Open Championship Day 4: As it happened

Click here for the leaderboard (courtesy of www.opengolf.com)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1836 That's it from us, congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen and to Rory McIlroy for his third placed finish. Not too long to wait until the US PGA Championship. Good luck.

1834 Oosthuizen pushes his birdie putt long, but taps in for par and is somewhat shellshocked - no real celebration of any note bar a big old smile. His wife and daughter join him on the green. That's a pretty reserved display from someone winning the Open for the first time.

1832 Casey misses his birdie putt and taps in for par - that was to tie for second, so he accepts a tie for third place with Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson.

1830 Casey & Oosterhuizen leave themselves 15 footers for birdie after relaxed putts towards the flag.

1827 Big cheers from the 18th gallery as Louis Oosthuizen - barring divine/alien intervention - walks onto the green to become Open champion.

1825 Casey drives at the green, but his ball teeters on the brink before rolling off the green. Oosthuizen's drive sneaks onto the very edge of the dancefloor.

1824 Henrik Stenson taps in for bird at the last to join Lee Westwood at nine under par in a tie for the runner-up spot.

1822 Oosthuizen puts around the nasty greenside bunker at 17 and takes two easy putts for bogey - smart play. At 18, Kaymer can't escape the Valley of Sin unscathed - he takes three and a bogey-bogey-bogey finish to end up on six under par.

1819 Kaymer tries to walk the tightrope from the right edge of the 18th green, but strays from the path and falls into the Valley of Sin. A translation for the uninitiated - his lengthy putt rolls off the top of a nasty mound into a deep greenside gully.

1816 The gallery at the 17th green rise to a man to salute the incoming champ Lodewicus Theodorus Oosthuizen. Who thankfully goes by Louis.

1812 Sensational long putt at 17 from Martin Kaymer, but after chipping over and back previously, it's only for bogey. He falls to seven under. Stenson knocks in a solid par at the road hole and the European pair nip around to stare down the clubhouse at the famous 18th tee.

1805 Oosthuizen taps in for par on 16 and remains eight clear. He could get home one-handed from here, but that's unlikely.

1755 McIlroy, who is probably having a tipple and cursing his luck on Friday, is on the move even though he's finished his round. He's now in a share of second as the leaders capitulate on the course. apart from Oosthuizen, he's carrying on like he doesn't have a care in the world. When you see the exploits of his rivals it's easy to where that confidence emanates from. The Beeb's Peter Alliss has informed viewers that Oosthuizen was available at 250-1 with bookmakers before the tournament, but he was actually matched at 989-1 on Betfair during the tournament.

1749 Johnson has appeared legless on the run-in and his card has been blemished by a number of bogies as he edged nearer to the clubhouse.

1742 Kaymer has joined Casey and Westwood in a share of second on nine under after a birdie from just over five feet on 15.

1733 McIlroy's record of never having carded a round in the 70s here is intact, as his birdie, which could so easily have been an eagle, sees him finish with a 68 for an eight under tournament total. That 80 in impossible conditions on Friday will leave him thinking of what might have been, but time is very much on his side.

1729 Garcia has finished level for the day and four under for the tournament, while Casey and Oosthuizen have carded pars.

1719 Things have gone from bad to worse for Casey. He's gone from having a winning chance to facing the prospect of not even finishing second at St Andrews thanks to Lee Westwood's birdie on 14. Both men now share second on nine under.

1708 The unflappable Oosthuizen looks home and hosed. A birdie from all of 20 feet the South African and a triple bogie from a forlorn Casey has almost certainly decided the outcome of this year's Open. The betting exchanges indicate Oosthuizen, who is 17 under with his nearer pursuer at 9 under, is a 1-75 shot.

1655 Silver Medal winner Jin Jeong of Korea bangs in an eagle at the last to finish at four under par.

1654 McIlroy can't bang in another bird at the 15th, but converts his par to stay at seven under.

1653 Oosthuizen drives the 12th onto the fairway, but Casey does his chances no good at all by hooking into some scary looking gorse. That's an unplayable if ever I saw one.

1652 Monster putt from 30 feet by Westwood bounces him back up to eight under after his tiddler miss at the previous hole.

1649 At 11, Oosthuizen and Casey both play their approaches wide left and both curl in very long breaking putts to within eight feet. Then both hole out their par putts. If it keeps going like this, obviously, the South African has it in the bag.

