Scottie Scheffler has had his putting problems, but almost cut out the middle man by chipping in on the second from off the green. Just a few inches short so two pars to start.

Francesco Molinari has been steady as you like, with two fairways and two greens = two pars.

A steady start for Tommy Fleetwood, who recovers well from the wispy rough to give himself another look at a birdie at the third - albeit from a long way away.

He and Jon Rahm make comfortable pars.

I said before that Alex Fitzpatrick needed to improve his putting to really get in the mix.

He's got himself a tremendous opportunity on the first hole here having controlled his approach superbly out of the rough. No, it's drifted by. He makes four.

Par for Bob MacIntyre too after two-putting neatly from 42 feet.

Ben Croucher
BBC Sport journalist at Royal Birkdale

Image source, BBC Sport

Remember those water fountains you used to drink out of at school?

Dotted around Royal Birkdale are these lovely fountains, often with tributes to members no longer with us.

These days, players are able to grab sports drinks and healthy snacks at the tee boxes to stay fuelled and hydrated but keep an eye out for any pros taking in some refreshing local H2O.

Oliver Wilson
Former Ryder Cup player on BBC Radio 5 Live

We were on the opposite side of the hole when he was playing the shot.

It's not as clear cut as Mark [Darbon] made it sound, in my opinion. In the video angles I've seen, he 100% stamps on the fescue, he's a little heavy footed going in there.

There's another video angle as he walks in and finds the ball and he stamps the grass, I don't think that's anything to argue about.

But it's whether that actually affected his intended path of swing.

And because you can't actually see the ball on any of the angles, there's no down-the-line angle to show where he's actually looking. So I feel it's very harsh to say that was going to be affecting his swing.

There's a lot of grey areas there.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Getty Images

More from R&A chief executive Mark Darbon, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about whether penalising Bryson DeChambeau was more difficult because of him being such a big name in the sport:

"I actually don't think it does make it a more difficult decision. We have a responsibility to our championship and to the rest of the field. And so irrespective of which player this affected, it's the same decision.

"From a rules perspective, it was clear cut. As I say, it's unfortunate after a brilliant day's golf, but the ruling was clear. It was applied consistently and appropriately."

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Bob MacIntyre and Alex Fitzpatrick played together on Thursday and Friday and they have teamed up again today.

Both have played well to be in the mix with MacIntyre consistently strong throughout his bag. If he can improve a tad on approach and off the tee, he'll be right up there for Sunday.

As for Fitzpatrick, from tee to green and scrambling, he has been one of the very best. He's just had a cold putter.

Can either of these two really get it going today?

After a six at the first, Jon Rahm is again off target with his tee shot at the second.

However, his approach takes a favourable bounce towards the hole and he knocks in an eight-footer for a bounce-back birdie.

Tommy Fleetwood almost cards a three himself, but his long-range birdie putt just drifts by the hole.

Shane Lowry has played some nice stuff this week and he's up and running today with a birdie at the par-four third moving the Irishman to four under.

Don't count the 2019 champion out...

BBC Radio 5 Live

When he spoke on BBC Radio 5 Live earlier, R&A chief executive Mark Darbon said the decision to hand Bryson DeChambeau a two-shot penalty was "clear cut".

Darbon said the potential infringement was spotted "fairly soon" after DeChambeau finished the hole and was spotted by the R&A and not, as some have speculated, sent on via social media.

"Actually we have a TV review room here with some of our rules officials," said Darbon. "They're monitoring all of the footage throughout the championship. So they became aware of the incident and the process was followed from there."

Darbon also spoke about it didn't matter under the ruling whether DeChambeau had meant to do it or not, adding: "Under this rule, there's no distinction between a deliberate act or an accidental or inadvertent act.

"I'll let Bryson comment for himself, but he was adamant with us that this was inadvertent and we were. We had no reason to offer a different perspective."

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Image source, Getty Images

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler tees off having played some wonderful golf this week so far... well, wonderful from tee to green - then it's all gone wrong.

It's not the first time, as Scheffler has seen majors slip away before because of struggling with the putter, which must be so annoying when he's clearly in great form with the rest of his game.

Being four under despite ranking 137th out of a field of 156 in putting shows you how well he's played - with even just an average putting week he'd likely be clear of the field.

And let's not ignore Francesco Molinari here - the Open champion of 2018 up at Carnoustie, which looked a lot like Birkdale does this week as the last truly burnt out Open we had. The Italian thrives in these conditions.

Paul Birch
BBC Sport journalist at Royal Birkdale

Friday's second round contained a feast of low scoring, headlined by the record-equalling rounds of 62 by Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns.

The stroke average of 70.348 was more than one stroke lower than it was on Thursday and set a new record low for a second round in Open history, beating the previous mark of 70.387 on day two at Royal St George's in 2021.

In addition, the cut mark of 141 (+1) equalled the lowest ever at an Open, which was also set at that 2021 championship on the Kent coastline.

The most recent time the Open was here in 2017, it produced the lowest third-round average in championship history - an incredible 69.03.

And we've already seen another 62 today from Ryan Fox.

Jon Rahm did indeed go out of bounds off the first tee and the Spaniard eventually makes a double-bogey six on the first hole.

Playing partner Tommy Fleetwood had a very long-range putt for birdie but will settle for an opening par.

Image source, Getty Images

Rory McIlroy's malaise returns after that eagle at nine.

Bunker troubles at 11 spell a bogey and he drops back to one under.

He just hasn't had his best stuff this week.

BBC Radio 5 Live

It appears there have been a few issues with the "Listen live" link at the top of the page but, all being well, that should be working now and you can follow the latest from day three of the Open on BBC Radio 5 Live.

The main focus will be coverage from Birkdale, while also taking in the latest from other events during another busy weekend of sport.

Plenty of good scores out there already.

What will the final score be after moving day?

A massive roar from the crowd that surrounds the first tee as Tommy Fleetwood's name is announced.

His tee shot leaks slightly to the right of the fairway. Nice start.

The same can't be said of Jon Rahm, who had sprayed his opening tee shot well right a few seconds earlier and may well be out of bounds.

Ben Croucher
BBC Sport journalist at Royal Birkdale

Half an hour before his round got going, you could find Tommy Fleetwood and a couple of hundred fans watching him on the driving range.

He went through a tried and tested routine, working his way through a few clubs.

It's a curious spectating option today. The blanket of cloud over Birkdale means you can barely spot the white ball against the sky, so it's hard to tell whether they've hit a decent shot or not.

I mean, they're professionals after all. So I'll just assume they have.

Image source, BBC Sport