16:01
Fleetwood birdie
Fleetwood -6 (7)
Fleetwood drains a 30 footer for birdie on the par-3 7th to move into a share of third on 6-under par.
Huge cheers from the home fans.
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
15:56
DeChambeau bogey
DeChambeau -4 (2)
DeChambeau flies the green with his approach shot from the fairway, and then misses a short five footer for par.
The bogey sends him back into the chasing pack on 4-under par.
15:48
Scheffler birdie
Scheffler -5 (5)
Scheffler gets up and down for birdie on the short par-4 5th.
It's his first birdie of the day and he's up to 5-under par.
15:43
Fleetwood, Rahm birdies
Fleetwood -5, Rahm -4 (5)
Fleetwood drains a seven footer for his first birdie of the day on the par-4 5th. It moves him to 5-under par and three shots off the lead.
Rahm drove the green and two-putted for birdie. He's now got back his two dropped shots with a double at the first and he's back to 4-under par.
15:27
Neergaard-Petersen to 5 under
Neergaard -5 (10)
The Dane moves to 3-under for the round and to 5-under for the championship.
14:48
Rahm double
Rahm -2 (1), Fleetwood -4 (1)
Rahm misses his bogey attempt from 15 feet and it's a double-bogey six to start.
Fleetwood two putts for par.
14:42
Rahm OB
Rahm -4, Fleetwood -4
Rahm sends his opening tee shot out of bounds.
Bad start for the Spaniard.
Home favourite Fleetwood, playing alongside him, splits the fairway.
14:41
McIlroy bogey
McIlroy -1 (11)
McIlroy misses the fairway with an iron off the tee and then finds the greenside bunker with his approach. His ball ended up right against the face and it led to a bogey-five.
Seven back.
14:30
Fox shoots a 62
Fox -8 (62)
Fox matches the lowest round in men's major history with a stunning 62.
It's the eighth round of 62 in men's major history, and the fourth in Open Championship history.
The New Zealander's round of 8-under par vaults him up into a tie for the lead with Herbert, who tees off in 80 minutes time.
Fox likely won't be leading at the end of the day, but he has certainly given himself a great chance to win a first major title on Sunday.
14:15
Fox joint leader
Fox -8 (17)
Fox gets up and down for birdie on the par-5 17th.
He needs a birdie down the par-4 18th to shoot the lowest ever round in men's major history.
Fox joins Herbert out in front at 8-under par.
14:08
McIlroy chip-in eagle
McIlroy -2 (9)
McIlroy drives just short of the green at the par-4 9th, and then hits a sensational bump and run into the bank and the ball smacked dead centre against the pin and down for an eagle.
Six back.
14:01
Fox on fire
Fox -7 (16)
It's another birdie for Fox, who converts from six feet on the par-4 16th.
He's 7-under for the round and for the championship, which is just one behind.
13:41
Thomas to 4-under par
Thomas -4 (9)
Thomas rolls in another birdie to move into the top 10 on 4-under par.
13:40
Bridgeman makes move
Bridgeman -4 (7), McIlroy Par (7)
It's a fourth birdie of the round for Bridgeman who pushes up into the top 10 on 4-under par.
An impressive start, especially playing alongside McIlroy, who makes par to remain at level par.
13:36
Fox and Schauffele birdies
Fox -6 (14), Schauffele -4 (14)
Birdies at the par-5 14th for the group making the biggest move on day three.
Fox is up to 6-under par in a share of second, while Schauffele pushes up into the top 10 on 4-under par.
Extremely calm conditions out there right now and perfect scoring conditions.
13:16
McIlroy birdie
McIlroy Par (5)
McIlroy gets up and down on the short par-4 5th for his first birdie of the round.
He's back to level par, but that's eight shots off the lead.
13:07
Rory another bogey
McIlroy +1 (4)
It looks like McIlroy can fire up the private jet.
He's just made his second bogey in a row to fall to 2-over par for the round and to 1-over par for the championship.
13:07
JT moving nicely
Thomas -3 (6)
Justin Thomas enters the mix with three birdies on the first six holes.
Thomas might be a two-time PGA champion and former World No.1, but he's incredibly never had a top 10 at The Open in nine previous appearances.
13:05
Fox bogey
Fox -5 (13)
Fox drops his first shot of the day and he's back to 5-under par, three back.
12:57
Bogey for McIlroy
McIlroy Par (3)
McIlroy has it all to do now.