1642 McIlroy nails another long bird at 14 to jump up to seven under par and a tie for fifth place.

1640 Howler of a miss at 12 by Westwood - putt of around five feet is inexplicably sent wide of the hole. Bogey drops him to seven under.

1639 Impossibly good read for a putt up a vertical breaking slope at 10 by Oosthuizen - that really bothers the hole and rolls to within an inch. Tap-in for par and he remains at 16 under.

1637 Canizares floats in a delightful short chip to 12 and converts the short birdie putt to move back up to five under par.

1633 Tiger Woods drives the green at 18 again, but can't convert his long eagle putt. He taps in for bird and a round of 72 to finish on three under par.

1631 Martin Kaymer drops a shot with a bad missed short par putt at the 10th.

1629 Miguel Angel Jiminez posts a score of three under par for the tournament with a bird at the last. The guy looks like he has at least one pillow under his jumper - cut out a few cigars amigo.

1627 Casey converts his birdie to claw it back to four as the last pair walk to the turn.

1626 And as to emphasise how bad Casey's putt was, from a similar distance Oosthuizen bangs in a 40 foot putt to jump to five clear. Sensational putt and that could well win him the Claret Jug.

1625 Casey leaves his eagle putt more than ten feet short on a flat green - very poor effort.

1618 Casey blasts it straight onto the green at nine to leave himself a very long eagle chance. Oosthuizen matches him and leaves himself an eagle putt inside Casey. Nip and tuck.

1615 Oosthuizen drops a shot at the 8th after a big gust of wind affects his lengthy par putt. Chink of hope for the chasing pack?

1610 Kaymer opts to put from fully 50 yards off the ninth green and he hits it too hard, leaving himself a real tester from 20 feet. On the eighth, Oosthuizen sends his tee shot through the back and elects to chip back on, but he leaves himself a tricky ten footer for par.

1604 Casey shaves the hole with another good birdie chance at 7 - he's missed at least three good chances to up the ante on the easier front nine. Oosthuizen pars again - is he going to emulate Faldo and par the whole way round to win?

1602 Eight pars and finally a birdie at the par three 9th for Lee Westwood. Martin Kaymer knocks in a breaking 15 footer at the next to jump to nine under. At last! Some leaderboard climbing from the chasing pack. And Rory Mac nails a lengthy bird at 12 to jump up to six under.

1557 Luke Donald closes out his tournament with a stunning three at the nightmarish 17th and knocks it a short eagle at 18 to jump up to five under and a tie for 10th.

1555 And moments later compatriot JB Holmes drops one in from even further at 12 to move up to six under par.

1552 Sean O'Hair drops in another one from 15 feet or so at the tenth and moves up to seven under par and into the top five.

1551 Casey converts at six to move back up to 11 under par - Oosthuizen settles for par. Kaymer at the next pulls his birdie putt and stays at eight.

1550 Stenson drops in his ten foot birdie at seven and joins Kaymer on eight under.

1548 Scot Stephen Gallacher bogeys 17 and pars 18 to finish on three under par for the week.

1546 Kaymer matches Casey with a wedge approach to seven that lands on an extremely narrow ledge pin high. Stenson matches him and there are two more bird chances there.

1544 Finally a shot worthy of applause from the galleries - Casey sails in a fantastic long iron to within six feet of the flag at the sixth. Should be a nailed-on bird.

1537 Casey misses a 12 footer for birdie at the fifth. He - and everyone else on the first page of the leaderboard - has refused steadfastly to hole any putts. As I say that, Martin Kaymer drops in a bird from 10 feet at the sixth. He moves up to eight under and into third on his own.

1532 Oosthuizen punches it out of the rough stuff at the fifth and it coasts along the double green to leave a 20 footer - excellent save. He lags up and takes his par - smart play from the comfortable leader.

1529 Jeff Overton birdies the last to end his week on five under par and join Quiros for the clubhouse lead.

1527 Rory McIlroy is roared on by some distinctly Irish voices as he birdies the ninth to move to six under par.

1525 First sign of bother for Oosthuizen at the fifth - he rushes his swing in the wind and hooks it into the bushes off the massive double green.

1521 Martin Kaymer conjures up some rough magic to escape the thorny business greenside on the fifth - he hacks it close to the flag and saves his par.

1516 Tom Lehman drives it onto the 18th green and it rolls within a few inches of the hole - shot of the week on the last from the veteran American. He taps in his eagle to wrap up on a respectable four under par.

1514 Oosthuizen drives a mighty heave from the fifth tee - he looks preposterously calm and in control, given that he's within touching distance of his first ever major win.

