big stage" of a major. Both have emerged to wider prominence over the last couple of years, with Reitan becoming a PGA TOUR winner for the first time earlier this year while Penge won three times last season on the DP World Tour to earn dual membership along with the Norwegian. After rounds of 68 and 69, both took some time to chat about how they have spurred one another on during their careers...