PLAYER REACTION: “Late night for everyone. Yeah, look, I won't pretend to be up here and defend Bryson. I'm not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it is performative. I think a lot of it's for attention.”

American Sam Burns takes a two-stroke lead into the final round of The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale as he bids to win his for Major, while Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy are six and eight strokes back respectively.

Bryson DeChambeau's challenge for the Claret Jug became more difficult after he was ruled to have “inadvertently” improved the intended area of his backswing and subsequently hit with a two-stroke penalty last evening by R&A rules officials at The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

By mid-afternoon it looks like only Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy will make it into the weekend of The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale where seven Irish hopefuls started the week.

Rory McIlroy will need to produce a battling Open Championship fightback after a difficult day on the baked Royal Birkdale links that left The Masters champion on two-over and seven strokes adrift of overnight leader Jackson Suber from the United States.

Keeping with tradition on the eve of The Open Championship the R&A Chief Executive Mark Darbon held his press conference and the most interesting topic from these parts was hearing that a future Open at Portmarnock is “getting pretty close”.

The inaugural R&A Spirit of Golf Award will be presented to Adam Scott, who has been recognised for his significant impact on golf across the world.

David Kitt said “the first one was so nice, I had to do it twice” as the Athenry golfer completed a wire-to-wire victory at Hilton Templepatrick to claim the Ulster Men’s Stroke Play Amateur Open Championship, securing his second regional title in as many months.

As sunbaked fairways await for tomorrow’s 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, Rory McIlroy believes the Lancashire links will still present a fair test as the world’s best gather to contest the final Major of the 2026 season.