As the only Australian left at Royal Portrush, Marc Leishman has low Aussie honours wrapped up but the Victorian is aiming for more major starts after another strong performance on the Northern Irish links in the third round of The 153rd Open.

Rested, and having enjoyed the flavour of Ireland in the form of a Guinness (or two) on Friday evening, Leishman fired a 3-under 68 on Saturday to sit 4-under overall and 10 back of leader Scottie Scheffler in a tie for 22nd.

Opening his day with two perfectly struck, and placed, irons, Leishman would three putt the first hole as roars went around the Northern Irish coast for a hole-in-one to England’s John Parry before the Aussie nearly followed suit at the third.

There was just over a foot left for his tap-in birdie at the par-3 before Leishman added another at the par-4 fifth in a 1-under front nine.

“Felt really good today actually. Played good, hit good shots into the first and then three-putted, but hit two shots exactly where I wanted to hit them, and the putt was actually good,” Leishman said.

“Hopefully I can do something silly tomorrow and try to sneak into that top 5 or 10.”

The back nine got off to a better start for Leishman when birdieing the 11th, however a fairway bunker at the 12th halted his climb up a congested leaderboard as he seeks what would be the most unlikely Claret Jug, but more realistically more time at the game’s biggest events.

“I deserved to make 6 on 12. Hit three bad shots, so you don't mind making sixes if you deserve to make them,” he said.

A top four finish at Portrush this week would pave the way for Leishman’s return to Augusta National and The Masters, while a top 10 ensures he will play The Open for a 13th time when it returns to Royal Birkdale in 2026.

“Obviously there's the carrot dangling to try to get into the top 4 but also to try to get in The Open next year,” Leishman said of his Sunday motivations.

“Yes, you want to do something silly and try to go crazy low, but you also want to make sure you try to get back in … and give yourself a chance to get into the other majors.

“Probably more so looking at that. I'm nine back. Probably going to be more than ten back at the end of the day the way he (Scheffler) is playing. That will be too many, unless I do something really, really silly. He's probably going to get to 20-under. I'm not going to shoot 56.”

Doing those chances no harm were birdies at the back nine par-3s –13 and 16 – with the latter perhaps feeling like more than a shot against par and the field given the difficulty of ‘Calamity Corner’.

“It feels like a birdie if you walk out of there with a par … It's a very difficult hole. Not just difficult for me, difficult for everyone,” Leishman said of the 16th that he has played par-par-birdie this week,

It was a par at the penultimate hole before Leishman’s birdie putt at the 18th hole ran out of steam short of the hole, with the 41-year-old off to follow his Friday post round hydration.

“What time is it?,” Leishman quipped when asked if he would enjoy a beer again on Saturday and confirming it was on the cards.

His Guinness likely enjoyed while undergoing a post round debrief with golf mad eldest son Harvey.

“He loves it. Inquisitive, I guess I would say, and he really wants to learn,” he said of Harvey.

“He'll ask me about some shots I hit today, maybe good or whether it was bad. Maybe the driver I hit off 12, might ask me why I did that.”

Also headed for some relaxation after his round was Rory McIlroy, who elated the local crowds during a 5-under 66 that lifted him to 8-under overall.

The Australian bound Masters champion starting his day by watching the British and Irish Lions defeat the Wallabies before a round where he birdied three of the first four holes, unearthed a long ago lost buried golf ball on the 11th and gave him an extremely outside chance of a second 2025 major and denying Scheffler the same feat.

“I played well. I rode my luck at times, but yeah, it was an incredible atmosphere out there. I feel like I've at least given myself half a chance tomorrow,” McIlroy said.

All four rounds of The 153rd Open Championship will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo.

Australasian Scores T22 Marc Leishman, -4 MC Jason Day +2 MC Daniel Hillier (NZ) +2 MC Ryan Fox (NZ) +2 MC Elvis Smylie +3 MC Lucas Herbert +4 MC Min Woo Lee +5 MC Curtis Luck +8 MC Cameron Smith +8 MC Ryan Peake +8 MC Adam Scott +9