Barry Lane faced the difficult task of forgetting an Open championship finish today which undid so much of his good work.

The 44-year-old from Berkshire had just climbed into a share of top spot with American Todd Hamilton when he double-bogeyed the 17th and bogeyed the last.

Now he will go into the closing round in sixth place with those three shots to make up again.

"It's obviously disappointing," said the former Ryder Cup player, who in May had his first tournament win for 10 years at the British Masters.

"In the second round I finished two-three. This time it was five-five - a five-shot difference. I struck the ball beautifully, so I'll just forget about those last two holes.

"At 17 I just pulled it. I didn't actually see, but it must have pitched on the bank and gone left. I had a very tough chip just to get on the green and it went over it. End of story.

"Then at the last I just pulled a six iron a bit into the bunker. But I would have taken level par at the start.

"The crowd have been unbelievable. You get clapped on every tee, cheered onto every green. Everyone is shouting your name.

"A couple of guys had had a few beers and they were singing 'Barry Lane' (to the tune of the Beatles song 'Penny Lane') on the way round.

"The atmosphere is fantastic and you have to try and enjoy it. It's difficult because you're out there trying very hard, but it's a fantastic tournament."