Rickie Fowler ready for fight to the finish at British Open with friend Rory McIlroy

HOYLAKE, ENGLAND // Rickie Fowler is determined to make his friend and rival Rory McIlroy fight hard for the British Open title at Hoylake.

Fowler will play alongside McIlroy in Sunday’s final grouping at Royal Liverpool but has a six-shot deficit to make up on the Northern Irishman.

Fowler moved to 10 under for the championship and into outright second spot as he matched McIlroy’s third-round, four-under-par 68.

The American, whose round included eight birdies, said: “I’m definitely satisfied with my game. I got off to a great start today through 12 holes. I was playing very solidly and I’m looking to draw on that tomorrow.

“Being six back is the same position I was in today.

“If I’m able to go out and get off to a good start, maybe I can put a little bit of pressure on him, because he’s definitely in control of the golf tournament right now.”

Fowler and McIlroy, both 25, know each other well having played against each other since their teens. Most notably in 2007 they were on opposing sides in the Walker Cup.

They are now near neighbours in Jupiter, Florida, and know each other’s games well.

Fowler said: “We first played against each other at the Walker Cup in ’07 and it’s kind of gone from there.

“So I’m looking forward to it tomorrow. It’s going to be a good time.

“We’re good buddies, but at the same time we both want to beat up on each other as bad as possible.

“We’ll have fun throwing shots back and forth and it will be fun to see if I can go out and put a bit of pressure on him and make him earn it a bit, and see if I can get myself in the mix, and maybe we’ll be able to throw some blows back and forth.”

Fowler was tipped for stardom as a youngster in much the same way as McIlroy was, but he accepts he has some catching up to do on his contemporary, who has already won two major titles.

Fowler said: “In ‘07 you’re never really sure about what’s going to happen in the future, but he was definitely the young star over here and I was one of the young stars from the US.

“In the past couple of years, seeing what he’s been doing, obviously he has two majors already. He’s a bit out in front of me right now.

“But it was just a matter of time before the two of us found a way to sneak into a final group together.”

Fowler was also in the final grouping with Martin Kaymer at the US Open last month but was unable to reel in the German, who won by eight shots.

Fowler said: “If I can go out and learn from what I did there at the US Open and try and get off to a bit of a better start, maybe I’m able to put a bit of pressure on Rory.”

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Woods struggling to find the ‘flow’

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Three-time Open champion Tiger Woods said he is still making too many mistakes as he continues his comeback from back surgery.

The American’s 73 on the third day of the British Open, for a three-over total, was only his fifth competitive round since an operation in March.

He opened with successive birdies, but a second nine of 38 included a triple-bogey seven after losing his ball in a gorse bush, as well as a double-bogey six.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’ve made two doubles and two triples [this week], but on top of that I missed a lot of shots for opportunities for birdies and consequently I’m three over par,” Woods said.

“I’m starting to get the flow of the round, the flow of playing again, but still I’ve just made too many mistakes. You can’t run up high scores like that and expect to contend, especially when the conditions are this benign. Most of the scores are three under par or better. I certainly didn’t do that.”

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