Scottie Scheffler put one hand on the Claret Jug on day three at the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
Scheffler, 29, held a narrow one-shot lead starting the third round and he then strengthened it to four shots courtesy of a flawless third-round 67.
The World No.1 is going in search of his first Claret Jug.
Should he win The Open on Sunday then he will be just one leg away from completing the career grand slam.
Scheffler has two Masters titles and a PGA victory to his name.
China's Haotong Li has emerged as Scheffler's biggest threat on 10-under par.
Matt Fitzpatrick, who was playing alongside Scheffler, is a further shot back on 9-under par.
Home favourite Rory McIlroy holed a couple of bombs during a brilliant round of 66.
McIlroy told Sky Sports Golf after the round that it was "one of the coolest moments I've ever had on a golf course."
The Northern Irishman has hauled himself up to 8-under par, which is six shots off the pace heading into Sunday.
"Scottie Scheffler is inevitable, even when he doesn't have his best, he has become a complete player, so good around the greens and has improved so much with the putter," said McIlroy.
"It's going to be tough to catch him if he keeps playing the way he does. But if I can get off to a similar start to what I did today, get the crowd going and hopefully he feels that a couple of groups behind me then you never know, but I need to play another good round of golf and see what happens."
Other players in the hunt for The Open include last week's Scottish Open champion Chris Gotterup, Harris English, Tyrrell Hatton and defending champion Xander Schauffele, who matched McIlroy's round of 66.
Here's how we stand heading into Sunday:
Scottie Scheffler | -14 | 67 |
Haotong Li | -10 | 69 |
Matt Fitzpatrick | -9 | 71 |
Rory McIlroy | -8 | 66 |
Chris Gotterup | -8 | 68 |
Harris English | -8 | 68 |
Tyrrell Hatton | -8 | 68 |
Xander Schauffele | -7 | 66 |
Scroll down to see how the third round of The Open played out at Portrush...
"Clean card is always nice, no bogeys always a good thing," said Scheffler.
"Did some good things to start the round and kept trying to do that."
"Need to stay patient, know what I need to do tomorrow, it will be a challenging day but looking forward to it."
Scheffler -14, Fitzpatrick -9 (F)
Scheffler and Fitzpatrick both two putt for pars on the par-4 18th.
It's a flawless round of 67 for Scheffler, who takes a four-shot lead over Li heading into the final round.
Fitzpatrick endured a much tougher day with a 71 and the Englishman looks on from five shots off the pace at 9-under par.
Scheffler has very much put one hand on the Claret Jug, as he closes in on the third leg of the career grand slam.
We'll be back tomorrow.
Li -10 (F)
Li drives right into the bunker and is forced to come out sideways.
He sends his third onto the green and then two putts from 30 feet for bogey.
It sends Li to 10-under par but he remains in solo second.
Scheffler -14, Fitzpatrick -9 (17)
Fitzpatrick goes left into the thick rough and his second shot goes right of the bunker.
He chips past the flag to 12 feet but fails to save par.
Fitzpatrick falls back to 9-under par and five behind Scheffler, who makes a safe par.
Li -11 (17)
Li holes a 20 footer for birdie on the par-4 17th to move into solo second on 11-under par.
Scheffler -14 (16)
Scheffler drills a stunning iron shot from left to right to 12 feet short of the pin on the tough par-3 16th.
He then sends the ball home for birdie to move to 4-under for the round and to 14-under par for the championship.
Scheffler leads by four and he's cruising towards a first Open title even with 20 more holes left.
Calamity is not in Scottie's dictionary.
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 19, 2025
A birdie every day for the world number one on 16. pic.twitter.com/Ut6HK1YMk8
Fitzpatrick -10 (15)
Fitzpatrick makes a much-needed birdie to move back into a tie for second on 10-under.
Scottie Scheffler | -13 | 14 |
Haotong Li | -10 | 15 |
Matt Fitzpatrick | -9 | 15 |
Rory McIlroy | -8 | 66 |
Chris Gotterup | -8 | 17 |
Harris English | -8 | 16 |
Tyrrell Hatton | -8 | 16 |
Xander Schauffele | -7 | 66 |
Rasmus Hojgaard | -7 | 16 |
Scheffler -13, Fitzpatrick -9 (14)
Scheffler found the deep stuff off the tee but still managed to hack his ball up just short of the green.
