The roar from Royal Portrush's 12th green on Saturday afternoon could wake the dead. Rory McIlroy had just drained a lengthy eagle putt, and all of Northern Ireland believed magic was possible. McIlroy's third-round 66 built major championship dreams.

Finau fired a 1-over-par 72 in the third round to go with his rounds of 70-68 and that effort left him watching the contenders pull away. Most of the movers and shakers fired rounds of four to five under par as Scottie Scheffler rocketed to a huge lead heading into Sunday.

When the Open returned to Royal Portrush in 2019, a great deal of ink was spent explaining why it hadn’t visited Northern Ireland in 68 years.

We're replacing BBC Sounds outside the UK and bringing you BBC.com, a seamless way to read, watch, and listen - all in one place.

Erskine, the club’s then-secretary of 35 years—who many credit with bringing the Open to Portrush—was waiting for a defining moment. Some visual cue from the universe to signify the accomplishment that Portrush, after decades of political turmoil on the island of Ireland before a peace in 1998, had enticed the R&A back to this part of the world.

“Portrush has now become a 12 months of the year destination, we’ve got Curry’s (funfair), which has regenerated all of Portrush and more families coming. You see grandfathers, sons, daughters, grandkids, there is so much to do.

By the time Rory McIlroy finished his first practice round for the British Open at Royal Portrush, a big crowd that weathered rain and sunshine was waiting to see him finish.

Marc Leishman, Australia’s last man standing at The Open Championship, will be striving for a top ten finish on Sunday to guarantee him a start in next year’s tournament.