The Open: Rory fends off the chasing pack

FROM STEVE KEIPERT AT ROYAL LIVERPOOL

Emphatic eagles at two of his last three holes pushed Rory McIlroy to a six-stroke lead with a round to play at Royal Liverpool as the Northern Irishman cleared out from a chasing pack that briefly caught him.

The pair of eagles helped McIlroy reach 16-under-par, six clear of Rickie Fowler with whom he stood on the 14th tee tied with. It was a scintillating and telling finish. No one else in the field made an eagle at either the 16th or 18th holes today and McIlroy landed the big bird at both. His stylish conclusion provided an exclamation mark for an unpredictable day that produced a degree of inevitability about the outcome of the 143rd Open Championship.

Rory McIlroy fires his second shot into the 18th green to set up a second eagle. PHOTO: Getty Images

There's a sense McIlroy passed his most difficult tests in the third round. The forecast storms never materialised, playing partners Dustin Johnson and Francesco Molinari slid backwards quickly and when Fowler pulled level, Rory lifted a gear. The leader has recorded only four bogeys in 54 holes, two coming at the opening hole, and appears ready to capture a third major title and potentially all three by healthy margins after eight-stroke romps at the 2011 US Open and 2012 US PGA.

Job done for the day...two eagles in his last three holes and McIlroy can feel confident going into the final round. PHOTO: Getty Images

"Whenever you have such a big lead, you really can't think about anyone else but yourself. You have to think about how you're going to control your emotions, how you're going to control whatever thoughts you have, trying to stay completely in the present and focus on what you need to do," McIlroy said, adding that nothing is given in golf – a lesson he learned at the BMW Championship at Wentworth in May.

"I've won from seven back this year, so I know how leads can go very quickly and I'm not taking anything for granted. If the guys in front of me had finished a little better, finished the way I did, then my lead wouldn't have been as much."

The R&A's tradition-breaking decision to send the remaining 72 players off two tees compressed play into seven hours of frenetic action. Players threw birdies at each other on both sides of the course in the soft, still conditions as the championship turned wild even if the predicted stormy weather didn't.

A nervy bogey at the 1st plus a Johnson birdie cut in half McIlroy's four-stroke overnight lead in a heartbeat. A two-putt birdie at the par-5 5th retrieved a stroke as pars briefly proved enough to keep the pack a step behind. Johnson bogeyed three straight holes to close the front nine as McIlroy made a key up-and-down from the left rough to save par at the par-3 9th.

At this point Fowler became chief among the immediate pursuers and authored the most potent move. Fowler's colourful clothing might stand out in the bleak conditions but so does his play. He birdied the opening two holes at soggy Hoylake to move to eight-under. More birdies dropped at the 5th and 6th, then three in a row from the 10th. Fowler's birdie at 12 coupled with McIlroy's bogey there closed the six-shot gap between the pair starting the round to none.

Whether Rory sensed it or not, being caught brought him to life. He holed a long putt for birdie at the 14th and made his first eagle at 16 after Fowler had bogeyed the same two holes. In a blink the margin was five once more and would become six. Fowler, though, looks increasingly comfortable on links courses and in fickle British weather – and has been in the same position recently. He played alongside Martin Kaymer in the final pairing at last month's US Open and began that round five behind.

"Martin had a big lead, but if I was able to go out and shoot two- or three-under on the front nine, the tournament could have been a lot different," Fowler said at Hoylake. "Now, tomorrow if I can go out and learn from what I did there at the US Open and try to get off to a bit better start, maybe I'm able to put a bit of pressure on Rory and maybe we can get into a fun little match come the back nine."

A come-from-behind victory by Fowler would mean a second successive conversion resulting in an Open triumph for leading swing coach Butch Harmon. It was Harmon who chided last year's champion Phil Mickelson for not believing he had the game to conquer Open links courses, and it is Harmon who is gently retooling Fowler's game. The 25-year-old began to see the fruits of their labour at the Masters, where he shared fifth place, and again in his equal runner-up result at the US Open. Harmon has subtly tweaked Fowler's distinctive and idiosyncratic 'buggy whip' swing to be more rotation-based and therefore more reliable, while also helping warm up his putting and short game.

Rickie Fowler finds some grief in the form of a pot bunker on the 16th hole. PHOTO: Getty Images

Through three rounds of this Open Fowler is displaying a quiet confidence that, combined with tee-to-green prowess and an artistry in and around the greens, sees him as the player best equipped to challenge McIlroy. The past three Opens have gone the way of 40-something golfers; this year in England's north-west the kids are having their turn.