He chipped up short of the pin and then drained his eight footer for par.
A big save for the leader, who remains three shots clear of Li, who just made par on 15.
Westwood -5 (F)
Westwood rolls back the years by coming home in 29 shots to card a round of 69.
it moves the English legend to 5-under for the tournament.
Scheffler -13, Fitzpatrick -9 (13)
Fitzpatrick misses yet another short putt and he falls back to 9-under in a tie for third with Hatton.
Scheffler narrowly missed his birdie attempt from 12 feet.
The World No.1 is three shots clear of Li, who just birdied the 14th.
Li -10 (14)
Li bounces back from his bogey at 13 with a birdie on 14.
Three behind Scheffler.
English -8 (15)
English throws a dart into the par-4 15th and then converts the five footer for birdie.
The American moves into a tie for fifth on 8-under par.
McIlroy -8 (17)
Disappointing par for McIlroy at the short par-4 17th, with the biggest gallery of the day aligning the fairway and green.
He pushed his drive way right into the crowd and then went long with his approach shot.
McIlroy then marched to the green to cries of 'Rory, Rory, Rory...'
He could not convert his 35 footer for birdie but it was a simple par to remain at 8-under.
Five back.
You feel Rory needs to birdie the 18th for any chance tomorrow.
Li -9 (13)
Li makes his first bogey of the day on 13 to fall back to 9-under.
Scheffler -13, Fitzpatrick -10 (12)
Disappointing pars for the final pairing on the easy par-5 12th.
Scheffler remains three ahead.
Rose -5 (F)
Rose brings the house down by holing a 50 footer from off the green on the par-4 18th.
He moves to 5-under par.
It won't be a first Open title for Rose but another solid week for him with the Ryder Cup just around the corner.
McIlroy -8 (16)
McIlroy flung his tee shot out to the right in the deep rough on the tough par-3 16th.
But he chipped up nicely to four feet and converted the par save to remain at 8-under par in a tie for fifth alongside Gotterup, who is thru 14 holes.
McIlroy five back of Scheffler.
Fitzpatrick -10 (11)
It's a bogey for Fitzpatrick, but a good one at that in the end.
The Englishman drove into the deep rough and then hacked out to just short of the green.
He misjudged his chip shot and then faced a testing five footer for his bogey, but he would hole the putt to fall back to 10-under par in a tie for second with Li, who has just parred the par-5 12th.
Scheffler now three ahead.
Scheffler -13 (11)
Scheffler faced his biggest challenge of the day on the par-4 11th.
He split the fairway but tugged his approach left in the deep cabbage.
Scheffler chunked his ball out of the tall grass to 10 feet.
As has been the case just about all week, Scheffler brushed in the par putt.
Hatton -9 (12)
Hatton hits a delightful chip to a foot for a kick-in birdie.
The Englishman moves to 9-under par and just four off the pace.
Right in the mix for a first major.
McIlroy -8 (15)
McIlroy clatters the pin with his approach shot from the left rough and it leads to the simplest of birdies.
Perhaps a slight break to catch the pin to slow the ball down but McIlroy and his home fans will not care in the slightest.
McIlroy five back of Scheffler.
Scheffler -13, Fitzpatrick -11 (10*)
Scheffler is in deep conversation with his caddie Ted Scott on the 10th fairway.
He pulls the trigger, and sets up a great chance to get to 14-under.
Fitzpatrick is a few yards closer, but is playing out of the first cut of rough.
He's inside Scheffler's ball.
Chances...
Schauffele -7 (66)
Our defending champion may have a slim chance of lifting the Claret Jug again tomorrow.
Schauffele taps in for par at the 18th to card a fabulous 66 that contained two eagles.
Harman -5 (10)
Not the day we expected from Brian Harman, who is now on 5-under par after making the turn in 3-over.
