The British Open was fortified by the over-40s in round three as Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson produced a ding-dong tussle to turn golf's oldest major into a gripping two-man slugfest.
It was a case of parry and thrust from the Swede and the American as Royal Troon showed its teeth for the second day running, the winds whipping up to 25mph on the west coast of Scotland and making good scoring extremely tough.
Stenson (40), bidding to become the first Scandinavian male to win a major championship, began the day one behind his playing partner and ended it one in front after a 68, the joint lowest round of the day, left him on 12-under-par 201.
Mickelson (46), who is hoping to become the oldest winner of the tournament in the modern era, returned a 70 for 202.
In third spot, a distant six strokes off the pace, was American Bill Haas (69) with Andrew Johnston (70) flying the flag for Britain in fourth position.
The popular Johnston, inspired by the fans crying out his nickname 'Beef, Beef' at almost every hole, ended up on 208, one ahead of American JB Holmes (69).
