Danny Willett took the clubhouse lead in the third round of the British Open with a superb six-under 65 to move to seven-under on Saturday.
The Englishman, winner of the Masters in 2016, missed a birdie putt on the 18th that would have set a new course record as the calm weather produced a birdie feast.
Willett was three behind a four-way tie for the lead with overnight pacesetters Shane Lowry and J.B. Holmes and English duo Lee Westwood and Tommy Fleetwood all on 10-under.
Westwood’s climb
The 46-year-old Westwood, still hunting for a first Major, birdied the second, third and fourth holes and was briefly on his own at the top of the leaderboard.
Holmes and Lowry were both two-under for their rounds, with Westwood and Fleetwood both three-under after seven holes.
American Rickie Fowler was five-under for his round with one hole to play, taking him to eight-under overall. World No. 1 Brooks Koepka was seven-under after a couple of birdies on his outward nine.
Former champion Jordan Spieth made a move with a couple of early birdies but slipped back to five-under.
Defending champion Francesco Molinari's hopes of retaining the title looked over after he could only manage a one-over 72 to leave him two-over going into the final day.
An on song
Meanwhile, South Korea's An Byeong-hun roared up the leaderboard, picking up three strokes by the halfway stage of his third round.
With the leading pairs still to tee off on a pleasant day on the Antrim coast, An made headway as he got himself to five-under.
An, who carded a four-under 67 on Friday, gathered birdies at the second, fourth, fifth and eighth to jump up 20 places and into a share of fifth spot before a bogey at the ninth undid some of his good work.
Fellow Korean Park Sang-hyun was also shifting on the day — dubbed the “moving day” at Majors — reaching five-under after 12 holes on the Dunluce layout which offered plenty of scoring opportunities.
American Xander Schauffele also put himself in the mix as he picked up three strokes after eight holes to move to six-under.
