Harrington Leads by Two Shots at Senior Open Championship

Padraig Harrington will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Senior Open Championship at Sunningdale after posting a second successive 65 at the famous venue.

The Dubliner recorded six birdies in his third round, which included a lengthy putt from off the green on the par-three 13th and a birdie at the last after a scintillating approach from the right-side rough left him with a tap-in to reach 13-under after 54 holes.

His third round contained just one bogey, after missing the fairway left at the 12th and being forced to lay up.

In the final round, Harrington will be paired with 1997 Open Champion Justin Leonard, who also posted a 65, which contained seven birdies and two dropped shots, leaving him at 11-under heading into Sunday.

One stroke further back is Thomas Bjorn, who had a frustrating day on the greens but registered timely back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to get to 10-under.

There are a quartet of players in tied-fourth on eight-under par, including Kevin Sutherland and Steven Alker. Ernie Els, on seven-under, enters the final round six adrift of Harrington after a sluggish start to his round on Saturday.

After his 65 on Friday, Harrington admitted he rode his luck after a 'weird' round and wasn't much more enamoured with how he struck the ball today.

'I still wasn't comfortable,' Harrington told Sky Sports after his round. 'I don't think I rode my luck as much today. I certainly didn't play much better than yesterday. Maybe a bit more cautious today.

'I don't feel very good about how I'm hitting the ball. I'm trying to get away from that and not worry about that because clearly I'm scoring well. Better off shooting 13-under par and not feeling so good about it than thinking you're swinging it great and being level par.

'I just need to get out and play golf tomorrow. Hit the right shot at the right time rather than just play, swing.'

Harrington plays his approach to the 17th

Both he and Leonard are vying to become the fifth player to add the Senior Open Championship to the Open Championship, after Darren Clarke, Tom Watson, Gary Player and Bob Charles.

Harrington, who won his second US Senior Open last month, is attempting to become the third Irish winner of the event, after Clarke (2022) and the late Christy O'Connor Jnr, who won it two years in succession in 1999 and 2000.

As far as the prospect of joining that select group, Harrington wasn't looking too far ahead.

'I'm not going to think about that. Those are the sort of things where you're getting ahead of yourself. I'll wait til tomorrow to try and digest that.'