The American star sits level on nine under par alongside compatriots Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner as he aims for a repeat of his victory at Royal Birkdale 12 months ago, although there is a large chasing pack ready to pounce, with Tiger Woods right in the mix.

Spieth shot a superb six-under-par 65 in benign conditions on Saturday to catapult himself up the leaderboard as he aims to follow in the footsteps of Padraig Harrington, the last player to retain the Claret Jug a decade ago.

There would be a sense of symmetry to the achievement if Spieth does win on Scotland’s North Sea coast — Harrington’s double came at Carnoustie in 2007 and then Birkdale in 2008.

“I’ve made a lot of progress over the year that’s been kind of an off year, a building year,” said Spieth, who came third at the Masters in April but then missed the cut at the US Open.

“I feel like my game’s in good shape. It’s progressed nicely. We’ve got pretty much a new tournament tomorrow (Sunday).”

Spieth has his work cut out though, with the leaderboard so closely packed that at least 20 players will start Sunday believing they can win the Claret Jug.

Schauffele and Kisner are both bidding to win a first major, with the latter hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s US PGA Championship, when he led going into the final day but finished in a tie for seventh.

With trickier, windy conditions expected for the last round, Kisner feels it could be an unpredictable day, and a harder one.

“Judging by the conditions and what’s going to be going on, I would imagine it’s going to be more of a grind all day,” said Kisner, who has been sharing a house with Spieth and several other American stars in Scotland this week.

Kisner will go out with another American, Kevin Chappell, who is seven-under, in the penultimate pairing of the day at 2:35pm (1335 GMT), before Spieth and Schauffele tee off 10 minutes later.

– McIlroy, Fleetwood still in hunt –

Before heading to the course on Saturday, Spieth went into Carnoustie for what he called “a very British haircut”, just as Tiger Woods was rolling back the years with his third-round 66 in front of huge galleries.

Woods, who won back-to-back Opens himself in 2005 and 2006, is in a group of players at five-under along with the likes of Zach Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood.

The 42-year-old, who has not won a major since 2008 as personal problems and health issues have stalled his career, will tee off at 2:25pm with Italy’s Francesco Molinari, who is six under par.

“It’s been a few years since I’ve felt like this,” Woods said in comments that might seem somewhat ominous for his rivals.

“I played pretty similar to this at the Players Championship. Obviously, the ‘fifth major’, possibly, but not like this in one of these big four events.”

Americans have won the last five majors, but McIlroy has played well enough this week to believe he can claim a first major since 2014, when he did the double of British Open and US PGA Championship.

Meanwhile, Fleetwood is the most likely to become the first English winner of the Claret Jug since Nick Faldo in 1992.

“The wind is supposed to pick up, so that might be a helping hand,” said Fleetwood, who holds the course record at Carnoustie with a 63 at the Dunhill Championship last year and also shot 63 on the final day of the US Open last month to finish second behind Brooks Koepka.

The 29-year-old Pavit is determined to emulate the success of recent winners Panuphol Pittayarat and Jazz Janewattananond, winners of the Thailand Open and Queen’s Cup respectively, to reaffirm Thailand’s dominance on the Asian Tour.

Pavit will line-up alongside three-time Asian Tour number one, Thongchai Jaidee, Prom Meesawat, who finished runner-up in last year’s Royal Cup and Natipong Srithong at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club.

American John Catlin, the only player to win twice on the Asian Tour in 2018, will lead the strong international challenge which includes defending champion Shiv Kapur of India, compatriots Gaganjeet Bhullar and Jeev Milkha Singh, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang, South Africa’s Justin Harding and Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh.

After winning his sixth Asian Development Tour (ADT) title on home soil in May, Pavit will now set his sights on claiming a second Asian Tour title since 2016 at the Royal Cup.

“Since my win (on the ADT) I have gained a lot more confidence to compete this year and I am still hunting for my second win now that my wrist is at 100%. I have been doing a lot of physiotherapy and have also been working out a lot more to build my arm muscles and that has been key to helping me recover faster,” said Pavit.

Currently ranked 35th on the Habitat for Humanity Standings, Pavit is ready to launch a title assault after taking a week’s break to prepare for the Royal Cup.

“My goal this season is to finish inside the top-30 on the Habitat for Humanity standings so that I can get into every event next year. I have been playing well since the Kolon Korea Open but playing four weeks straight and having to adjust to playing on different green speeds has been tough. This break was much needed and I will be fully recharged once Royal Cup comes,” added Pavit.

Measuring at 6,716 yards, with the front-nine being played on the Lake course and the back-nine being played on the Mountain course, the Royal Cup will held in conjunction with King Rama X’s birthday which falls on July 28, Saturday.

