Aaron Baddeley gives hope to Open contenders with closing 64

Australia's Aaron Baddeley gave hope to Jordan Spieth's rivals as the final round of the 146th Open Championship got under way at Royal Birkdale.

Aaron Baddeley gives hope to Open contenders with closing 64

Australia's Aaron Baddeley gave hope to Jordan Spieth's rivals as the final round of the 146th Open Championship got under way at Royal Birkdale.

Spieth held a three-shot lead over fellow American Matt Kuchar and was an odds-on favourite to join Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win three of golf's major titles before the age of 24.

But after Branden Grace recorded the first 62 in men's major championship history on Saturday, Baddeley showed that low scoring was still possible with a closing 64 to jump more than 40 places up the leaderboard.

Playing partner Sung Kang also earned himself a bigger payday with a four-under-par 66, but former Masters champion Danny Willett could only manage a 71 to finish nine over par.

The final group of Spieth and Kuchar were due out at 2:30pm, by which time the wind was forecast to increase in strength from 10 to 15 miles per hour, with gusts up to 20mph.

Spieth's friend Austin Connelly - the pair share a coach in Cameron McCormick - was six shots off the lead alongside US Open champion Brooks Koepka, with Grace and world number two Hideki Matsuyama another stroke adrift.

The prospects of a home winner were slim with Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter and Richie Ramsay slipping down the leaderboard on Saturday into a tie for 11th with Ross Fisher on two under par, nine behind Spieth.

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