Jon Rahm

Heading into the weekend 12 strokes off the lead, Jon Rahm needed something special to get back into contention in The 151st Open.

As it turned out, he produced his best-ever round on a links golf course, to surge into second by the time he strolled off the 18th at Royal Liverpool.

For the man who spoke of his dreams of emulating Seve Ballesteros and becoming just the second Spanish Champion Golfer, this was not just his best day though, this was the lowest-ever round at Royal Liverpool in an Open.

Eight birdies on the way to a magnificent 63 have reignited Rahm’s hopes of lifting the Claret Jug, sitting six-under heading into Sunday.

“That's the best round I've played on a links golf course ever,” he said.

“It's my lowest round on a links course and it's an Open Championship, right? Also the lowest round shot on this course.

“It feels really good, but it's a lot of work to do tomorrow.

“The job today was to come out and give myself the best opportunity I could. Whenever you get a birdie, just thinking about one more. That's simply all you can do.”

It has been a remarkable turnaround for Rahm, who only made the cut by one stroke on Friday after two rounds where frustration was evident.

As he joked, that is not an uncommon feature for the two-time major winner, but it was replaced by a ry smile as birdie attempts on 1 and 2 both just missed.

It was not until the 5th that he finally got going, with another on 9 that opened the floodgates.

Suddenly, every putt was dropping, and six birdies on the back nine were enough to come back in 30.

He finished his round just as the leaders lined up their opening tee shots. There will be no early start on Sunday, Rahm is right back in the mix.

But while the results were very different on Saturday after struggles through the first two rounds – notably four misses from within four feet – the Spaniard always knew his game was looking good.

“I was playing good golf and I knew what I was capable of,” added the reigning Masters champion. 

“I was frustrated because it was basically mistakes that I made. That was it. I gave up the shots at major championships that are very costly, and that's mainly it. That's what I was feeling.

“I knew I was playing better, and I knew my swing and my game felt better than the scores I was shooting. If yesterday's finish isn't an example, right? I'm 2-under, hit the fairway on 18, have a chance to finish 3-under, and make a stupid bogey from 30 yards away.

“That's just a little example of it. Today was the complete opposite, obviously.”

After making history, that final line is quite the understatement.