Australians Adam Scott and Marc Leishman were making front-nine charges as Rory McIlroy maintained a commanding British Open lead early in his final round.
Starting the day ten shots behind Northern Irishman McIlroy, world No.1 Scott offered a faint glimmer of hope with back-to-back birdies on his second and third holes.
Under overcast skies at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Scott was joined at eight under par by compatriot Leishman, who made three straight birdies from holes four to six.
Both are nine shots behind McIlroy, who opened with a birdie to climb to 17 under par.
American Rickie Fowler kept within six of McIlroy with a birdie at hole two while Spaniard Sergio Garcia shared second after picking up two shots in his first three holes.
With conditions favourable for scoring, it still appeared only a monumental collapse would prevent McIlroy claiming his third major title.
Victory would give him the third leg in a career grand slam, having already won the US Open in 2011 and 2012 PGA Championship.
If the 25-year-old can protect his lead, he'll head to Augusta National next spring looking to join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen as the only players to win all four of golf's biggest events.
Only Woods and Nicklaus won three of the majors at 25 or younger.
Scott and Leishman are the only Australians under par with Matt Jones (+2), Jason Day (+3), John Senden (+3) and Rhein Gibson (+2) completing their final rounds earlier on Sunday.
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