He's just three-jabbed for bogey from 35 feet on the par-4 3rd.
Rory is back to level par, which is eight shots off the pace.
12:48
Chacarra continues to impress
Chacarra -3 (7)
In-form Spaniard Chacarra is off to a great start on Saturday, with three birdies on his first seven holes.
Chacarra recently won back to back events on the DP World Tour.
12:46
Two pars to start for Rory
McIlroy -1 (2)
It's two opening pars for McIlroy.
Not quite the start he was after at seven shots off the pace starting the day, but least no dropped shots.
You'd have to think he will be looking for a score in the mid 60s in order to give himself a chance on Sunday.
12:43
Fox charge continues
Fox -6 (11)
Fox is flying.
He's now up to 6-under par for his round and the championship and to within two shots of Herbert's lead.
None of the leaders tee off for a while yet, so Fox will need to keep his foot on the gas.
11:52
Ryan Fox going low
Fox -4 (6)
New Zealand's Ryan Fox is putting the lowest score together so far in the third round.
Fox is an impressive 4-under par for seven holes and up into the top 10 on the leaderboard.
11:49
Round 3 Tee Times at The Open
We're well underway on Day 3 of the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.
Here's all the R3 tee times:
The Open Championship Round 3 Tee Times - Saturday 18 July
Tee Time | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9:10 am | Jack McDonald | +1 | Russell Henley | +1 |
9:20 am | Min Woo Lee | +1 | Ryo Hisatsune | +1 |
9:30 am | Jose Luis Ballester Barrio | +1 | Kazuki Higa | +1 |
9:40 am | Marcus Plunkett | +1 | Naoyuki Kataoka | +1 |
9:50 am | Peter Uihlein | +1 | Brooks Koepka | +1 |
10:00 am | Aldrich Potgieter | +1 | Keegan Bradley | +1 |
10:10 am | Alex Noren | E | Alex Smalley | E |
10:20 am | Rickie Fowler | E | Max Homa | E |
10:30 am | Ryan Fox | E | Xander Schauffele | E |
10:45 am | Kristoffer Reitan | E | Marco Penge | E |
10:55 am | Casey Jarvis | E | Kurt Kitayama | E |
11:05 am | Laurie Canter | E | Sahith Theegala | E |
11:15 am | Michael Brennan | E | Eugenio Chacarra | E |
11:25 am | Eric Cole | E | MJ Daffue | -1 |
11:35 am | Kazuma Kobori | -1 | Nick Taylor | -1 |
11:45 am | Justin Thomas | -1 | Hideki Matsuyama | -1 |
11:55 am | Ben Griffin | -1 | Hennie du Plessis | -1 |
12:10 pm | Andy Sullivan | -1 | Patrick Cantlay | -1 |
12:20 pm | Jacob Bridgeman | -1 | Rory McIlroy | -1 |
12:30 pm | Jesper Svensson | -1 | Shaun Norris | -1 |
12:40 pm | John Parry | -1 | Michael Thorbjornsen | -2 |
12:50 pm | Jordan Smith | -2 | Sungjae Im | -2 |
1:00 pm | Matthew Southgate | -2 | Nico Echavarria | -2 |
1:10 pm | Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | -2 | Collin Morikawa | -2 |
1:20 pm | Adam Scott | -2 | Chris Gotterup | -2 |
1:35 pm | Patrick Reed | -2 | Johnny Keefer | -2 |
1:45 pm | Corey Conners | -2 | Sepp Straka | -2 |
1:55 pm | Tyrrell Hatton | -3 | Victor Perez | -3 |
2:05 pm | Daniel Brown | -3 | Cameron John | -3 |
2:15 pm | Ludvig Åberg | -3 | Shane Lowry | -3 |
2:25 pm | J.J. Spaun | -3 | Pierceson Coody | -3 |
2:35 pm | Jon Rahm | -4 | Tommy Fleetwood | -4 |
2:45 pm | Scottie Scheffler | -4 | Francesco Molinari | -4 |
3:00 pm | Alex Fitzpatrick | -4 | Robert MacIntyre | -4 |
3:10 pm | Thomas Detry | -4 | Bud Cauley | -4 |
3:20 pm | Matt Wallace | -4 | Si Woo Kim | -5 |
3:30 pm | Bryson DeChambeau | -5 | Sam Burns | -5 |
3:40 pm | Ryan Gerard | -6 | Cameron Young | -6 |
3:50 pm | Jackson Suber | -6 | Lucas Herbert | -8 |
