Phil Mickelson tonight admitted he had enjoyed a massive stroke of luck to keep his Open challenge on track.

Mickelson's tee shot on the 15th was heading out of bounds until it struck a spectator on the leg and stayed in play by a matter of inches.

The Masters champion went on to par the hole and record a third round 68 at Royal Troon to lie two shots behind surprise leader Todd Hamilton going into tomorrow's final round.

"I thought for sure it was going out," said Mickelson, whose last bogey was on the 17th hole of his first round - a run of 37 holes.

"There was nothing to stop it other than a gentleman's leg.

"Did I thank him? Oh yeah! I was standing on the road (to take the second shot), which was out of bounds, and it should have been out. It certainly was a tremendous break.

"Every now and then you need a break and it certainly kept my round going."

Mickelson, who has never had a top 10 finish in the Open in 11 attempts, added: "It's fun. Normally I'm watching on TV, I've already played and I'm watching the leaders tee off.

"It's very nice to have a great chance now and going into Sunday the element of the weather won't be as big a factor.

"If we get tough conditions everybody has to play and fight it out for the championship.

"It's really cool to see a lot of the top players in contention and a lot of players you may not have thought would be there on Thursday. A lot of guys have a great chance tomorrow."

Mickelson, looking to become only the eighth player to win the Masters and Open in the same year after breaking his major championship duck at the 47th attempt at Augusta, is reaping the benefits of some early practice at Troon.

The left-hander, who also finished second to Retief Goosen in the US Open after a double-bogey on the 71st hole, missed the pre-tournament pro-am at the Scottish Open last week to play the course and added: "The biggest thing is that I have been missing it in the right spots.

"I feel I don't have to hit every shot perfect to make easy pars."