record audience descended on St Andrews this afternoon for the climax of the 150th Open Championship, with overnight leaders Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland the last to stall.
Tied at -16, four shots clearly at the top of the standings, the last pair went from the first at 2:50 PM and will have looked over their shoulder at the chasing pack.
The co-leaders will no doubt have noticed the low scores of early starters Sadom Kaewkanjana of Thailand and Abraham Ancer of Mexico who were in the clubhouse with equal scores of seven under 65.
The great laps shot the pair up the standings to a tie for fifth, but still five strokes behind McIlroy and Hovland.
For American Cameron Young and Australian Cameron Smith, who started their challenge from just four behind, the message will have been received: the Claret Jug is still within reach.
Together for Saturday’s third round, four-time big winner McIlroy and Hovland, one of the emerging young golf talents, entranced the crowd with a spectacular display of left golf.
More of the same was expected on Sunday as the 33-year-old Northern Irishman looks to end an eight-year drought, while 24-year-old Hovland looks set to become the first Norwegian to win a major title.
The leaderboard starts on Sunday.
/ FATHERAdditional coverage by Reuters.