18:30
Three to play for Scheffler
Scheffler -5 (15)
Nine pars in a row for Scottie Scheffler...
Sam Burns
Sam Burns leads The Open as Bryson DeChambeau maintains silence - Day three as it happened
Sam Burns will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
The 29-year-old American carded a 5-under par 65 on moving day at Royal Birkdale.
He sits on 10-under par overall, two clear of New Zealand's Ryan Fox (62) and South Korea's Si Woo Kim (67).
The chasing pack includes Ryan Gerard and Lucas Herbert on 7-under, whilst Bryson DeChambeau sits a further stroke adrift.
Home favourite Tommy Fleetwood will begin his quest for a first major title five back of the lead.
Fleetwood has enjoyed incredible home support in Southport and played his first 11 holes on Saturday in 3-under but stumbled down the stretch, dropping shots at the 15th and 18th.
World number one and defending champion, Scottie Scheffler, is six back on 4-under alongside Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm and Shane Lowry.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy battled to make the cut on Friday but could only produce a 2-under 68.
At eight strokes adrift of Burns' lead, the Northern Irishman looks like he'll have to wait another 12 months to have a crack at winning his first Open title since 2014.
The Open leaderboard
See how the day unfolded...
18 Jul 2026
18:27
Bryson saves par from the sand
DeChambeau -5, Burns -8 (13)
Sam Burns burns (ahem) the edge with another birdie putt, but it doesn't drop.
DeChambeau, having found the greenside bunker, saves his par.
18:23
Young drops another shot
Gerard -5, Young -5 (12)
Cameron Young drops another shot at the 12th.
18:22
Fleetwood par
Fleetwood -6, Rahm -3 (16)
Tommy Fleetwood does well to save his par at the 16th, two-putting from long range.
Rahm saves his par, too.
Big hole coming up.
Can Fleetwood find one more birdie?
18:15
Young bogey
Gerard -5, Young -6 (11)
Cam Young finds trouble off the tee at the 11th, finding the fairway bunker.
He ends up short of the green and can't get up and down to save par.
18:13
Aberg into contention
Aberg -6, Lowry -4 (17)
Ludvig Aberg is trucking along nicely.
Under the radar, one might say.
He makes birdie at the 17th.
His Ryder Cup teammate can't follow him in.
18:12
Will DeChambeau get anything going?
DeChambeau -5, Burns -8 (12)
Just one birdie and one bogey today for the man everyone is talking about.
He tips his cap and thanks the crowd on the 12th green having made his sixth par in a row.
18:05
Fleetwood misses
Fleetwood -6, Rahm -3 (15)
Groans from the crowd as Fleetwood cannot save his par.
Rahm also slips back after missing his par putt.
18:02
Tester coming up for Tommy
Fleetwood -7, Rahm -4 (15*)
Tommy Fleetwood is in trouble over at the 15th.
His tee shot at the par-3 settles at the bottom of the slope next toe green.
He chips up. Decent. Five feet for par.
17:57
Herbert re-takes the lead
Herbert -9 (10*)
Lucas Herbert fires a dart into the 9th green and has no problem converting.
He follows it with a cracking drive down the 10th.
17:55
Rahm on the charge
Fleetwood -7, Rahm -4 (14)
Jon Rahm holes a six-foot birdie putt, taking him back to level par for the day.
Tommy Fleetwood's bogey-free round continues.
17:53
Pars for DeChambeau and Burns
DeChambeau -5, Burns -8 (10)
Bryson DeChambeau misses the 10th fairway and then the green. But he's able to save par.
17:52
Kim falls back
Kim -7 (11)
Si Woo Kim joined the lead with a birdie at the 10th but he's already given the stroke back.
The South Korean fails to save par from 10 feet.
17:45
Scheffler still three back
Scheffler -5, Molinari -2 (13)
Decent long-range birdie effort by the world number one but he remains at 5-under.
17:31
DeChambeau misses golden chance
DeChambeau -5 (9)
DeChambeau misses a golden chance for birdie from four feet.
He drove just short of the green and bumped his ball up to close range.
But his putt dived right fast and he made a disappointing par in the end.
17:30
Burns bogey
Burns -8 (9)
Burns makes his first bogey of the day, and a clumsy one too at the short par-4 9th.
He missed the fairway with an iron and then went long with his approach shot before taking three hits with the putter.
He's back into a share of the lead.
17:28
Kim one back
SW Kim -8 (10)
Kim bangs in a 20 footer for birdie on the 10th to move to 8-under par and one shot back.
17:25
Herbert birdie
Herbert -8 (7)
Herbert sticks his approach shot to five feet under the hole at the short par-3 7th, and he pours home the putt for a first birdie of the round to move one shot back at 8-under par.
It's been a bit of a nervy start from Herbert on day three, but the Australian will hope his first birdie of the day helps to steady the ship.
17:15
Burns outright lead
Burns -9 (8)
Burns takes the outright lead at 9-under par.
The American fires another dart to four feet and converts the birdie putt.
Burns is now 10-under par for his last 17 holes.
Burns
17:00
Fleetwood one back
Fleetwood -7 (11)
Fleetwood sends a dart to three feet behind the pin at the par-4 11th and he converts the birdie putt to move to 7-under par and just one shot off the lead.
The home fans are going wild.
16:58
Burns joins the lead
Burns -8 (7)
Burns sends a dart to two feet on the short par-3 7th, and the American joins the leaders at 8-under par.
16:57
Suber joint leader
Suber -8 (5)
Suber gets up and down for birdie on the short par-4 6th and the American, who is playing links golf in Europe for the very first time this week, finds himself in a tie for the lead.
16:52
DeChambeau birdie
DeChambeau -5 (6)
DeChambeau curls home a 35 footer for birdie on the par-4 6th to get back to level on the day and to 5-under par for the tournament.
Three back.
16:30
McIlroy cards 69
McIlroy -2 (69)
McIlroy cans a 20 footer for par on the last to card a round of 69.
It leaves the Northern Irishman at 2-under par for the tournament.
Six back.
16:29
Herbert bogey
Herbert -7 (3)
Herbert goes long left with his approach shot into the par-4 3rd and he fails to get up and down for par. A bogey goes down on the card and Fox now leads by one.
