Harman ready to cause major shock at The Open as McIlroy declines media (again)

Brian Harman has put one hand on the Claret Jug with 18 holes remaining of the 151st Open Championship as the 80/1 pre-tournament outsider looks set to cause a major upset at Royal Liverpool.

Harman, 36, maintained his five-stroke cushion after the third round thanks to a steady 2-under par 69 at Hoylake. 

The 5ft 7in American started the third round sluggishly with two early birdies on 1 and 4 but he rallied thereafter with birdies at 5, 9, 12 and 13 to race back clear of the chasing pack. 

Harman arrived on Merseyside in fair form with three straight top-12 finishes on the PGA Tour, highlighted by a tie for second at the Travlers Championship last month. 

Those results had bumped him up nicely to 26th in the world, and put him in the reckoning for an outside pick in the US Ryder Cup team for the first time in his career this September.

A win at The Open on Sunday, and that will be that (you would think).

If truth be told, Harman, a two-time PGA Tour winner with his last victory dating back to the 2017 John Deere Classic, was written down on a very few bet slips heading into this week. 

Brian Harman leads by FIVE heading into the final round of The Open! Will he close it out on Sunday?

— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) July 22, 2023

Harman, who is going in search of his maiden major title and third career title on the PGA Tour, now assumes a healthy five-shot cushion on compatriot Cameron Young, a player who finished runner-up behind Cameron Smith at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews 12 months ago.

Young made a fantastic up-and-down from the front greenside bunker on 18 to card a 5-under 66 and keep his hopes alive of a maiden Tour title. 

Reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm is also in the hunt after the Spaniard caught fire with a stunning 8-under 63, which marks the lowest ever round in The Open at Royal Liverpool.

The World No.3 now finds himself in solo third on 6-under par as he bids to clinch his second major of the season and third overall. 

Rahm will likely need to keep his foot on the gas some more in the final round if he is to etch his name on the famous Claret Jug for the first time in his career, but should he go on to win he would become the first player since George Duncan at the 1920 Open to come from 12 shots behind with 36 holes to play. 

Related: Rahm shuts down question about McIlroy after record round

Home favourite Tommy Fleetwood started the day in second place and in the final group with Harman, but despite erasing the deficit to just two strokes by the 4th hole, the Englishman could not keep pace with the 54-hole leader. 

Fleetwood ended up carding a fairly lacklustre round of level-par 71 to remain at 5-under par and now seven strokes adrift of Harman.

He's joined on that score by Jason Day, Antoine Rozner, Viktor Hovland and Sepp Straka. 

Alex Fitzpatrick carded a superb 65 to motor into the top 10 on the leaderboard at 4-under par. 

Related: Alex Fitzpatrick is dating one of the best women's amateur golfers in the world

Rory McIlroy could only manage a 69 to progress to 3-under par for the tournament. 

He then declined to speak to the media after his round and headed straight for the putting green. 

Rory McIlroy declines to do any media interviews after his third round at #TheOpen and instead heads straight to the putting green. pic.twitter.com/OMZwniT04V

— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) July 22, 2023

The Open Championship R3 Leaderboard

-12 B Harman (US)

-7 C Young (US)

-6 J Rahm (Spa)

-5 V Hovland (Nor), S Straka (Aut), A Rozner (Fra), J Day (Aus), T Fleetwood (Eng)

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