The event offers US$500,000 purse money (Bt16.5 million)

The strong field of 156 players will consist of 75 Asian Tour players, 40 Thais, 10 PGA of Australasia players, 5 Japan Golf Tour players, 16 invitee spots, and 10 players from Monday’s qualifiers.

Thongchai, the three-time winner of the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2001, 2004 and 2009 and 13 Tour titles, said: “It’s such a great honour to compete for the Royal Cup and this is the first time I’ll be playing this tournament. I will try my best as usual and would like to see that the trophy will remain in Thailand.”

Ratchaburi’s Sattaya Supupramai said he was well prepared for the tournament. “I always practice at this golf course. The fairways and greens are quite difficult. I will just aim to play well in the first two rounds and make the cut. If possible, I would like to finish in the top 10.”

Chinnarat Phadungsil, the 29-year-old from Chantaburi province, said: “The golf course is very challenging and keeping ball in the fairways is the thing to do here. I wish to perform at my best and that should get me a good outcome.”

Other top Thai players in the line-up are: Phachara Khongwatmai, Chapchai Nirat, Prom Meesawat, Panuphol Pittayarat, Danthai Boonma, Natipong Srithong and Arnond Vongvanij.

The event will be broadcast live on True Sport HD 3 on True Visions from 1pm to 4pm on Saturday, and Sunday. Tickets for spectators are available at the booth near the public entrance to the golf club at Bt100 per person per day. Those aged under-18 and above 60 have free admission. Gate will open at 8am daily.

The Royal Cup 2018 is sponsored by the Sports Authority of Thailand, the National Sports Development Fund, Siam Commercial Bank, P Overseas Steel Plc, PTT Group, True Visions, Phoenix Gold Golf & Country Club, Advanced Info Service Plc and Port Authority of Thailand.

Second seeded Nitchaon Jindapol went down to Chinese Gao Fangjie 21-15 12-21 21-14 in the women’s singles before mixed doubles and women’s doubles defeats followed.

Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai lost o second seeded Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie of Malaysia 21-18 21-14 before Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai, the top seeded team, fell to Japanese Ayako Sakuramoto and Yukiko Takahata 21-17 21-19.

Thailand’s national badminton team will next enter the World Championships which start in Nanjing from July 30.

The 23-year-old from Chanthaburi shot a third round 68 for a combined score of nine under-par-201 at the par 70 7,018 yard layout in Chonburi.  He was six shots behind the leader Thanyakorn, the 2016 winner, who shot a brilliant 64 on 15 under-par-195.

Rattanon, who won the All Thailand Tour season-opener in Khon Kaen in February, hoped he would summon all efforts to turn the tide on Sunday for his second Tour title of the year

“The green speed was a bit stiff which made it tough for me to make putts. But I don’t give up yet as I believe I can catch up with him tomorrow,” said Rattanon who came from five shots behind in the final round to win an ADT title in Taiwan three years ago.

“I have to adjust myself to the condition as fast as possible at the start of the day. If I can shoot a lot of scores, who knows what’s going to happen in the final day,” added Rattanon, whose only Asian Tour win was the Thailand Open last year.

The former SEA Games national player however said he will play with less pressure until the rest of the season, having secured the Tour card for 2019 due to impressive results this year.

“Normally I didn’t play well on the Asian Tour at the first half of the year. But I’ve already had two top five finishes in the Myanmar Open and Panasonic Open in Japan before finishing ninth last week in Indonesia. So I don’t have to worry about the Tour card,” he added.

Thanyakorn enjoyed a strong front nine form that earned him an eagle on the second hole and three birdies.

“I will try to rely on my experience from playing overseas tournament going into the final round. I won’t be playing defensive game for sure,” said Thanyakorn.

A stroke behind at lone third were Kasidit Lepkurte (64) and Somsak Kaopratum (68) after they shot 202 each.

Kisner and Johnson are sharing a house in Carnoustie this week along with several other American stars competing for the Claret Jug, but they did not share the same conditions on the course.

The 42-year-old Johnson, who won at St Andrews in 2015, survived miserable morning rain as he followed his 69 in the first round with a second-round 67 to move to six under par for the tournament.

He recovered from a bogey at the first hole with five birdies and no more dropped shots after that as he again flourishes at the one major held outside his home country.

“I’m not going to sit here and say, man, I just love playing in the wind and rain because I don’t, but I can do it, you know,” said Johnson, who had made the cut at 11 straight Opens before this one.

Kisner does not have the same CV as Johnson, also a former Masters winner, although he did lead last year’s US PGA Championship going into the final day before finishing joint-seventh.

After his stellar opening 66, five under par, Kisner shot a 70 on Friday as the rain disappeared and the sun came out for his afternoon round. But it could have been so much better as he was eight-under standing on the 18th tee.

