Living the dream there, Len.

I wonder who your dog wants to win. Tommy Fleet-woof? I'll stop...

Not sure Bryson DeChambeau will be happy with that approach into the third green.

He's perhaps a club too many or he doesn't know his own strength. Or maybe I'm being unfair and he wanted to be conservative. Perhaps a bit of strategy on display?

He is on the putting surface, but 63 feet away from the pin doesn't scream birdie chance. In fairness though, he shows super touch there to make a nerveless par.

Jackson Suber follows him in with a four.

Sam Burns and Ryan Fox have to cover plenty of real estate with their birdie putts at the first.

Burns judges the pace of his effort perfectly and has a short tap-in for a par four.

Fox follows the American's lead and does likewise.

Painfully close! Cameron Young hits another heat-seeker into the par-three 12th but his right-to-left putt is a revolution away from dropping in the right edge.

Still no bogeys, though, so he doesn't need to force the issue just yet.

Overnight leader Sam Burns is widely regarded as one of the best putters in the world.

For world number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler, his putting is perhaps the reason why he's not leading this tournament himself.

Ken Brown takes a look at Birkdale's greens in the video below.

Image source, Getty Images

He had to walk past the Claret Jug on the first, but is that the closest Tommy Fleetwood will get to the trophy today?

He wasn't close to the hole at all with his tee shot on the par-three fourth, as his effort drifted right on the wind down into a nasty hollow.

The short game was sharp though as he chipped it up and across the green to four feet, before a solid par putt hit the target. Those will get harder and harder as the day goes on.

Slow down! Ludvig Aberg hammers his right-to-left birdie putt on the second and it finally settles seven feet past the hole. An early tester...but he sinks it!

Lucas Herbert misses with his 20-footer for birdie so he's also started par-par.

Ryan Gerard and Kim Si-woo both start with a par on the first.

Kim, who has had more birdies in 2026 than any other player on any tour, has the best chance of a birdie from around 10 feet but his putt dribbles just wide.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport golf reporter at Royal Birkdale

Even the cameraman capturing Fleetwood’s every shot is wearing a ‘Tommy’ T-shirt.

On closer inspection, it’s not in homage to the Fairway Jesus, but the branding of an iconic New York fashion designer.

A deliberate choice? Surely it was plucked out of the wardrobe specifically with today’s shift in mind.

Catriona Matthew
Captain of Team Europe at the 2019 & 2021 Solheim Cup on BBC Radio 5 Live

The wind has definitely picked up in the last hour.

Ryan Fox and Sam Burns hit their first tee shots of their final rounds at the 154th Open.

Both are in the rough just to the right of the fairway.

Graeme Storm
Two-time European Tour winner on BBC Radio 5 Live

That's slowed the momentum a little bit.

I feel like I'm repeating myself but this is just what Scottie Scheffler has done consistently throughout this tournament - hitting the ball close but not making any putts!

It's eight feet on the eighth this time and it was not even close to looking like landing. Such a shame if he goes out like this.

Image source, Getty Images

Jon Rahm's hopes are pretty much over barring something spectacular in the remainder of his round after an errant tee shot at the seventh results in a bogey.

Shane Lowry has been on par patrol ever since notching back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth holes.

It's fairways and greens for Tommy Fleetwood on three - he's not that close with the approach but 25 feet still offers up a chance of birdie.

It's not particularly close though the effort from Fleetwood, the speed was good but he played it down the wrong line. Nothing wrong with his golf so far though.

Cameron Young makes his first real error of the day, coming up short right on the par-four 11th.

His ball trundles down into a little swale, from where he plays a lovely little bump and run down to a few inches and tidies up for par.

He thrives in links conditions.

Ben Croucher
BBC Sport journalist at Royal Birkdale

The media centre here at Royal Birkdale is directly behind the clubhouse and 18th grandstands, so we normally hear about the good shots before we see them on the monitors.

So far today, it's been pretty quiet from those galleries, in part with many choosing to follow the leaders on the far side of the course, but also because not a single player of the 32 to finish so far have made birdie.

So if one of the contenders needs a red number to get their hands on that Claret Jug this evening, they may want to get their scoring done early.

Over at the second green, Bryson DeChambeau does have another birdie chance but it's not as presentable as the one he missed at the first.

Twenty one feet and his putt slides by. He has to settle for par.

Image source, Getty Images

Sam Burns may not be the biggest story at Royal Birkdale, but he's one of the best as it's been a true emotional rollercoaster for the American in the past month or so.

Firstly, he suffered US Open heartbreak when he came within inches of at least forcing a play-off with Wyndham Clark and was almost in tears as he trudged away from Shinnecock Hills.

Then there was the huge high of the birth of his second child, with baby Belle arriving 11 days early - she was due on the Tuesday of Open week. Wife Caroline convinced Burns to then make a late dash to The Open - and now he leads heading into Sunday.

Burns could become just the seventh man to finish second at the US Open but then win The Open in the same season and it'd be another one for the famous 'nappy factor' in golf.

Tyrrell Hatton was the most recent man to win right after welcoming a new arrival into the family, with the emotional high and shifting perspective said to lessen the pressure on golfers out on the course.

"If I was aware of that, I'd have like eight kids by now," said Burns when quizzed about it!