Movers and shakers

A clutch putt here, a wayward drive there. Moving day can make or break the dreams of every Open hopeful.

Make hay while the sun shines and avoid peril when it doesn’t. Never was this more apt than when the leaderboard was turned upside down on a dramatic Saturday at Royal Troon.

A benign morning gave the early starters a chance to attack Troon’s devilish layout and make in-roads on those ahead of them.

Sungjae Im did not need a second invitation, finding five birdies on his front nine en route to a five-under 66. Moving up 56 places, he was the highest climber in the third round and now sits in a tie for 13th place.

Not far behind him was Shubhankar Sharma [above], who mixed eight birdies with three bogeys in an eventful round that propelled him 54 places up the ladder into T15. Sharma took full advantage of the calmer conditions by shooting an impressive 33 on the notoriously difficult back nine.

Adam Scott, runner-up in 2012, has flirted with the top of the leaderboard throughout the week though he has yet to fully threaten. His cause was certainly helped by opening with two straight birdies.

Like Im, Scott also recorded a 66 which throws him back into the mix at T10, just five strokes behind 54-hole leader Billy Horschel [below].

The American may have only edged up three places on Saturday, but a magnificent 69 allowed him to wrestle the lead from Shane Lowry, who suffered the most during a wet and wild afternoon.

Baseball cap on backwards and long-sleeves discarded, Horschel’s short game was exquisite; his wedge play helping him find birdies at 4, 6, 7 and 9. Meanwhile, a meagre two bogeys on a treacherous back nine ensures he will lead going into the Sunday of a major for the first time.

He will be paired with South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, another of Saturday’s early birds, who, with six birdies on the front nine, went out in an impressive 30 strokes. Lawrence escaped the deteriorating conditions and closed out an even-par back nine, allowing him to rise 26 places into T2, on three-under-par.

Also on that tally is the American trio of Sam Burns, Russell Henley, and PGA champion Xander Schauffele [below] and English pair Justin Rose and Daniel Brown, who double-bogeyed the last to slip down from atop the leaderboard.

Like Lawrence, Burns also jumped 26 places courtesy of a six-under 65, despite bogeying the 1st. He matched Sharma’s back-nine score of 33 and can look forward to teeing off in the penultimate group on Sunday.

Justin Thomas wowed the galleries with five early birdies before digging deep for a respectable one-over back nine. The two-time major winner leapt 28 places to sit alongside Scott and Matthew Jordan on even-par.

Elsewhere, Daniel Hiller (up 39 places), Max Homa, Abraham Ancer (both 29) Byeong Hun An (25), John Catlin, Sean Crocker, Chris Kirk (all 23), and Jason Day (26) all took advantage of an early tee time to improve their positions.

Between Lowry, Brown and a resurgent Horschel, rarely has the lead changed hands so many times on one Championship day.

There was just as much drama in behind the hitherto protagonists as the chasing pack did the requisite and closed up on moving day.