The American’s approach to the last green found the Barry Burn, scene of Frenchman Jean Van de Velde’s infamous meltdown on the final day in 1999, forcing him to take a drop before two-putting for a one-under-par round of 70 and a six-under total.

“I didn’t think I would hit that in the burn with an 8-iron but it just didn’t come out the way I saw it,” said Kisner, although he remains confident that he can contend for the title.

“I hit a lot of great putts coming down the stretch. I love where my putter is and love my position going into the weekend.”

– McIlroy, Spieth in running –

US golfer Zach Johnson reacts after making a birdie putt on the 18th green.

Fleetwood recorded a brilliant six-under-par 65 — featuring six birdies and no dropped shots — to go to five-under overall, level with another American duo, Pat Perez and Xander Schauffele.

It was a round from the 27-year-old Englishman that showed how comfortable he is at a venue where he holds the course record following a 63 at last year’s Dunhill Championship.

Now right in the mix, Fleetwood is dreaming of becoming the first English golfer to lift the Claret Jug since Nick Faldo in 1992.

“If I could pick one tournament in my life to win, it would be The Open,” admitted Fleetwood.

Rory McIlroy, the 2014 Open champion, is in a strong position too, after going out shortly before 8am and shooting his second successive 69 to go to four-under for the tournament.

“There is still a long way to go, but I’m in a great position going into the third day,” said the Northern Irishman, who is looking for his first major in four years.

He is level with American pair Tony Finau and last year’s runner-up Matt Kuchar, as well as the unheralded South African duo of Erik van Rooyen and Zander Lombard.

The prospects of a sixth straight major being won by an American are good, with reigning Open champion Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler both alongside their compatriot Kevin Chappell at three-under.

– Dustin Johnson misses cut –

After a frustrating first round, Spieth bounced back with a fine 67 on Friday, one of the best rounds of the whole day featuring only one bogey, at the 16th.

However, it is looking a little less likely that this tournament will finally be the one where Tiger Woods ends his decade-long major drought.

He shot a second straight even-par round of 71, but at least he will be here for the weekend, in contrast to world number one Dustin Johnson, who is six over par and misses the cut.

World number two Justin Thomas is also going home after a 77 that included three successive double-bogeys and left him four-over.

The 32-year-old American became just the sixth woman to tee it up in a PGA Tour event when she fired a first-round six-under par 78 in the Barbasol Championship in Nicholasville, Kentucky on Thursday.

Lincicome, whose eight LPGA titles include two majors, was hoping to turn things around at Keene Trace Golf Club.

But electrical storms delayed the start of the second round by more than two hours and before she had a chance to tee off play was suspended again as more storms moved through.

More than two hours after players were removed from the course organizers announced play was halted for the day with two dozen players still to tee off.

The second round was to resume Saturday morning.

Lincicome knew after Thursday’s round that she had little chance to become the only woman besides Babe Zaharias in 1945 to make a 36-hole cut on the PGA Tour.

But she said her game was actually in good shape and with at least some of the inevitable nerves behind her she was aiming to produce a better round.

“If I can drive it like I did today and just make a few putts here and there, I think I’ll be back in good shape,” she said. “It’s out there.”

While she didn’t score as she would have liked, Lincicome savored the opportunity to test herself against the men.

“It’s so much fun being inside the ropes with them,” she said.

“Obviously (I’m) nowhere near making the cut, but still just being inside the ropes with the guys, a cool feeling, a different feeling.”

As Lincicome waited, overnight leader Troy Merritt made it around in five-under par 67 between the weather stoppages to stay atop the leaderboard, two strokes in front of Billy Horschel.

Merritt followed up a 10-under par 62 with a round featuring seven birdies and two bogeys for a 15-under par total of 129.

Horschel had six birdies in his six-under 66 for 131, while Richy Werenski and Tom Lovelady were both 12-under for the tournament through 17 holes when play was suspended.

Werenski faced a three-foot putt for par at 18 when the horn sounded. Lovelady was looking at a 25-footer to save par after finding the water at his last hole, the ninth.

Merritt, who claimed his only PGA Tour title at the 2015 Quicken Loans National, was pleased to get his round in given the uncertainty of the weather.

“They moved up tee times an hour 20 minutes, and we ended up teeing off about 20 minutes later than what we were supposed to anyway,” he noted after officials’ plan to start early in a bid to beat the weather failed to pan out.

“It’s just always a little bit tough out there to keep a rhythm when you know you could be pulled off the course at any time. We had some dark clouds roll in from time to time, heard some thunder on the seventh tee. Just to try to put that to the back of your mind is the toughest thing on a day like today.

“It’s nice to have two rounds under our belt, that’s for sure,” he added.

The world No 12 was briefly tested by the 63rd ranked opponent Chen Su Yu of Taiwan before she prevailed 25-23 21-16 in 46 minutes in the women’s singles quarter-finals.

