Harman maintains a five-shot lead after rocky start in Round 3 of Open

Brian Harman recovered from a bumpy start to his third round to post a 2-under-par 69 and maintain his commanding five-shot lead at The 151st Open Championship on Saturday in Hoylake, England.

Harman sits at 12-under 201 heading into Sunday’s final round at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, with American Cameron

Young shooting a thirdround 66 to take over second place at 7 under.

“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 the best I could, and I did an OK job with that.”

Periods of rain combined with mild winds led to a softer course and lower scores throughout moving day.

Jon Rahm was the first to take advantage, as the two-time major winner from Spain set a course Open record by firing a bogey-free 63 before Harman teed off.

By day’s end, Rahm was alone in third at 6-under.

Viktor Hovland of Norway (66), Frenchman Antoine Rozner (67), Australian Jason Day (69), Sepp Straka of Austria

(70) and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (71) were in a tie for fourth at 5-under.

“I feel like he's not someone to back down,” Young said. “With the lead he has right now, it's not necessarily going to be up to me [Sunday]. It’s just really time for me to focus on myself and see where that gets me.”

Fleetwood, the homecrowd favorite playing in the final pairing with Harman, could not take advantage of the favorable conditions. He had one birdie and one bogey en route to his second straight 71 after grabbing a share of the lead Thursday.

Pre-tournament favorite Rory McIlroy shot a 2under 69 but is nine shots back of Harman.

Harman, coming off a bogey-free round Friday, made a mess of the par-4 first and initial four holes to drop back to 8-under, just two in front of Rahm and a charging Day at the time.

Then Harman righted the ship by nearly holing a 71-foot putt at the par-5 fifth and tapping in for birdie.

He added birdies at

Nos. 9, 12 and 13, the latter a 20-footer, and scrambled for pars the rest of the way.

The 36-year-old lefty from Georgia has only two top-10 finishes at majors in his career and hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since 2017. That year, he held the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open at 12 under par before shooting 72 on Sunday and losing to Brooks Koepka.

Rahm played a bogeyfree round and heated up on the back nine by shooting a 6-under 30. His 63 was the lowest major round of his career.

“I was playing well, I was making good swings out there,” Rahm said in a TV interview. “It was just the first two rounds, I never really carried the momentum I needed. Missed a couple of key putts throughout the first 36 holes and didn’t really give myself the best chance to get myself in contention.

“I’m relieved that today was the complete opposite.”

Rahm was 1-under through eight holes when he sank a 22-foot birdie putt at the par-3 ninth hole. That kicked off a string of four straight birdies, including roughly 4-foot putts at the par-4 11th and 12th holes after dialed-in approaches.

He added birdies at the par-5 15th and par-4 16th, the latter coming on a 33 1⁄2-foot putt after he missed the fairway.

“That’s one of those bonus putts, right?” Rahm said. “... It was a bit more speed than I would have liked but somehow it found the hole and it was a key position.”

Rahm is seeking his third major title after breaking through at the 2021 U.S. Open and earning a green jacket this past April.

The list of players who have won the Masters and the Open Championship in the same calendar year: Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Mark O’Meara and Tiger Woods.