2014 British Open leaderboard: Rickie Fowler gets hot, charges to 1 back of Rory McIrloy

Rickie Fowler is going low on Saturday at the British Open, and for the moment, he’s cut Rory’s lead down to one shot. McIlroy started the day out in front by four, and six ahead of Fowler. But young Rickie is rolling at Royal Liverpool, firing darts into the pins and bombing in lengthy birdies putts to get to 12-under.

The course is playing easier than it has all week, with the rain overnight and in the morning softening things up around the green. And while we did get some of the storms and rain the forecast predicted, there’s almost no wind to accompany it. I’s the perfect combination to post a low mid-60s round, and Fowler is well on his way to doing that.

The red numbers started early for Rickie, who opened with back-to-back birdies while McIlroy dropped a shot on his first hole of the day. After four birdies in his first six holes, Fowler would finally give one back on the par-4 seventh. He lost his drive right, and had little choice but to hack it out of the high fescue into the fairway. He put his third shot in the middle of the green, but couldn’t roll in the longer par-saving putt. McIlroy, in contrast, made a world-class save at the 7th from a comparable position.

Rickie has kept the pressure on after making the turn, starting his second nine with another birdie streak. He posted red numbers on the first three holes of his inward stretch to keep pushing McIlroy. The birdie at the 13th came just minutes after Rory had extended the lead back to two shots. It’s all working for Rickie right now, who’s not just putting together the round of the day, but also the round of the week.

There are still two par-5s ahead for the final groups, and each is a prime opportunity for birdie. There should be more movement over the final seven holes, but we know for certain that Rory is not going to have it easy on Sunday. Here’s the leaderboard around Rickie and Rory: