KEY POINTS:
Richard Finch is the man the chasing pack have in their sights today - the Englishman sitting atop the leaderboard courtesy of a tidy 64 that featured just the one dropped shot.
Those closest to him are Australians Steven Bowditch and Peter Fowler, although those patriots desperate for some Kiwi sporting success this year can just about claim the latter as one of their own.
Both Fowler, Bowditch and the rest of the field will require some special golf to overhaul the Englishman who is in the form of his life - a point he emphasised on the last when his approach went 45cm from the cup.
That sweetly struck 8-iron on the 18th was pretty much the story of Finch's day.
He drove straight, gave himself birdie opportunities and the putter was hot enough to clinch the deal on nine occasions.
Finch has never led a major tournament after three rounds but he didn't think being in uncharted territory would cause him too much mental distress.
"I'll go out for a bite to eat and stick to my routine," he said. "I looked at the leaderboard around the 13th and 14th and thought that if I could press on and make a few birdies I could be well into the lead."
He would have been right but for the fact Bowditch pulled off a remarkable birdie blitz of his own from 12 through to 15.
Bowditch, who was the overnight leader, had his troubles yesterday, most notably at nine where he carded a triple-bogey eight.
It felt like the wheels were coming off, that some sort of brain explosion had occurred and that he would be in free- fall through the closing stretch.
Bowditch is a gutsy customer these days and deserves serious credit for keeping himself within three shots of the lead.
In terms of guts and class, though, the day belonged to Fowler, whose presence so near the top of the heap is the stuff of miracles.
He teed off at 9.55am, just about the same time the leaders were tucking into their cornflakes.
A disastrous Friday night finish wiped off five shots in the blink of an eye and at even par, 10 shots behind Bowditch, Fowler was most definitely not on the radar.
Strange game golf, though, and there are days when the ball behaves, follows orders and ends up precisely where the striker hopes it will.
An outrageously good back nine of 30 will live long in the memory for Fowler, particularly his eagle at 13 where he drained an 8m putt.
Still, for all his heroics yesterday, he would probably swap his course record 62 for another Open title.
