Bernhard Langer will take a one-shot lead into the final day of the Senior Open Championship after overcoming windy conditions to post a round of 66 at Turnberry.
The round of the day came from Fred Couples, who shot a six-under-par 64 to claim second place, with Australia's Peter Fowler a further shot behind after recording a round of 65.
American duo John Cook and Gary Hallberg are tied with England's Barry Lane in fourth, a further two shots behind.
Hallberg had started the day with a three-shot lead after equalling the Ailsa course record with a 63 in the second round.
But he ended with seven bogeys and four birdies in an erratic round to record a 73.
Langer, who led after a first-round 64 but slipped back to joint-second with a 73 on Friday, started superbly by reaching the turn in 30 thanks to four birdies and an eagle on the 538-yard par-five seventh and hung on to finish four under for the day.
He bogeyed the 11th and 15th but came back with a birdie on the 17th to reclaim the lead.Two-times Masters champion Langer, who is seven under for the 54 holes, won the last Senior Open on Scottish soil at Carnoustie in 2010.
He has been in fine form so far this season, finishing in the top five in all three of his appearances on the European Senior Tour, and narrowly missing out on the US Senior Open two weeks ago when he surrendered a four-shot 54-hole lead to eventual winner Roger Chapman of England.
After his round he described the Turnberry course, where winds were gusting up to 30mph at times, as "a fantastic test of golf".
"I played a really good round of golf today with a couple of small putts missed," Langer said.
"I drove the ball really well, putted well early, and then I missed a couple of short ones.
One was a severe lip out and another one was a misread and a push.
"Then on the 15th I hit a really good shot as well but just with the wrong club, went in the back bunker, and made bogey. But you get that kind of stuff when you've got conditions like there were today."
He also said Turnberry retained a special place in his heart. It was at the links course in the Open in 1986 that he received a telephone call telling him the first of his four children had been born just before he went out for the final day to tie for third place.
Collated third-round scores and totals, Ailsa Course, Turnberry, Ayrshire, Scotland
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 70):
203 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 64 73 66
204 Fred Couples (USA) 72 68 64
205 Peter Fowler (Aus) 68 72 65
207 Gary Hallberg (USA) 71 63 73, John Cook (USA) 69 72 66, Barry Lane 67 74 66
208 Jay Don Blake (USA) 66 73 69
209 Dick Mast (USA) 66 73 70, Ian Woosnam 71 70 68, David Frost (Rsa) 66 73 70
210 Mark Brooks (USA) 70 71 69, Tom Watson (USA) 69 75 66, Tom Lehman (USA) 66 71 73, Carl Mason 69 74 67
211 Mark Wiebe (USA) 70 71 70, Peter Senior (Aus) 68 71 72
212 Bobby Clampett (USA) 70 71 71, John Huston (USA) 70 72 70, Corey Pavin (USA) 70 72 70
213 Gary Wolstenholme 70 73 70, David
J Russell 69 73 71, Chip Lutz (USA) 70 76 67, Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 72 72 69, Mike Goodes (USA) 69 73 71, Olin Browne (USA) 69 73 71, Angel Franco (Par) 73 73 67
214 Mark Mouland 71 72 71, Ross Drummond 70 74 70, Anders Forsbrand (Swe) 71 72 71, Boonchu Ruangkit (Tha) 69 73 72
215 Kouki Idoki (Jpn) 69 76 70, Michael Allen (USA) 66 74 75, Kirk Triplett (USA) 69 74 72, Jeff Hart (USA) 69 76 70, Loren Roberts (USA) 68 75 72, Mark McNulty 65 75 75
216 Marc Farry (Fra) 71 74 71, Joel Edwards (USA) 69 77 70, Chris Williams (Rsa) 71 73 72, Chien-Soon Lu (Tpe) 66 77 73, Jay Haas (USA) 73 74 69
217 Des Smyth 75 70 72
218 Rod Spittle (Can) 72 74 72, Jeff Sluman (USA) 70 76 72, Tom Kite (USA) 74 73 71, Philip Jonas (Can) 73 71 74, Fred Funk (USA) 69 74 75, David Eger (USA) 74 70 74, Bob Gilder (USA) 72 74 72
219 Seiki Okuda (Jpn) 73 74 72, Bill Longmuir 71 77 71, Tim Thelen (USA) 73 72 74, Jeff Freeman (USA) 71 74 74, Steve Pate (USA) 71 75 73, Kevin Spurgeon 72 73 74, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 68 74 77, Larry Mize (USA) 71 74 74, Philip Golding 70 75 74
220 Anthony Gilligan (Aus) 69 73 78, Juan Quiros (Spa) 71 76 73, Paul Wesselingh 69 76 75
221 Phil Hinton 70 75 76, Tim Elliott (Aus) 71 76 74, Mark James 74 74 73, David Merriman (Aus) 70 77 74
222 Mitch Adcock (USA) 73 74 75, Lee Rinker (USA) 67 78 77, Noel Ratcliffe (Aus) 72 76 74
223 Andrew Murray 69 78 76, Rossouw Loubser (Rsa) 74 71 78
224 Mike San Filippo (USA) 72 76 76, Mike Cunning (USA) 73 75 76
225 John Harrison 73 74 78
226 Randy Haag (USA) 74 74 78
229 Denis O'Sullivan 76 72 81
230 John Ross (USA) 75 71 84
