England’s Lee Westwood has struck the lead while Adam Scott is putting himself in the mix midway through the British Open third round at Muirfield.
On another tough day for scoring at the Scottish links course on Saturday, Westwood jumped to the top of a bunched leaderboard with a moment of magic.
The Englishman, chasing his first major victory, made a putt from well off the green for eagle at the fifth hole to move to three under for the tournament.
After six holes Westwood was a shot ahead of Tiger Woods, who took the lead at one point before falling back with a bogey on the par-3 fourth hole.
Masters champion Scott was three shots from the lead midway through his round while fellow Australian Jason Day was keeping himself in the hunt with another solid round.
Scott, who finished second at last year’s Open after a dramatic late collapse, improved to even par for the tournament with a birdie at the par-5 ninth hole after missing a makeable eagle putt.
Day was even for the round through 13 holes to remain at two over, five shots off the lead.
The tournament remains wide open, with overnight lead Miguel Angel Jimenez, Angel Cabrera, and Henrick Stenson among a group a one-under par.
Australians Geoff Ogilvy, Peter Senior and Marcus Fraser completed their third rounds earlier but all lost ground to be well off the pace.
Ogilvy (72) is at nine over for the tournament, one shot ahead of Senior (73) and Fraser (76).