The Open 2023 LIVE: Golf leaderboard as Brian Harman leads by five after third round

Brian Harman leads The Open Championship by five shots heading into the final round at Hoylake.

Despite the rain, fans were treated to a captivatingly moving day on Saturday, with Cameron Young, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Jason Day among those making a push to eat into Brian Harman’s five-shot lead at the halfway point of this major.

Tommy Fleetwood lost ground after starting five shots off the lead, a round at level par now sees him seven shots off the lead. While Rory McIlroy was unable to muster enough momentum to move into contention and begins Sunday nine shots behind Harman.

“I got off to a rough start, but I stayed the ship,” Harman said. “I hit a bunch of good ones coming down the stretch. … I was out there trying to hit every shot as best I could and I did an OK job of it.”

American Brian Harman will take a commanding five-shot lead into the final round of the 151st Open Championship after holding off the chasing pack at Royal Liverpool.

Masters champion Jon Rahm claimed he felt “invincible” as he soared through the field with a record 63, but that adjective could equally apply to Harman as he remained on course for a maiden major title at age 36.

With crowd favorites Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy frustratingly failing to shoot, Harman recovered from a shaky start to post a third-round 69 and 12-under-par 201 total.

Countryman Cameron Young, runner-up in St. Andrews last year, is Harman’s closest challenger after a 66, with Rahm – seeking the third leg of the career grand slam – another stroke behind.

Read the full report on round sixty action below:

It was a record-breaking round today for Jon Rahm, whose round of eight-under-par 63 broke the lowest score at Hoylake in Open Championship history.

The Spaniard jumped from two over par to six under at Royal Liverpool with a flawless third round with eight birdies.

Afterwards, the world number three hailed it as his best ever round of links golf, and it’s clear to see why.

Read the full story below:

The perfect day for Brian Harman, who maintains his five-shot lead heading into Sunday. If he plays anywhere near the way he did today, it’s hard to see how anyone will be able to usurp him at the top of the rankings. The man next to him will be Cam Young, who finished second at The Open last year and shot a round of five-under par 66 today.

Behind them will be the European pair of Jon Rahm and Victor Hovland, who both shot up the leaderboard after rounds of -8 and -5 respectively today. They will have to go big again tomorrow to have a chance.

Frenchman Antoine Rozner will go for it with Jason Day, while Tommy Fleetwood – after his disappointing round today – will go fourth from last alongside Sepp Straka.

This is how the leaderboard looks after the end of the third round:

-5: Fleetwood, Hovland, Rozner, Day, Straka

-4: A. Fitzpatrick, Sharma

-3: Højgaard, Detry, McIlroy, Kim, Jordan, Grillo

-2: M. Fitzpatrick, Matsuyama, Homa, Im, Langasque, Spieth, MW Lee

Harman -12 (69), Fleetwood -5 (70)

Harman leaves some work to do with his putt – about eight feet to be exact – as he looks to save his par. Calm as you want from the American. A big par save on the last capped off a mighty fine round of 69. He had a couple of wobbles early on but battled back superbly before finding a couple more birdies on the back nine to maintain the five-shot lead he started the day with.

Fleetwood has a longer effort for birdie, first … wide. Not even close to the hole, and that might sum up his round. He just manages to give a small smile to the cheering audience, but nothing can hide the disappointment written all over his face. An even round of 70 for the Englishman. Just one birdie and he starts tomorrow seven shots off the pace.

Harman -12 (17), Fleetwood -5 (17)

Harman has to hack his way out of the thick rough as his drive goes astray. His third shot comes up the left and he’ll have an interesting up and down from there.

Fleetwood is back, road to the left as his ball cannons from the stands like yesterday. A drop to him and his chip shot catches right down the slope above the bunker before trickling down towards the hole.

Magpie -5 (70), Min Woo Lee -2 (72)

Straka is in trouble off the tee and can only hack out. It’s a long third shot into the green that falls short in the bunker. The Austrian tries to get up and down, but his putt just drifts wide to the right. A costly bogey at the end means Straka misses out on the opportunity to play in the penultimate par.

Min Woo Lee misses his birdie chance and settles for an over-par round of 72. A disappointing front nine was the problem for the Aussie, who remains within touching distance of a second consecutive major championship top ten.

Sharma -4 (70), Day -5 (69)

Both of these two end up in a patch of trouble on the tee and only have long looks at birdie on the last. Sharma’s falls short while Day’s effort has those in the stands on their feet in anticipation, but misses just wide of the left.

Two solid rounds from these two, but perhaps not quite what they needed given Harman’s exploits at the top of the rankings.

Harman -12 (17), Fleetwood -5 (17)

Both choose the percentage play at 17. flies it backward and spins it to center. It’s about 40 feet for an unlikely birdie, but neither finds the cup, walking away to the last with a set of pars.

A birdie for Fleetwood would be nice – not sure how much it counts for at this point – but maybe it would help lift his spirits a bit.