Mark James
Former Ryder Cup captainand BBC Sport analyst

"Rory McIlroy's front nine contained the perfect transformation. He started off looking tight and uneasy and maybe thinking about his 'Freaky Friday's'. He made really quite poor mistakes with his clubbing on holes one and three, but a birdie on five and then that brilliant shot on the sixth and you just knew then he was going to play well. Looking at him now I feel like he is going to make a few more birdies and finish on 10, 11 or 12 under.

"As for the pheasant - that was fowl play."

Fat lady singing? Rory McIlroy is three shots clear of Francesco Molinari and Sergio Garcia. A simple tap in seals the lead.

Rob Hodgetts
BBC Sport at Hoylake

"Thought tic-tac was just for the bookies at the racing? Well, golf has its own version of the hand signals. Spotters use their own code to tell the on-course commentators what club the players are using. Tony 'The Colonel' Workman has worked at 15 Opens for the BBC and talked me through how it works.

"After a word with the caddie or a peak in the bag, the number of fingers raised corresponds to the number of iron up to four. An outstretched hand pointing down is five, one finger down is six, two fingers down seven and so on up to nine. A clenched fist down is wedge and a scribbly line drawn in the air is a sand wedge. So now you're fluent in Iron."

Image source, Reuters

The comeback has spluttered. Tiger Woods rolls in for par on 11 and remains three over for the day, level overall. Not what yesterday's headlines hyped up.

His race is surely run, as McIlroy plays the 10th erratically but effectively. Tee shot to rough, second shot to thicker rough, third shot to within two feet. Birdie time. They all count.

McIlroy will move to nine under.

Who is lurking in the pack? Charl Schwartzel, a Masters champion no less, is now four under after back-to-back birdies.

Rickie Fowler and Ryan Moore are among the masses on the same mark. Is someone ready to make a move?

Image source, Reuters

Leader Rory McIlroy is delayed by a passing pheasant on the eighth green, but having seen off one birdie, the tournament favourite poured in another to open up a two-shot lead. Lovely stuff...

Thank you for your tweets and texts in response to the text from Hugo (16:00) about the merits of veteran former champions playing at the Open. Plenty of opinions back so without further ado...

Jonathan Collier on Twitter:, external Completely agree that Sandy Lyle and Co should not be playing this week. Simple rule should be: PGA Tour Card? Here's your invite.

Robert McAllen on Twitter:, external Hugo - Sandy has earned the right to be at these things and people want to see the greats even if they don't win.

Well there you have it, we're no closer to a verdict. Keep the opinions flowing in then via #bbcgolf on Twitter, 81111 on text or via the BBC Sport pages on Facebook, external and Google +, external.

A chance for Rory McIlroy to turn the screw here. The 10th hole - the easiest hole - is a massive birdie opportunity. What would he have given for a three-shot lead after 10?

He can earn the cushion, but his tee-shot is not ideal. Into the rough down the left.

On the par-four 12th, Sergio Garcia bumps a fairway wood from the fringe of the green. It is inventive and effective. Leaves around eight feet for par.

American Billy Horschel tweets:, external "The difference between early/late and late/early times this week at the Open is about four to five shots. Way the draw goes sometimes!"

Players in the early group on Thursday and late tee-times today have had to deal with a lighter breeze.

Image source, BBC Sport

Selected others: -4: Stephen Gallacher (Sco), Louis Oosthuizen (SA), Dustin Johnson (US), Edoardo Molinari (Ita),Robert Karlsson (Swe), Ryan Moore US) Hideki Matsuyama (Jap); -3: Adam Scott (Aus), Charl Schwartzel (SA), Matteo Manassero (Ita) -2: Justin Rose (Eng)

-1: Shane Lowry (Ire), Darren Clarke (NI), Henrik Stenson (Swe); Par: Phil Mickelson (US), Jason Dufner (US), Tiger Woods (US), Ian Poulter (Eng); +1: Luke Donald (Eng)

Projected cut: +2

Set to miss cut: Lee Westwood (Eng), Bubba Watson (US), Ernie Els (SA)

Official Open leaderboard, external; Clubhouse scores

Image source, EPA

Angel Cabrera rarely offers up the straightforward and his eagle on 10 is the latest high point.

The Argentine started the day four over par but is back to just plus one. His putt from off the green needs the pin to stop it. It does and the ball is below ground level, nestled in the cup.

What next? Your guess is as good as mine.

A high draw from right to left, the flag no longer blowing in the wind, Rory McIlroy lands his tee shot in the heart of the ninth green. He looks unerringly good.

The rest have got to find something as he looks like a birdie machine.

... another two-time winner, Ireland's Padraig Harrington, is +5 through seven; Justin Leonard, winner in 1997, is +5 through 13; Ben Curtis, the shock winner in 2003, is +4 through 13; the legend that is Tom Watson is three over after 10; Stewart Cink, who pipped Watson in 2009, is three over after 11; Tiger Woods is level after nine; defending champion Phil Mickelson is level after a 70; Darren Clarke, winner in 2011, is two under through 10, I think that's it...

Official Open leaderboard, external; Clubhouse scores

Image source, PA

What news of the former Open champions? Well, John Daly, winner in 1995, is in with a very respectable 71 for +4 overall, which is one below the projected cut of +3; Sandy Lyle, winner in 1985, is +22 after an 84; another Scot, 1999 winner Paul Lawrie, is +9 through 13; David Duval, 2001 champion, is in with a 79 for +8; two-time champion Ernie Els carded a 73 for +8; 2004 winner Todd Hamilton is +5 through four, as is the great Nick Faldo...

Official Open leaderboard, external; Clubhouse scores

Ken Brown
BBC Sport commentator

"The wind is dying down a bit and the scoring is picking up. If that continues then the players in this half of the draw have had a massive advantage."

This feels big...birdie for Rory McIlroy. A dribbled putt never deviates and the fact he had to wait until a rather excitable pheasant vacated the green makes it all the more impressive.

The big bird drew laughs, the birdie a smile from McIlroy.

Dare I say it, Rory McIlroy looks in complete control. After that bogey on one which had us all thinking a day-two collapse may follow, he has been flawless.

Par on the seventh is worth a celebration in anyone's book and he now sets up birdie on eight. Things almost look too good...

Image source, Getty Images

American Bubba Watson believes he needs a "miracle" to make the cut after his even par round of 72 left him at four over and two shots adrift of the projected cut.

He said: "I can't wait to get back to see my wife and child. If I make the cut, if somehow a miracle happens, I'll be ready to go tomorrow and be pumped up about it.

"But I don't let stuff linger, I'm not that kind of a person. I've got more issues to worry about than missed putts."

Ouch. Brooks Koepka will carry the marks of that one for a while. A triple-bogey six on the 15th hole is calamitous for his card and he falls back to one under. The next one is a par five, got to make one back.

Francesco Molinari oozes a long putt home for his fifth birdie of the day and he follows up with a solid iron into the 14th green. Top stuff Francesco.

"That was going like a train," says former European Ryder Cup captain Mark James of Ryan Moore's pitch on to the 13th green.

It was, but it didn't matter. With a shake of the pin it drops and that is an unexpected birdie for Moore. His fourth in six holes no less.

He is four under, Garcia taps in his birdie chance to be two better off.

Image source, Getty Images