Updated at 18.30pm
IRELAND’S PAUL DUNNE, a 22-year-old amateur from Greystones, is joint-leader of the Open at St Andrews after a magnificent third round display.
Dunne and Pádraig Harrington, a two-time Open winner, took full advantage of favorable scoring conditions on the Old Course to propel themselves firmly into contention.
Dunne currently sits on twelve-under par, alongside Louis Ooosthuizen and Jason Day with Jordan Spieth one shot further back.
Harrington is on ten-under par, as is Danny Willett.
Dunne carded back-to-back 69s on Thursday and Friday and started his round today with a birdie on the first to move within three of overnight leader Dustin Johnson.
Dunne then birdied four, seven and nine to move to ten-under par while a further birdie at ten saw him take the outright lead.
There was a further birdie at fifteen while he was the personification of composure, parring the final three holes to finish on -6 for the day and a round of 66.
The last amateur to win The Open was Bobby Jones in 1930.
Harrington carded four birdies before the turn and continued his remarkable run on the home stretch with birdies on the tenth, twelfth and sixteenth.
Earlier, Marc Leishman shot the round of the championship as he carded a 64 to catapult himself into contention.
The 34-year-old came within one shot of a record tying score of 63 at a major championship, but will still be delighted after only making the cut deadline by one shot and starting his third round nine shots off the pace.
Eight birdies in a bogey-free round suddenly puts Leishman, whose best finish at a major was fourth at the 2014 Masters, into the running to become the first Australian to win the Open since Greg Norman at Royal St George’s in 1993.
Englishman Eddie Pepperell, making his Open debut, was the second early big mover as he went from two-under to nine-under through 15 holes thanks to seven birdies without dropping a shot.
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