Henrik Stenson leads Phil Mickelson by one after day three of The Open
By Keith Jackson at Royal Troon
Last Updated: 17/07/16 8:18pm
Henrik Stenson edged into a one-shot lead over Phil Mickelson after an enthralling duel between the pair on the third day of The 145th Open at Royal Troon.
Leaderboard
Stenson began the day a shot behind the American veteran, but his composed back-nine 33 capped an excellent 68 - his third straight sub-70 round - which was two better than Mickelson as the left-hander faltered down the stretch.
The star duo look set to have their own personal battle over the final day with Bill Haas six shots behind Stenson on six under par, one ahead of fan-favourite Andrew 'Beef' Johnston, but the "big four" of Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy will be playing for pride only on Open Sunday.
Stenson got off to the hotter start of the top two when he backed up a perfect opening drive with a solid pitch and a putt for birdie, and both birdied the second before the Swede jumped into the outright lead with another at the long fourth which Mickelson could not match.
But Stenson's directional control let him down at the par-five sixth as he ran up a scrappy six, and a poor tee-shot to the Postage Stamp eighth cost him another shot and gifted the lead back to the American.
The pair traded pars over the next five holes, with Mickelson grafting a superb four at the 12th despite blocking an iron off the tee up against a gorse bush, and the 2013 champion vaulted two clear at the top when he rolled in a 25-foot putt for birdie at the next.
But a two-shot swing at the 14th brought them level again on 11 under when Mickelson three-putted after Stenson had converted his best iron of the day to five feet.
Mickelson crafted a good four at the long 16th, but he gave the shot straight back when he missed the 17th green to the left and Stenson regained the advantage with a 15-foot putt for his fifth birdie of the day.
Stenson pulled his approach to the last after Mickelson had blocked his second into the front-left bunker, after which he lambasted photographers for allegedly clicking too early, but their reliable short-games salvaged a pair of pars and set up a fascinating battle ahead.
Haas is alone in third after offsetting five birdies with three bogeys in a workmanlike 69, which included one of the shots of the day when he holed a bunker escape for an unlikely two at the eighth.
Johnston is one shot further adrift as he picked up shots at seven and nine to turn in 34, and he responded to his first dropped shot of the round with a sublime chip-in for birdie at the tough 13th - one of only five on the day at that hole.
The ever-popular 'Beef' gave the shot straight back after a wayward tee-shot at 14, but he parred safely in to remain at five under and was given arguably the loudest reception of the tournament as he made his way up the last to close out a 70.
JB Holmes is the best of the rest on four under after a 69 as Danish veteran Soren Kjeldsen struggled to break 40 on the back nine and slipped nine shots off the lead having been seven under at the turn.
Dustin Johnson threatened to crash the Stenson-Mickelson duel when he cruised to the turn in 33 to get to five under, including a remarkable 394-yard drive at the seventh which set up a two-putt birdie, but a triple-bogey seven at the treacherous 11th took the wind out of his sails and he limped in with a 73 - one under.
McIlroy was in erratic form from the moment he blocked his opening drive into thick rough, and he mixed two birdies with three bogeys over the first six holes before missing a number of chances in a run of eight pars.
He ended that run with a bogey at 15, and his frustration boiled over at the next when he sliced his three-wood second and slammed the offending club into the ground - snapping the head off at impact.
McIlroy's 73 left him back on level par, while Day failed to build on being four under for the day at the turn as he came home in 39 to slip back to one over, and Spieth's round was eerily similar as he rolled in his fourth birdie putt at the seventh before dropping four shots in three holes around the turn.