It was a rebound for the 27-year-old who crashed out in the first round of the home tournament last week.

Nitchaon has reached three semi-finals this year, winning the Princess Cup at home in January and the last four at the Germany Open in March, when she lost to Chen Yufei of China 21-19 21-13.

The victory set up a semi-final showdown with Chinese seventh seed Gao Fangjie, a 21-14 21-16 winner over Cai Yanyan.

Other winners on Friday included Thailand’s top women’s doubles players, Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai, who survived a late resistance from Chinese  Tang Jinhua and Yu Xiaohan before advancing with a 21-19 26-24 victory.

The Thai pair made back-to-back semi-finals after reaching this stage last week in Bangkok. They will play Ayako Sakuramoto and Yukiko Takahata of Japan, who ousted Chayanit Chaladchalam and Phathaimas Muenwong of Thailand 21-16 21-17.

In the mixed doubles quarter-finals, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai rallied to beat Chang Tak Ching and Ng Wing Yung of Hong Kong 18-21 21-8 21-16.

They will face second seeds Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie of Malaysia on Saturday.

In the men’s doubles, 2012 Olympic quarter-finalists Maneepong Jongjit and Bodin Isara had to withdraw from the competition as Bodin had a left knee injury, sending the Indonesian pair of Angga Pratama and Rian Agung Saputro into the semis. Tinn Isriyanet and Kittisak Namdash went down to Indonesian Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 21-19 21-19.

The tournament will be the third big international events held at the course following the LET Thailand Championship and the Queen’s Cup in June.

Chanya Swangchitr – President of Phoenix Gold Golf & Country Club said : “We are very pleased to host the international tournament at our golf club and also welcome all players from Thailand, Asia, Australia and Japan. Our golf course which consists of the Lake side and Mountain side is now set up and most ready for the competition next week.”

The Royal Cup features a total filed of 156 players ( 75 Asian Tour players, 40 Thai players, 10 PGA of Australasia players, 5 Japan Tour players, 16 invites spots. Ten more players will come from Monday Qualifier which will be held on Monday, 23 July.

 LIVE TV Broadcasting will be on True Sport HD 3 on True Visions during 13:00-16:00hrs on Saturday, 28 and Sunday, 29 July. Admission ticket for spectator is available at Ticket Booth near public entrance at the golf club at 100THB/person/day on 26-29 July. Free admission for spectator age under 18 and over 60 years old. Gate opening time is at 08:00hrs daily.

The 28-year-old Thai, who was crowned the Asian Tour number one in 2013, fired two birdies against a double-bogey to turn in level par. He dropped four shots in his next seven holes but gained an unexpected birdie on 17 after his pitch from 80 yards found the bottom of the cup.

“Definitely not a good start to the week, shooting three-over in the opening round,” said Kiradech. “I had a good start today, birdied the first and missed by a little bit for birdie on the second. I just miscalculated that shot which landed in the bunker, resulting in a double-bogey unfortunately.”

“Managed to turn in level par but I can only say there are too many bunkers on the back-nine. (laughs). I made a good comeback on the 17. It was a great shot. It was good to finish with that birdie coming back,” added Kiradech, a three-time Asian Tour winner and a four-time European Tour champion.

Kiradech, who played alongside defending champion Jordan Spieth and world number three Justin Rose, lamented his poor ball-striking where he found only four fairways but kept up his hopes of making a comeback on Friday.

“I was just trying to stay consistent out there. I hope I can continue to do that tomorrow, keep the ball in play and just get it low tomorrow. It was good fun out there with Justin (Rose) and Jordan (Spieth). All of us weren’t having a good day out there. Justin and I weren’t striking the ball well but I am sure we will go out there and gain it back tomorrow,” he said.

Fellow compatriot and Major debutant Jazz Janewattananond matched the efforts of Kiradech after marking his card with four birdies against a double-bogey and five bogeys.

“It was a long round today. I started off alright but it got quite bad later but I managed to keep my head in it. It’s a tough golf course and it’s also my first Major championship. I have never played links course before so to finish three-over-par, I’m pretty happy.

“Another round tomorrow, things could be different, you never know. I just have to be calm about it and see what happens. I made a long putt on hole 11 for birdie. It was about 40 feet or more. It was a really tough hole because it’s straight into the wind,” Jazz said.

The Thai duo were among those tied in 90th place, eight shots behind leader Kevin Kisner of the United States. Danthai Boonma, the other Thai debutant in the field, posted a 78.

“It has been awesome playing in my first Major. It’s kind of weird. You see so many good guys out here. In the locker, you might meet Tiger Woods while changing your shoes and Dustin Johnson might just walk past you at the range, it’s pretty mind-blowing,” said a thrilled Jazz.