Not to say the old boys have been forgotten. Darren Clarke, who started the 40-something Claret Jug charge in 2011, carded the equal-lowest round of the day. He made six birdies in a 67 that moved him to five under and on the distant fringe of contention.

Yet this remains another Northern Irishman's golden chance to win a third major. When asked how he would spend his third night sleeping on the Open lead, McIlroy's answer was a light gym workout followed by dinner and a movie. Round three provided something of a roller coaster ride, but McIlroy walked off buzzing and one can't help but think that if he watches anything overnight other than footage of the last round of the 1996 Masters, this major is his.

OPEN LEADERBOARD (54 holes):

200 – Rory McIlroy (N.Ire)

206 – Rickie Fowler (US)

207 – Sergio Garcia (Esp), Dustin Johnson (US)

208 – Victor Dubuisson (Fra)

209 – Edoardo Molinari (Ita)

210 – Adam Scott (Qld), Matteo Manassero (Ita), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Jim Furyk (US), Charl Schwartzel (RSA)

* For the full leaderboard, click here

THE AUSTRALIANS' SATURDAY REPORT CARD:

John Senden (75, +4, T-63, C-): Birdies proved hard to come by as Senden made just two and none outside the four par-5 holes.

Matt Jones (72, +1, T-45, B-): A hot-and-cold round in which Jones made five birdies but undid his good work with a messy bogey, double-bogey finish.

Marc Leishman (70, -5, T-12, B+): Four birdies in his last seven holes turned a so-so round into a solid one. Too far back to contend but a solid final round can secure a top-ten result.

Adam Scott (69, -6, T-7, A-): His wish for difficult weather wasn't granted as the still, but wet, conditions made scoring quite straightforward. Nine straight pars ended with a double-bogey from a plugged lie in the greenside bunker at the reachable par-5 10th. That blemish sparked Scott into gear as he birdied five of his last eight holes.

Jason Day (74, +4, T-63, C): Like Senden, Day birdied two of the par-5s but found none elsewhere.

Rhein Gibson (74, +4, T-63, C+): Gibson said it best when he noted this was not your average Saturday game at Lismore, his hometown. His heroic cut-making putt on 18 late on Friday earned him the plum grouping of Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. Gibson was outclassed but not embarrassed in making four birdies in a 74, just one stroke worse than Woods.

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK

– THE Open's first ever two-tee start raised one important question on Saturday: given that iconic starter Ivor Robson can't be in two places at once (at least we assume not), who would handle the commencement duties on the 10th tee? The prized job fell to the European Tour's Mike Stewart, who returned from holidays to handle the task and did so with aplomb. Frenchman Gregory Bourdy struck the historic tee shot.

Quiet time at the Merchandise pavillion. PHOTO: Getty Images

– THE forecast of bad weather brought umbrellas out in droves as spectators arrived at Royal Liverpool today. One gent, clearly using what he was about to witness as inspiration for his own game, began gripping and swinging his folded umbrella in golf fashion as he queued at the entry gate. When he almost clocked the man in line behind him, he realised his enthusiasm had gone a shade too far.

– THE merchandise tent at this Open Championship is filled with shirts, caps, balls, flags and more assorted accessories than I've had double-bogeys. Armed with a shopping list from Australia as long as Adam Scott's putter, I ventured inside to empty my wallet. One year at the US Open I queued to pay behind Miguel Angel Jimenez; this time in front of me in the line was Bob Rotella, the renowned sports psychologist, buying an Open shirt and cap.

– ROYAL Liverpool? Hoylake? Royal Liverpool at Hoylake? What exactly do we call this place? Some confusion exists but ultimately the names are somewhat interchangeable, just like Royal St Georges and Sandwich in the opposite corner of England. In truth the course is a solid 30- to 40-minute drive west of Liverpool and the scenery only improves the closer you get to Hoylake. Officially this is a town within the Municipal Borough of Wirral. The course is on Meols Drive where the homes are large and stately, the stretch resembling the part of bayside Melbourne known as the 'Golden Mile'.

– HOYLAKE and the adjoining town of West Kirby are close together and have enjoyed a vibrant street scene throughout The Open. In the evenings the pubs and restaurants have been so busy people have filled the footpaths outside them. At the other end of the social spectrum is the West Kirby United Reformed Church, which is getting in to The Open spirit in an altogether different way. A sign outside the church shows a golfer attempting to extricate his ball from a plugged lie in sand and underneath the words, "If life's got you bunkered ... let Jesus drive."