One fan shouts "Rory's gonna get ya" as Scottie Scheffler plays his second shot at the first.

Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick are safely on the green in two, but with long birdie attempts to come.

Scheffler is safely in for four, but Fitzpatrick misses from about four feet for a par and drops back to eight under.

Scheffler has a two-shot lead.

Justin Rose has got a fearsome lie down right side of the eighth hole after his tee shot.

Oh yikes, what happened there? He yells "Fore" as his attempt to clip it out shanks further right and into the spectators down the side of the fairway.

A promising round is stalling somewhat here.

Image source, Getty Images

Awful start from Brian Harman and not like him at all - with a bad shot finding the big, deep greenside bunker and then a bad decision as he tried to bump and run it up that huge slope.

He could only watch in horror as the ball stalled at the top of the hill then rolled back down into the trap! Take two was a beter effort but he still needed two putts from there to make a six.

Tyrrell Hatton reaches the green on the par-five second in two but walks off with a par.

He sent his first putt from 70-odd feet about 10 feet by and couldn't hole the one coming back, so it's a par-par start for the Englishman.

Rory McIlroy is down on his haunches as he trickles a slippery little devil of a putt down the slope on the fifth, but sees the ball just swing away from the hole as it runs out of steam.

A birdie chance goes begging - and he'll need all of them today trying to catch Scottie Scheffler.

Rory McIlroy just overdid it with his tee shot on five, the brilliant driveable par five right on the edge of the cliffs at Portrush, and ends up in the rough on the top of a hill.

A tricky shot awaits, but he pulls off a beauty and now still has a chance for birdie here - call it 12 feet or so.

This was the start of today's rollercoaster.

Rory McIlroy needed a quick start if he was going to put himself fully in contention to win The Open for a second time, and he did.

Don't forget - can you do better than 'Roracoaster' and 'McIlroy Express'?

What about other players?

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Oliver Wilson
Former Ryder Cup player on BBC Radio 5 Live at Portrush

Both Fitzpatrick and Scheffler will be pretty happy with that.

I know Scottie's jumped into the first cut but certainly no problems from there.

Image source, Getty Images

For those looking for reasons to back against Scottie Scheffler, the only world number one to win The Open since Sir Nick Faldo in 1992 has been... *drum roll*...

Tiger Woods, who did it three times.

Yesterday, Matt Fitzpatrick said Scottie was doing "Tiger-like things" in golf at the moment.

He'll have a front-row seat to witness whether he continues to back that up today.

It's not only Justin Rose from these shores who is making waves on the coast of Northern Ireland.

Matt Wallace has just birded the 12th, his sixth of the day, and he's up to five under par for the tournament.

Faith Harper
BBC Sport NI at Royal Portrush

There's been a lot of chatter on the course the past few days about Rory McIlroy's height.

I've overheard "I thought he'd be taller" quite a few times.

Just to clear things up, Rory McIlroy is 5'10. As someone who's 5'4, on a good day, I'd say that's pretty tall!

As he tees off his third round, see how the world number one, chasing the fourth major win of his career, catapulted himself to the top of the leaderboard on Friday.

And so Saturday's final group are on the first tee.

Matt Fitzpatrick sends his tee shot down the left portion of the fairway. A perfect start.

Our leader Scottie Scheffler goes next and is about three feet into the semi-rough, but no real harm done for the world number one.

Birdies all over the place and the top of the leaderboard getting more congested by the minute - this is boiling up nicely to be a tremendous day of major championship golf.

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI senior journalist at Royal Portrush

It's amazing how silent such an enormous group of people can remain when needed.

And then how loud they can get!

The "Rory, Rory Rory" chants are in full flow. The atmosphere is something else.

Image source, Getty Images

A wonderful five-under round for Wyndham Clark closes with a par at the 18th.

That leaves him just five shots off the pace as he heads into the clubhouse.

He could easily be in with a chance tomorrow.

Li Haotong nearly quit golf in 2023 after making just two cuts in 20 DP World Tour events and he ended that season by failing to make Sunday in 16 straight tournaments.

He contemplated quitting but instead began working with a mental coach and in 2024, things started to get better, and in 2025 he's returned to his best with a first tournament win in three years at in Qatar.

Li finished third at the Open on debut in 2017 at Birkdale. Could be better that this year?

Five birdies in six holes for England's Justin Rose who is making waves a little further down the course.

He's played the seventh superbly and that short birdie putt was only ever in the cup.

Up to six under par.

Some good scoring out there.

Want a nice soft start to ease your way into the round at the Open Championship? Then Royal Portrush is not for you.

It's such a nervy start with just 70 yards between out of bounds left and right, and then there's those bunkers...

Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup has moved himself into a share of fifth with a birdie on the par-five second.

That leaves him just four shots off the lead after a brilliant 65 yesterday.