British Open: Two-horse race as Henrik Stenson leads Phil Mickelson by a shot going into final round

Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson were threatening to turn the 145th British Open into their own private duel as they stormed away from the chasing pack going into Sunday’s final round.

Stenson holds the most slender of leads on 12-under par, with the American one stroke back.

American Bill Haas is six strokes off the lead, with England’s Andrew Johnston one further behind on five-under par.

Mickelson had seen his one-shot lead at Royal Troon quickly overturned despite making a birdie on the third, playing partner Stenson picking up shots on three of the first four holes.

But Stenson, who finished second behind Mickelson in the 2013 Open at Muirfield, then three-putted the sixth and failed to get up and down from a bunker on the eighth, which was playing just 100 yards after the tee was moved forward in anticipation of strong winds.

Mickelson received a massive stroke of luck on the 12th. A badly sliced tee shot was headed deep into trouble but bounced off a gorse bush and into a position from where the left-hander was able to hack out down the fairway.

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Mickelson’s approach to the green then span back around 15 feet and caught a down slope which took it closer to the hole, from where he holed for the most unlikely of pars to remain a shot in front.

A birdie from 25 feet on the 13th doubled Mickelson’s advantage but the 46-year-old American lost it immediately by three-putting the 14th after Stenson had holed from four feet for birdie.

That left the pair tied for the lead on 11-under par.

The lead swapped hands three times more before a 16-foot birdie on the 17th gave Stenson the lead going up the last.

A pair of pars mean the duo will do it all again Sunday, with the Swede just in front.

World No 1 Jason Day suffered back problems again after significant progress early in his third round was undone by yet another poor inward nine holes.

The Australian went to the turn in four-under par and admitted it could easily have been at least two shots better but a quartet of bogeys coming home undid all his good work.

Day is six-under on the front nine this week at Royal Troon and seven over on the back nine – having failed to make a birdie from holes 10 to 18 – and is too far back to make a challenge today.

“I could have been six or seven under on the front side then turned the back side and the 10th hole bogey kind of stopped my momentum,” he said.

“It’s obviously very hard to get momentum back up when you’re playing that back side.

“Four bogeys on the back side and when you’re playing golf like that you don’t deserve to win.”

Dustin Johnson bemoaned one costly hole after failing to make inroads during his third round.

The world No 2 saw his hopes of making up ground dashed by a triple-bogey seven at the 11th hole. The US Open champion had reached the turn in 33 but, with another bogey following on the 13th, he had to settle for a 72.

“Other than No 11, I played pretty well – and I even hit a good shot off the tee on 11,” he said. “It was just the wind in off the left – all of a sudden it stopped. It went in the gorse and I ended up making seven.

“I don’t know why the wind didn’t take it more to the right, but it happens I guess.

“It was definitely frustrating because I was off to a really good start and three under through 10. But it is what it is. Maybe I go out and, who knows, shoot a really good score [Sunday].”

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