Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland were locked together four shots clear at the top of the British Open leaderboard after taming St. Andrews with matching third rounds of 66 on Saturday.
Norwegian Hovland made a fast start with four birdies in a row from the third before Northern Ireland's McIlroy chipped in from a greenside bunker to eagle the 10th hole and edged ahead with a birdie on 14.
McIlroy dropped a shot at the notorious 17th Road Hole, his only bogey of the day, and the Ryder Cup teammates both birdied the last to finish on 16-under-par before embracing warmly as the packed galleries gave them a rousing ovation.