Only three men in the top 10 are over par today and two of them are in the final pairing.

Jordan Spieth has steadied the ship with birdie-par-par, then goes for the jugular on the 458-yard par four eighth.

The leader cuts off the corner with a booming drive, leaving him within half a wedge of the pin.

Alex Noren made five birdies in his first three rounds at Royal Birkdale. He's just made his fourth on Sunday...

That elevates the Swede to the group on four under, and he's looking confident.

On the 18th green Matthew Southgate screams, his face contorted, after sinking a par putt. He throws his ball into the crowd and my goodness he doesn't look like he will stop. What's all the fuss for?

A round of 65 takes him to five under and currently a tie for fourth. This is just the 28-year-old's third major and he's on course to beat his best finish of 12th. Enjoy the moment sir, fine play.

Rafa Cabrera-Bello reaches the turn at one under for the day and four under for the tournament.

He takes to the 10th and clips an approach into the heart of the green, another birdie opportunity.

It's some 13 or 14 feet to the left of the pin and Cabrera-Bello's controlled stroke doesn't quite have the legs, that needed another few revolutions.

There's a six-way tie for fourth now. The Spaniard is in that mix.

Jay Townsend
BBC Radio 5 live golf expert

That was a good chance from Matt Kuchar, it was a good putt, it just lacked the pace.

I think Spieth's mental state is still a bit fragile, that was a horrible start.

A long birdie putt for Spieth then on the par-three seventh, more bends ahead of him than a coastal road. He guides it right and then left, before it veers a little off course because he has not put his foot down on the pedal enough.

Kuchar for birdie from about 10 feet... his knees start bending, ready for a leap up in celebration... but no. His ball dribbles off left as well, both Americans knocking in for a pair of pars.

Alex Noren fizzes in an iron to the 13th green and it pitches almost next to the flag and kicks on past, long birdie putt left. Rory McIlroy's ball grips tight on the 11th green to leave yet another birdie look of mid-range. McIlroy eyes the line, makes a judgment and a good one. Birdie again.

Meanwhile, up on 18 we have someone losing their mind...

Brooks Koepka finally fires up his putter - it's a birdie at the eighth!

In fairness, it hasn't been his putting game that's been the issue today and when the American gives himself a chance to claw a shot back he takes it.

Back to four under, five shots off the lead.

Diane Knox
BBC Radio 5 live reporter

As the leaders reach a third of the way through their final rounds, spare a thought for those left clearing up. The first tee is quiet, apart from a few marshals, who are packing up and moving on.

Image source, BBC Sport

Jordan Spieth on the seventh tee, looking down from the elevated tee onto a green which is guarded by an army of bunkers. The American slips past the bouncers like an underage kid trying to get into a nightclub, unsure at first whether he is going to make it before a little grin appears when he reaches the promised land.

Matt Kuchar is too old for that sort of carry on, confidently going straight for the door with a beauty of an iron.

Ged Scott
BBC Sport at Royal Birkdale

It is now 19 years since Justin Rose holed his chip shot at the last at Royal Birkdale to secure the Silver Medal as top amateur.

In 15 subsequent Opens as a professional, the 36-year-old Hampshire golfer is still to do better than the fourth-placed finish he managed in 1998.

He had his backers dreaming of an even bigger Birkdale story when he birdied two of his three first three holes on Thursday morning - but he fell away to a four-round total of 284, four over par.

"The first six or seven holes on Thursday I felt good," Rose told BBC Sport. "I was off to a good start. I was where I wanted to be. Then I played a poor back nine on Thursday and kind of never got going again from that point."

Image source, PA

Iain Carter
BBC Sport golf correspondent at Royal Birkdale

Spieth has steadied the ship, knocking the birdie in on the 5th meant more than the shot it gave him on the card.

Kuchar goes first, plonking his ball up a slight hill. Not enough beef from the American. He's back down to seven under.

Spieth's turn... straight down the gullet. The Texan has just played his get out of jail card there. His ball went on a Birkdale safari before he got it back on the road and to safety.

Image source, Getty Images

It certainly looks a case of when rather than if Hideki Matsuyama wins a major.

Still only 25, he's played in 19 majors and placed in the top-10 in six of them. This season he's been 11th at the Masters and tied second at the US Open. The face of Japanese golf makes birdie on eight to partially repair earlier damage. Branden Grace alongside him is getting chances but the putter is frozen, it seems it used all its gas yesterday.

Image source, Bobby

Zach Johnson was great in Gladiator and Walk The Line.

Brooks Koepka. Sand. Somebody change the record.

The American must have his sat nav set to 'nearest bunker', because he's been sloshing around in the sand all afternoon.

It's an awful lie. He has to play backwards out of the bunker and the US Open champion will do well not to drop more than one shot here.

Koepka takes the scenic route to an eight-foot bogey putt. And it's just the one lost.

Wow. Jordan Spieth, bunker blocking plenty of the sixth green in his line of vision, punches a wedge up onto the dancefloor. A hop, skip and a jump later it rolls to a halt within a few feet. Superb stuff.

Kuchar is wading in that aforementioned bunker, giving his ball a firm whack and taking more sand than a digger. It checks and stops about 12 foot away.

Thankfully no-one appears to have got hurt by Spieth's wandering ball. So those flowers can be delivered to a house and not a hospital. The American has a good lie on the dried-out grass which has been trampled by hundreds of pairs of shoes over the past week, picking the fairway wood out of his bag.

But Spieth pushes it right, ball evading bunkers like they're playing a game of tig, eventually settling on grass.

And it's on the card of Matthew Southgate again!

It's his sixth of the day, and comes at the par-five 17th. Another at the 18th and the Englishman will be delighted.

Rory McIlroy, another birdie here could prompt a charge... on 10 though the breeze holds his ball up and he'll have a long way left for birdie. If you're wondering where Hideki Matsuyama has gone, he's back on eight and has not made a birdie since that triple-bogey on one.