Just two birdies on 18 today, and not an ideal start from Scottie Scheffler with a swipey drive off the tee that sails miles right.

He may have drawn a decent lie though and what you can be sure of is that he'll be going for broke with his second shot.

The only good thing about this situation with Cameron Young already in the hut on nine under is that only a three will do for the defending champion now. No playing safe, no laying up, this is for all the marbles.

Fun this isn't it?

Ryan Fox putts his third shot from off the green. Seven feet left for the man from New Zealand to save par.

No, sir. Back he goes to seven under.

Sam Burns makes his four but isn't creating too many proper birdie chances at the moment.

As those on the back nine falter, Cameron Young might be in the best position of everyone right now.

Image source, Getty Images

As you can see it's a pretty congested leaderboard, so we could require a play-off to sort out our champion.

The format is a three-hole aggregate-score playoff. Here at Birkdale, that will be the 14th (the course's third-easiest hole), the 15th (the hardest) and the 18th (the second hardest).

Could be carnage.

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

That is absolutely ridiculous from the world number one.

I cant quite believe what I've seen.

It's on!

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Hahaha! What a game this is! Scottie Scheffler was never in that hole yet he walks off with a birdie four to go within one of the lead.

An errant drive, not one but two three woods spanked miles off line, a trip to the bins behind the hospitality stand, a chat with a rules official, a drop in the hay then an up and down from 100 yards.

That's absolutely mind blowing stuff. What a wonderfully stupid sport this is.

And now, after all the madness, Scottie Scheffler needs a birdie down the last to tie the lead.

There's a few lucky breaks out there at the moment. After the shenanigans around Scottie Scheffler, Lucas Herbert's shot into the par-three 12th takes an unbelievably fortunate kick off the mound to the left of the green and ends up on the green.

He's not able to cash in from 25 feet, though, so it's a par three for the 36-hole leader.

Only two players from Asia have won a major.

In 2009, South Korea's Y.E. Yang won the PGA Championship while Hideki Matsuyama of Japan won the 2021 Masters.

Still plenty for Kim Si-woo to do to make it a hat-trick as he bogeys the 11th having paid the price for finding the bunker on the fairway.

Third. This is Scottie Scheffler's third shot as he gets a free drop from his first ball that he sent for a beer in hospitality.

There's 100 yards to go, hitting out of all the straw from the spectator walkway, and he's hit a stunner. Wouldn't you just know it.

Imagine if he knocks that in for a birdie!

What is it with Royal Birkdale? We had Jordan Spieth messing about hitting a shot from the driving range in 2017, now Scottie Scheffler is mingling in with the fans in and around the hospitality stand after smacking his ball into there.

He's getting a drop from it because it's a temporary structure so doesn't count as part of the golf course in terms of the rules, so it's a free drop and will get line of sight to the flag.

Anyone know what number shot this is though for Scheffler please let us know....

A blocked tee shot leaves Lucas Herbert in the rough at 11. A puff of sand comes up as he digs it out, but it lands well short of the green and trundles into the bunker.

In the back of the trap, he's forced to adjust his backswing to avoid the back lip and isn't able to get the ball running up the green towards the pin at the back.

He takes two putts from there and that's an ill-timed bogey after the birdies on the last two holes.

Chris Jones
BBC commentator on Radio 5 Live at Royal Birkdale

We've come to the bar with the world number one. We're among the bins and discarded beer kegs behind the hospitality tent. Scheffler is deep in conversation with a rules official.

Two attempts for birdie from 20-odd feet, two pars for Ryan Fox and Sam Burns.

Oh no! Scottie Scheffler is in a patch of sand stuck behind a huge sand dune, but he's going for broke so pulls out the three wood to have a crack at it.

But being such a blind shot he's massively offline with his effort and the ball flies miles left, right at a hospitality stand, maybe even behind it. Unless it's dropped into someone's Sunday dinner in there.

So he has to reload, but his second effort is almost exactly the same. Absolute carnage here.

Good shout, Tom. Big fan of the concept of The Presidents Cup. Could do with the international team putting up a bit more of a fight at Medinah this year.

Tommy Fleetwood is just a bit long again with his approach to 13, so it's lag putt time with a hope it drops. It doesn't, as the momentum seems to have been flushed out of Fleetwood now, but no damage done at least.

He needs to find something fast though as his dream is slipping away.

Was it always destined to end this way?

Bryson DeChambeau's Open chances have just disappeared into the jungle rough down the 11th fairway.

It all ends up with a punishing triple bogey.

And probably a fair bit of relief for the R&A with the two-time US Open champ marooned eight shots back of the leader.

Oooooh, so close for Kim Si-woo.

He rolls a long putt from the edge of the green at the 10th and the crowd raise their voices as it gets closer to the hole only to watch it whizz just past it.

A tricky putt from seven feet for par, but the South Korean nails it.

Kim is battling a sore Achilles as well - will that hamper him?

Image source, Getty Images

Rory McIlroy has been speaking after his closing round of 71 left him at one under par: "I just sort of stuck in neutral for most of the week. Just one of those weeks I couldn't get it going.

"This season feels very similar to last season. Obviously won the first major of the year, fell off a little bit after that, but still any time you win a major in a year, you have to be pleased about that.

"I haven't really took the time to enjoy that or celebrate that. Poppy's got another four weeks off school until she goes back, sort of middle to end of August, so just going to enjoy the summer holidays with her and Erica. Yeah, that's what I'm looking forward to the most."

On whether he is not as fired up about playing on the PGA Tour as he used to be: "Yeah that's fair.

"I think it just sort of ebbs and flows. There's been years where I've given it maybe more of my attention and years that I haven't. I guess I'm just at a stage that I have other things that I prioritise."

On rooting for Tommy Fleetwood: "We're very close with the Fleetwoods. Poppy and Frankie are inseparable. Clare and Erica are best friends. Tommy and I have obviously got an amazing relationship that goes back nearly 20 years.

"He's an amazing golfer. He's just as good of a person as he is a golfer. There's a long way to go, but the McIlroys will definitely be cheering for Tommy."

Wow, Scottie Scheffler is furious, absolutely furious after his tee shot on 17 doesn't get the bounce he expected out of the rough and stays up there in some hot and dusty scrub.

The world number one is usually so laid back but he's also one of the most competitive players around, and he shows that here with a rare outburst.

He's been frustrated on the greens all week, but stood on the tee here still in with a chance - he turned down the driver this time to hit three wood but it's not worked and he's running hot.