Can anyone catch Jordan Spieth at Royal Birkdale?

The home crowd are going to roar him on to beat the Americans and claim the Claret Jug on Sunday.

Jordan Spieth will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the British Open after shooting a bogey-free third round of 65 to go to 11 under par on Saturday at Royal Birkdale.

The smart money says Spieth shoots another round in the 60s to win his third major championship, which is why British bookmakers Ladbrokes have the two-time major victor as the 1-4 favourite.

Sweden’s Alex Noren is tied with Manley, while England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick is on one under. He will tote along his 8-for-his-last-9 record when leading after 54 holes, with that Masters the oddball in the bunch. On Saturday, those questions came at 15, when Kuchar briefly joined him in the lead on for Spieth to walk in a 10-foot putt, and then at 18.

It is only the third time that the 23-year-old has opened his major account with consecutive sub-70 rounds.

“We got in at six under and it was a very, very solid day”, Spieth said after his round. “You probably didn’t understand me”. McIlroy said. “I’ve always been good when I get off to fast starts, being able to keep it going, and I didn’t today”.

“I need to pick myself up, play a good round tomorrow, hope for some bad weather, hope for some guys to struggle and we’ll see what happens”. “And if I win it has nothing to do with that, either”. Kuchar’s consistent success on the PGA Tour has not translated to high finishes in majors, but he looks poised to make some noise in England this week. Tiger Woods had only won two by his 24th birthday.

Austin Connelly is playing in his first major and only qualified when he won a playoff for the final spot at Royal Cinque Ports.

U.S. golfer Zach Johnson, the 2015 Open champion, was the biggest mover of the day with a round of 66 being the best of the second round, taking him to joint-21 on one-over-par. Now the 20-year old Canadian finds himself in the penultimate group on the final day of a major championship after a third-round 66.

Victor of both the Masters and US Open in 2015, Spieth had failed to break par in his last five opening rounds at a major before coming to the north-west English coast this week.

“My game plan is going to take shape around 12 o’clock tomorrow”, Spieth said. He’s a amusing guy.

“Both of us were playing some good golf”, Kuchar told Golf Channel.

Grace laid down the early challenge Saturday, setting the stage in balmy conditions compared with the gales and deluge of Friday.

Quite a few other golfers might like to avoid the hole at this British Open. Birkdale likes to crown those, you know. And I was like, “What are you talking about?”

Only once did he really have to scramble for par, and that came at the opening hole where the eventual putt could not have been more than five feet.

He found the green with an audacious drive on the par-four fifth but left his eagle putt agonizingly short.

Spieth, meanwhile, was forging ahead.