Conditions at the course are far from welcoming at the start of the third day's play in the Open Championship Lee Westwood is among the early starters but is soon in trouble, dropping five shots in the first six holes before ending on 17 over Paul Casey cards a double bogey six at the 1st, and a handful of birdies cannot really rescue his score as he battles to 12 over Colin Montgomerie finds sand on the opening hole and ends his day out of contention at a major once again on 12 over Former champion Ernie Els feels the strength of the wind as he struggles his way to a 74, leaving him on 13-over-par Els and Andres Romero come under royal scrutiny as the Duke of York follows their match around the course Ben Curtis, another former winner, is one of the few players to find some joy as he puts himself in with a shout at seven over Justin Rose's return to Birkdale, after his heroics as a 17-year-old amateur in 1998, does not go well as he slumps to 18 over Stewards constantly monitor the wind speed as the blustery conditions threaten to lead to a suspension of play Pre-tournament favourite Sergio Garcia mulls things over as he lets a few shots slip early on before finishing on nine over Ian Poulter, clad in relatively conservative attire, drops a couple of strokes early in his round but he battles on to finish on eight over Amateur Chris Wood struggles early on but he recovers to eight over and ends the day insisting he can still win the whole tournament As the leading players start to drop back, birdies at 12, 14 and 17 move world number 252 Simon Wakefield right into the thick of it Ross Fisher is one of the new stars of the European tour and a round of 71 elevates him into contention for the final day Padraig Harrington jumps to follow the flight of his ball as he bids to become the first European to win successive Opens since 1906 Chris Evert opts for a schoolgirl hairstyle as she watches husband Greg Norman play his third round at Royal Birkdale It's not all work at Birkdale as a logjam at the 10th gives Camilo Villegas, Norman and Rocco Mediate the chance to have a natter Back-to-back birdies take Jim Furyk to the turn in good spirits but repeated visits to thick rough on the back nine halt his progress Overnight leader KJ Choi turns his face away as the sand flies up, but the Korean battles every step of the way to end two shots off the lead Harrington shrugs off doubts over his fitness to put himself in with every chance as he draw level with Choi at four over But Norman, a two-time Open champion, does a fantastic job of dealing with the conditions as he battles into a two-shot lead
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