Image source, EPA

Rickie Fowler has top-five finishes in three of the past six majors, but is yet to get off the mark with one of golf's showpiece titles.

"It's just how comfortable and how confident I'll feel versus maybe when you look at three, four, five years ago," said the American.

"It will be fun. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to take a solid round of golf from whoever's going to win because there are a lot of guys.

"It's not going to be given to anyone."

Hang about, don't rule Tiger out at the first just yet. Sand? No bother...

A superb approach from the 14-time major winner as he stings one to within eight feet of the cup.

The American strolls round the pin, eyeing up his mark as Bellerive falls silent. It starts slightly left, wobbling on its way and kissing the cup before staying up. Close!

He walks away with a par, as does Gary Woodland.

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Jon Rahm climbed to second in the world earlier this year, stringing together a number of top-five finishes and coming in fourth at the Masters - but the Spaniard is still dreaming of winning his first major.

"I dare to dream in the fact of accomplishing one of my goals this year, which is having a chance on a Sunday in a major," said Rahm.

The 23-year-old Spaniard is now ranked seventh in the world, but has already won two US PGA and three European Tour titles, most recently the Spanish Open.

"It's a good feeling. I've worked on changing some things and it's great to see it's peaking at the right time and I'm having a chance on Sunday to contend for my first major," he added.

"It's hard to shoot a low score on a Sunday in a major - you still need to hit fairways, and you still need to make the putts."

Shane Lowry gives himself a huge chance for another birdie at the second, but this one won't drop from eight feet.

The Irishman's best finish at a major was tied second at the 2016 US Open.

He's out alongside a man who knows about winning this tournament - defending champion Justin Thomas. The American is a touch closer to the pin, but he can't roll it in either.

Mal Waddell: Can't see Tiger Woods winning. He has never won a major when behind after the third round. All 14 of his wins he has been outright leader or joint leader after third round and although his game is getting back, he doesn't look as consistent as he was.

Here we go then, the man many of the spectators at Bellerive have stumped up their cash to see... Tiger Woods.

Sporting his final-day red - although no doubt he'll be changing shirt more times than he's won majors today - the American strolls on to the first tee to whoops and hollers.

But they die out a touch, as a wayward drive scuttles into a fairway bunker...

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Local (ish) boy Gary Woodland grew up a three-hour drive away in Topeka, Kansas and led after the first two rounds, only to stumble to a 71 yesterday after a triple bogey at the seventh.

"I was happy with the way I fought back, gave myself a chance, which was key," said Woodland, who pulled two strokes back with birdies at 12 and 14.

"Really confident with the way I fought the last eight holes. Excited about where my game is and ecstatic for Sunday.

"I'm going to have to play aggressive. Going to have to make a lot of birdies. It's going to take that. All in all, we'll play aggressive and just stick to what we've been doing."

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No player has made more birdies than Tony Finau this week - not even Brooks Koepka. The problem for the big American is he made 14 bogeys, two doubles and one triple as well as 24 birdies...

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Is Tiger Woods starting to think about adding a 15th major title to the pile? No.

"A long way to go before that happens," said the 42-year-old. "I've got to shoot a low round and hopefully it will be enough.

"Not just myself, but everyone's going to have to shoot low rounds. It's soft, it's gettable and you can't just go out there and make a bunch of pars. You're going to have to make some birdies.

"I just wish I could have got myself a couple more shots closer to the lead, but there aren't a lot of guys up there in front of me."

Super start for Shane Lowry.

The Irishman guides in a wonderful, curling birdie putt from 12 feet or so on the first to move three strokes off top spot at nine under par.

And Justin Thomas follows suit! Tidy approach to leave him a very gettable birdie chance, and the world number two makes no mistake.

Brooks Koepka isn't even out yet and he's already seeing a bit of pressure being applied to his lead...

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Brooks Koepka - back-to-back US Open champion and hoping to become the first man to win that title and the US PGA Championship in the same year since Tiger Woods in 2000.

But the American may not have even taken up golf if it wasn't for a car accident when he was 10 that caused a facial injury and led to him being told he couldn't play contact sports.

Koepka has been reported in the past as saying he found golf "boring" and should have taken up baseball instead - like his great-uncle Dick Groat, who won two World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Not sure Koepka will still be harbouring those thoughts after cashing in on two major title wins, and eyeing up a possible third...

Spieth and Cabrera Bello aren't going to win the thing, but their progress tells us something we already suspected... there will be some low scores out there today.

The Justin Thomas-Shane Lowry combo is up and running.

Massive crowds around the first tee to welcome that American-Irish pairing - both begin the day at eight under par, four strokes off the lead.

Jordan Spieth's hopes of completing the career grand slam will have to wait for another year at least.

His rounds tend to have more ups and downs than Alton Towers and today hasn't been without its thrills and spills.

The three-time major winner got off to a flyer with a pair of birdies before a double bogey on the sixth curtailed his progress.

However, Spieth being Spieth managed to compartmentalise this blip in his mind and went on to birdie the next three holes to turn in 32.

Andrew Priestley: Jason Day is the dangerman to leader Brooks Koepka given his track record of being able to shoot low rounds in big tournaments. A fast start and he could be right up there.

Rafa Cabrera Bello has come out shooting from the hip. The Spaniard is the biggest mover of the day so far, having knocked in four birdies in a front nine of 31. He's up to seven under par for the tournament.

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Brooks Koepka became the first golfer since Curtis Strange in 1989 to win consecutive US Open crowns in June when he defended the title at Shinnecock.

Now he is aiming for another feat which hasn't been done for a while... a US Open and US PGA double.

The last man to do it - in 2000 - is also trying to stop him today... Tiger Woods.

But Woods will have to do something he's never done before if he is to win at Bellerive.

In his 14 majors victories, the American has always either held or shared the lead after 54 holes.

He couldn't, could he?

Here's the state of play. Of course none of the players on the first page of the leaderboard have stepped onto the first tee yet...

-12 B Koepka (US);

-10 A Scott (Aus);

-9 J Rahm (Spa), R Fowler (US), G Woodland (US);

-8 T Woods (US), S Cink (US), J Day (Aus), J Thomas (US), S Lowry (Ire), C Schwartzel (SA)

Selected others:

-7 F Molinari (Ita),T Pieters (Bel) [4]; -6 I Poulter (Eng) [4], J Spieth (US) [8]; -5 T Hatton (Eng) [10], R Knox (Sco) [15], J Rose (Eng) [6], M Wallace (Eng) [5], E Pepperell (Eng) [4]; -3 T Fleetwood (Eng) [14], R McIlroy (NI) [13]

19:15 J Thomas (US), S Lowry (Ire)

19:25 S Cink (US), J Day (Aus)

19:35 G Woodland (US), T Woods (US)

19:45 J Rahm (Spa), R Fowler (US)

19:55 B Koepka (US), A Scott (Aus)

Image source, Getty Images

At one stage on Saturday it looked like Brooks Koepka was going to blow the field away, storming into a five-stroke lead and without a bogey since early in his opening round on Thursday.

Successive dropped shots put the brakes on him, as those in the chasing pack looked to gain ground on the American.

But the 28-year-old rediscovered his composure to hold a two-shot advantage come the close of play, with Australian Adam Scott emerging as his nearest challenger.

Spain's Jon Rahm and Americans Gary Woodland and Rickie Fowler are all a further stroke back, while there will be keen eyes on a group of six at eight under par that includes Tiger Woods, Jason Day and Justin Thomas.