BATTLE: Norway's Viktor Hovland and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy shake hands after their rounds during day three of The Open at the Old Course, St Andrews. Photo: Richard Sellers/PA Wire.

Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland waged an entertaining duel with a pair of 6-under 66s on Saturday, booking themselves for an encore encounter with the 150th Open claret jug on the line Sunday.

McIlroy and Hovland stand tied at 16-under 200 after three rounds on the Old Course – four shots clear of Camerons Smith and Young at 12-under. Scottie Scheffler and Si Woo Kim are tied fifth at 11-under. Their 16-under mark is one shy of the 54-hole record of 199 for Opens at St. Andrews set by Nick Faldo in 1990.

McIlroy is the popular favourite among the vocal crowds that have flocked to the 150th Open at the home of golf, and he’s got a chance to seize the moment.

“The galleries have been massive, the ovations coming on the greens, with the big grandstands,” he said. “Walking up 18 and that whole scene and trying to look for my parents and Erica and Poppy in the windows of the Rusacks, because I know what rooms we're staying in.

“I think it's appreciating the moment as well and appreciating the fact that it's unbelievably cool to have a chance to win the Open at St Andrews. It's what dreams are made of. And I'm going to try to make a dream come true tomorrow.” It turned out to be an electrifying matchup of two of the game’s most dynamic players as the Saturday went from warm and benign earlier to cool and breezy when the leaders made their way into the home stretch.

“That was pretty cool,” said Hovland. “Probably not going to forget that one too quickly. I played great, but it was also cool to trade some holes with Rory as well.” Hovland scrambled his way to a clean card while McIlroy played a nearly flawless round of golf until a lone bogey from across the road on the Road Hole dropped him back into a tie with his Ryder Cup teammate from Norway. It developed into the most fascinating match of the evening when most of the other top players tapered off or faded down the stretch.

While McIlroy was giving himself good looks at birdies early and not converting, playing partner Viktor Hovland came out holing bombs. On 3 and 4, the Norwegian buried birdies from 38 and 42 feet while McIlroy missed chances from 15, 12 and 16 feet in the first four holes. They each birdied 5 and 6 and McIlroy picked up a shot with a birdie on 9 to catch 36-hole leader Cam Smith.

The big boost came at the 10th, where McIlroy followed the lead of fellow Irishman Shane Lowry earlier in the day and pitched in for eagle from 27 yards in a bunker to capture his first share of the lead with Hovland (who birdied) at 15-under.

“I missed some opportunities early, watching Viktor hole a couple of long ones early on,” McIlroy said. “But stayed really patient. Got my first birdie of the day on 5. And I feel like my patience was rewarded around the turn with a couple of birdies and that hole-out on 10.” Said Hovland: “What a wild 2 on that hole. I was glad I was able to make mine for birdie. But when things like that happen, you just kind of have to give each other a fist bump and say good shot.” At the par-5 14th, McIlroy hit the green in two to set up a comfortable two-putt birdie to stick his head above the field for the first time all week.

It wasn’t until the 17th that McIlroy put stress on himself with a drive into the left rough on the dangerous par-4 hole that played more like a par-4.5 all day with only six players hitting the green in regulation. After Hovland rolled over the back of the green onto the path from further back in the rough, McIlroy overcooked his approach and it bounded over the road and off the stone wall.

His pitch got up onto the green and his 25-footer for par settled next to the cup. Hovland got up and down for par to square what had turned into a two-man match on moving day.

“I tried to pitch a wedge about 135, and it just came out really hot on me and obviously got up and over the green,” McIlroy said. “And from there, it could have been way worse. It could have been up against the wall. It could have been anywhere. So to chip it onto the green and take two putts, I was happy enough to get out of there with a 5.” Both reached the 18th green and hit long eagle putts to within a foot to finish with birdies.

While McIlroy and Hovland battled merrily with matching clean cards through 16 holes, the other contenders peeled off or made little noise.

The best efforts came from Kim, whose 67 moved him seven spots up the board to fifth, and world No. 1 Scheffler, whose 69 to share fifth was tempered by a handful of short putts that got away from him to leave him a handful of strokes back.

“I could have been a lot closer to the lead, but that's how it goes,” said Scheffler, who beat McIlroy at the Masters. “I hit a lot of good putts out there. They're just dodging the cup. But looks like I'll probably be about six shots back going into tomorrow. Never know what can happen.” Midway leader Cameron Smith was still stuck on 13-under where he started until making a hash of the 13th hole for double, going from feet in the bunker to ball in the gorse to hillside rough as he dropped two shots to fall five shots behind McIlroy at the time.

Cameron Young, making his Open debut, was 3-under on the day and 14-under overall through 15 holes before making his own mess around the green at 16 to post double.

Dustin Johnson started the day just a shot behind McIlroy and Hovland and was lurking at 12-under through 12 holes when his wheels started to come off a bit – putting a ball into a bunker on 13 to make the first of three bogeys in four holes. He topped his drive and barely cleared the Swilcan Burn on 18, though he managed to recover and make birdie to shoot 71 at sit in seventh six shots behind the leaders.

On a course as volatile as the Old, it’s foolish to say Sunday will be a two-man battle, but the potential for a duel is tantalizing.

“There's a lot of things that can happen,” said Hovland. “In these conditions and these pin placements, you can play fine and shoot around even-par, and then that brings in a lot of other guys as well. So it just depends what the conditions are going to be like tomorrow, the pin locations, and just frankly how we play.” The crowds certainly showed their favouritism for McIlroy.

“The support that I've gotten this week has been absolutely incredible,” McIlroy said. “I appreciate it and I feel it out there. But at the same time I'm trying my hardest just to stay in my own little world because that's the best way for me to get the best out of myself.” Said Hovland: “I don't mind. It doesn't take the pressure off of anything, but I feel like I had some experience with that in the Ryder Cup last year. … There's still some shouts there for me as well. So I appreciate those. At the end of the day, I've just got to play my game and not worry about anything else.”

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