How's your luck?! Lucas Herbert's tee shot at 11 lands in the penalty area but takes a hugely fortuitous kick and pops out into the rough.

With a favourable lie, he doesn't look pleased with his second but his ball is kicked back towards the pin by the mound long of the green.

Two lucky breaks. Can he capitalise? Not quite, but par is a good score after flirting with the ditch off the tee.

Jackson Suber fires a pin-seeker in and has nine feet for a birdie which he drains. Great three!

Cameron Young has a tricky angle to negotiate after his tee shot at the 12th lands wide of the green, but a chip and run carries it to within five feet of the hole.

However, Young fluffs the putt and it's back-to-back bogeys for the American.

Bryson DeChambeau tried to turn one into the 13th green but that was the wrong shot as he found a deep pot bunker guarding the putting surface.

It's an excellent escape though so great chance to save par.

Iain Carter
BBC golf correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live at Royal Birkdale

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Sir Nick Faldo was pretty critical earlier this week of Bryson DeChambeau's rather one-dimensional strategy.

I think that's unfair. He has thought his way around very nicely.

This is the second time I've seen him this week. He's been bold but he's also been very tactical.

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

Super try from Tommy Fleetwood.

He played that hole really sensibly.

Tommy Fleetwood recovers from his bogey at the previous hole with a safe two-putt par. The birdie putt from long range was close but never really threatened the hole.

Jon Rahm follows Fleetwood in for his par with a solid six-footer.

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A mini celebration by Bryson DeChambeau as he rolls in a lengthy putt for par on the 12th - they don't keep you moving up the leaderboard but they do keep the momentum.

Par saves are just as important as birdie putts at times.

The par-five 14th hole has been the third easiest this week but don't tell Bob MacIntyre that.

He was hitting a provisional ball after flinging his first drive into the native area. He did find his original but spent the rest of the hole jumping between areas of rough.

Ultimately, he chips it close from off the green and knocks it from two-and-a-half feet for a bogey.

It's his first non-par score in nine holes - and sadly, it's the wrong way.

Ben Croucher
BBC Sport journalist at Royal Birkdale

Image source, BBC Sport

At the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, all the pre-tournament chatter was about the greenkeepers not letting the course get away from them.

It’s a tricky task at Birkdale too but helping keep it all in check are Chris Gray and Richard Windows.

They use loads of tech to measure firmness, soil moisture, green speed, grass length - you name it, they track it to the millimetre. They even know if one sliver of green needs more water than another.

"It's so we can get the optimum level of consistency between all the surfaces," Richard explains. "We also minimise the use of water, which is a precious natural resource."

Chris adds: "They're looking for trends. We want not too much variation day to day and green to green so it plays consistently through the whole week."

Australians have a great record at Royal Birkdale so we maybe shouldn't be surprised that even a debutant like Cameron John is up there contending in his first Open Championship.

The 27-year-old is heading down the last just four shots off fellow Aussie Lucas Herbert.

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Cameron Young finds the sand with his tee shot at the 11th, and grumbles to himself after a wedge out of the bunker comes up short of the green.

He ends up with a nervy eight-foot putt to save par...but there is not enough power on it and he has to tap in for a bogey.

There's a few choice words of annoyance from Young to his caddie.

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

Lucas Herbert has played beautiful golf since saving par on the fifth.

He's perfectly dialled in going on to this back nine.

Lucas Herbert has really steadied himself after an iffy start and he shows some fine touch on the 10th green to lag from distance and tap in for a stress-free par to remain one shot clear.

Jackson Suber matches the Australian's four so it's on to the 11th for the final pair.

Quiet, under the radar, in contention.

Ludvig Aberg has got himself another birdie, this time at the 17th, and he is lurking on the leaderboard at -6.

A chance for Shane Lowry to move upwards with him but his birdie putt doesn't quite drop.

One hole to play.

We haven't mentioned Matt Wallace for a while after his struggles on the front nine, but the Englishman has picked up two shots already on the back nine - including a birdie thanks to a wonderful 30-foot putt on the 13th.

Kim Si-Woo, meanwhile, narrowly missed a birdie putt from 20-odd feet and stays at seven under for the tournament.

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Two trips to the rough but two pars for this American pair. Both just played safe and found the heart of the green before two-putting for their pars.

Very sensible putt - you could even say strategic...

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Ouch.

Tommy Fleetwood can't complete the par save and it's a dropped shot for the Englishman - his first bogey since the 12th hole yesterday.

Jon Rahm misses his par putt too and also drops a shot.

As you were for Cameron Young and Ryan Gerard as the American duo start their back nine with a par apiece.

Gerard had the better of the birdie chances from the top of the green, but comes up a fraction short.

Tommy Fleetwood leaks his tee shot right at the par-three 15th and his ball is at the bottom of a slope beside the green, so it's a very testing second shot ahead for the Englishman.

Not bad, not bad at all. Five feet left for par.

Cameron Young sprays his tee shot wide on the dogleg 10th but with the straw-coloured rough is comfortable enough for him to deal with and he plinks it on the green, about 30 feet from the pin.