Jon Rahm went off on Saturday in what was a historic showing at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
Rahm, after a tough few days to start his British Open, carded an incredible bogey-free 8-under 63 on Saturday, putting him at 6-under for the tournament. That moved him up 37 spots on the leaderboard, all the way into second. It also put real pressure on Brian Harman — who started the day with a massive five-shot lead.
Rahm’s third round marked the lowest round he’s ever posted in a major championship, and set the Royal Liverpool scoring record by two strokes. It was the first 63 at the British Open since 2019.
After a slow start to his day on a rainy Saturday, Rahm made four straight birdies at the turn to suddenly put himself into contention. That streak started with a 22-foot putt on the par-3 ninth, which marked just his second birdie of the day at the time.
Rahm then made three birdies in his last four holes to card a 30 on his back nine. He sank a 33-foot birdie putt at the 16th, and then got one more at the last to officially break the course record and move into solo-second.
“I was playing well, making good swings out there,” Rahm said, via CBS Sports. “It’s just, the first two rounds, I never really carried the momentum I needed. I missed some key puts over those first 36 holes, didn’t really give myself the best chance to get myself in contention early. But today was the complete opposite, right? Felt really good with the swing, got every break I needed to make the putts I needed to make.”
Rahm has won 11 times in his career on the PGA Tour, most recently at the Masters in April – which was his second major championship. He’s won four times this season, and entered the week ranked No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He opened the week with a 3-over 74 on Thursday, and then posted a 70 on Friday to make the cut by a single stroke.
As Rahm entered the clubhouse, Harman and Tommy Fleetwood were getting their days started. Fleetwood birdied early to match Rahm at 6-under on the week, too. Harman carded two early bogies, shrinking his lead all the way down to just two shots at one point. He’s since rebounded.
It remains to be seen where Rahm’s 63 puts him after Round 3, but he took full advantage of Moving Day in the final major championship of the year. Depending on how the rest of Saturday’s round shakes out, Rahm has put himself in a great position to grab his third major title come Sunday night.