The wind laid down more than anticipated on a sun-splashed Saturday at Royal St. George’s, but that doesn’t mean the course played easier.

Jon Rahm called the third-round hole locations “some of the hardest, collectively, I’ve ever seen.”

Robert MacIntyre, playing in one of the day’s early groups, fired the low round of the day, a 5-under 65. There were a couple of other 66s. But other than that: “2 under is a much better round than I thought it was for a while,” Rahm said after signing for a 68.

The score was good enough to give him an outside chance of capturing back-to-back majors. At 7-under 203, he’s four shots off the lead.

Working in Rahm’s favor Sunday is that he’s one of the most feared closers in the game. He ranks 10th on Tour in final-round scoring average (69.21). In all but one of his 13 career victories on the PGA and European tours, he has fired a final-round score in the 60s, including some super-low rounds of 62 (2019 Irish) and 64 (2020 BMW). Last month he rallied with a closing 67 to storm from three shots behind and win the U.S. Open.

Rahm acknowledges it’s an unlikely scenario Sunday, what with the class players near the top of the leaderboard. But he's not yet out of it. 

“I’m gonna have to play a flawless round tomorrow,” he said, “but never say never.”