Oh it's so, so close to another Shane Lowry birdie - his putt from off the green is almost hanging over the edge of the cup as it comes to rest.

Another par though, three more four more holes to go.

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Jordan Spieth levels out his round with a birdie on 13 from 11 feet with that coming off a crunching 339-yard drive. He's definitely gained distance over the last year or so, and is now well and truly in the 'sneaky long' category.

Collin Morikawa, winner of The Open in 2021, has found it tough going out there - like everyone - but unlike everyone he's dug deep and remains in touch.

Having double bogeyed the eighth, the American made five consecutive pars and now holes a 25-foot putt on the 14th for his first birdie of the day.

Don't rule him out.

Shane Lowry is now on the par-three 14th and sends his tee shot to the back of the green, just alongside that of his playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick.

Our leader Shane Lowry goes right off the tee once more, but has a decent lie and is able to find the green with his second shot.

It's another birdie chance in that 20-25 foot range. But he is human. It stays up. Par.

Matt Fitzpatrick's approach is six feet away and is rewarded with a birdie that get him back to one under.

Another Jordan Spieth bizarre miss as he fires wide and right into the rough from the 12th fairway, also coming up 40 yards short.

The escape to two feet is almost inevitable - still brilliant - but inevitable as he saves par.

Scottie Scheffler's never in this hole, finding the rough off the tee then further rough with his second, and he can't produce the goods so drops a shot to slip back to level par.

A first bogey of the day for Xander Schauffele after his first real bad shot on the par-three 14th which went long and right into the rough.

He still almost got himself out of jail with a nice escape to five feet, but he then missed the putt and get the bogey he probably deserved with that tee shot.

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Brooks Koepka gets in strife from the 15th tee, meaning he needs three to get to the green.

He leaves himself a par try from 20 feet and it's not going to drop.

Back to one under.

The past 10 winners of The Open have all been first-time winners of the Claret Jug.

The run stretches back to 2013, when Phil Mickelson won at Muirfield.

The longest sequence of first-time Open winners is from 1994-2004, in which there were 11 first-time champions.

Ernie Els, in 2012, was the last person to win their second Claret Jug, while no player has successfully retained the trophy since Padraig Harrington in 2008.

Shane Lowry, who won in 2019, currently leads the field on four under after 12 holes.

Image source, Getty Images

Dan Rapaport
American golf journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live

That was a bad back bend-over from Tiger Woods. That wasn’t the leg, I think his back is bothering him.

He knows he’s not going to play another tournament this year. It’s been another lost year in the majors. He’s staring at nine months until the Masters.

He’s incredible at blocking everything out and not thinking that deeply but I wonder what is going through his head right now.

Shane Lowry's tee shot just drifts off the right of the fairway, into the rough, and he's always playing catch-up on the 12th hole from there.

It's a 12-footer for par with a break from left to right - and once again, he makes it.

Lowry nerveless with the putter in hand today.

Forget everything we've written the last few holes about Tiger Woods - he's back!

He's smoked a drive 330 yards off the tee and stuck his approach from 132 yards to just seven feet before rolling in the birdie - that's just like watching Tiger Woods...

This trio sprayed their tee shots on the par three all around the outskirts of the 14th green.

All three save par.

Scottie Scheffler finally makes a putt of some length with a 15-footer for birdie finding the target on the tough 11th as the world number one dips under par for the tournament.

Before that, the longest putt Scheffler had made was under four feet, so his putter has been cold it's been almost frozen solid.

And still, he's right in the tournament...

Austria's Sepp Straka, who finished tied for second in 2023, has made a promising start to the 2024 Open.

A birdie attempt on the 18th slips by but it's a one-under 70 for Straka today.

Dan Rapaport
American golf journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live

Xander Schauffele is finding fairways, good distance control with the irons, speed has been perfect around the greens.

As difficult as this course has been for everyone else, he’s made it look rather simple.

Perfect shots work anywhere.

'Only' a par for Xander Schauffele but only because another long-range putt just comes up short and hangs on the edge.

Tiger Woods plays a half-hearted escape from a dodgy lie and even worse stance, and then his long effort for par only goes and lips out.

So that's another bogey and seven over with still six more holes of misery left...

Brooks Koepka's approach spins just off the front edge of the green, but he's only about 20 feet from the hole.

He elects to use the putter and is a couple of feet short - no drama with the par putt.