Lead at Open heading into final round

tried to stay with him until he dropped two straight shots in the middle of the back nine. A birdie on the 18th gave him a 69, leaving him six back.

Still on the fringe of contention was a familiar face in the majors — Brooks Koepka. He couldn’t get enough putts to fall for the third straight day and still managed a 67, leaving him seven shots back.

“I’ve hit it as good as I could possibly imagine. I putted the worst in the entire field,” Koepka said. “It’s been really bad. Very frustrating. Disappointed. But thankfully, it’s going to blow tomorrow to have any sort of chance. I need to figure out the putter.”

Justin Rose had a 68 and joined Koepka at 9-under 204, figuring that just enough to at least stay in the conversation.

Behind him, Lowry kept widening the gap. The pin was back right on the par-3 16th known as “Calamity Corner” because it drops off some 50 feet right of the green. He sent that tee shot onto the green and right at the flag until it settled about 10 feet away.

From the light rough to the left of the fairway on the 17th, he hit a perfect chip-and-run to 3 feet for his final birdie. Holmes drove down the hill short of the green, close enough to use putter. He ran it about 8 feet by, and when it caught the lip and spun away, Holmes dropped the putter in disbelief.

Some of that surely was the frustration of seeing Lowry getting farther and farther away from him.

Lowry can’t think of a better day he’s ever had on the golf course. His 63 was one short of the major championship record that Branden Grace set at Royal Birkdale in 2017. The support was more than he could have imagined.

“Every time I had a putt today, I wanted to hole it so I could hear that roar,” Lowry said.

Now he has 18 holes left to make it through tough weather and Sunday pressure with the hopes of an island following him along.