1507 Westwood has a real go at eagle from off the fifth green and it bothers the hole, but ends up 10 feet past.

1503 The Goose birdies the fifth and moves up to join O'Hair at six under par. American JB Holmes saves a shot on both the seventh and eighth to jump to five under.

1458 Last year's Open champ Stewart Cink records a one over par score for the 2010 edition. Back at the sixth, Sean O'Hair hammers in a mid-length bird to move up to six under - can he burst out of the pack?

1455 Kaymer and Stenson knock in testing par putts at the difficult fourth to remain at seven under. So far folks, the chase has not materialised. From anywhere.

1451 Graeme McDowell pops in his bird at the last to finish up his tournament on three under par - currently a tie for 23rd spot. Playing partner Robert Allenby wraps up his weekend on two under par.

1446 Oosthuizen lips out on his birdie attempt at the third and the lead remains at five strokes.

1444 G-Mac four putts the 17th green in high wind to fall all the way back to two under par. Canizares misses his bogey putt and doubles down to five under.

1443 Oosthuizen exhibits mastery of the links with a measured bump and run up to the third flag. Casey, however, overshoots and is now on the wrong side of a nasty looking mound.

1440 At the tricky fourth - toughest hole on the front nine - Westwood misjudges his birdie putt and settles for par. Canizares' par effort from 20 yards away leaves him with a chewy one for bogey.

1435 Simple tap-in at the fifth from young McIlroy moves him up to five under par and into a massive pack of players in a tie for eighth spot.

1433 Oosthuizen pushes his birdie putt an inch past the hole and settles for par. He now enjoys a five shot lead, with no one making early inroads. At the fourth, Canizares is mired in thick rough and has to pop out onto the fairway, while Westwood lashes in an excellent approach and has a putt for a bird to come.

1430 Worrying stat just popped up about Paul Casey - he's never shot a sub-70 round on the last day of a major. All though he saw that, he fires his approach to the second 20 feet past the hole. He has to settle for a bogey after missing his long par putt and drops to -10.

1425 All the players out on the Old Course now and it's Louis Oosthuizen by four from Paul Casey, who himself is four clear of the chasing pack at -7: Canizares, Stenson, Kaymer and Westwood. Clubhouse lead at -5 belongs to Alvaro Quiros, who went around early in 67.

1415 Casey sends a sweet short iron to within 10 feet at the first, Oosthuizen pushes his a touch long. The South African lags up to the hole for an easy par. Casey, meanwhile, misjudges his first putt of the day and has to settle for par - chance missed.

1400 Pars for Westwood and Canizares at the first, as Paul Casey and leader Louis Oosthuizen take to the tee.

1340 The rotund Lee Westwood doesn't look like a man accustomed to waiting around for his tee-time. He's joined by Alejandro Canizares this afternoon.

1335 Robert Karlsson is up to six under after birdies on the first two holes.

1325 The answer to the earlier Woods question was 'no he can't'. Consecutive bogeys have undone that good work on the earlier holes.

1315 McIlroy (-4) and Ricky Barnes (-4) are off and running.

1305 The cheers ring out as America's Rickie Fowler drains a ridiculous putt from 110 feet. Impressive, but the neon orange clobber has to go.

1255 Eagles are flying in all over the place now, with Frederik Andersson Hed the latest to get in on the act at the seventh. Woods did well to save par on the second and he's kicked on again with a birdie on the third after an assured putt from four feet. He couldn't, could he?

1250 Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen drains a 60-footer from off the green for an eagle that takes him to three under. Mc Dowell has now made birdies on consecutive holes and goes to five under after ten holes.

1230 Tiger Woods has teed off and the eagle-eyed will have noticed that he's reverted to his trustworthy Titleist Scotty Cameron putter. The guys at Nike won't be best pleased, but it's hard to argue with a wand that's helped him to 13 majors. A birdie on the first hole suggests he's made the correct call. Woods will be ruining a good walk with 2009 US Open Champion Lucas Glover this afternoon and he parred the opening hole on his round.

1226 Ian Poulter started well this morning, but it was very much a case of too little, too late. Poulter was in the unwanted position of being in the second group out on the Old Course this morning, a third round of 76 leaving him four over par and 19 shots off the lead held by South African Louis Oosthuizen. Following that round, a spectator made a comment to Poulter which he refused to repeat, but said was 'personal and inappropriate', and the world number eight then had an exchange of words with a steward. And perhaps still fired up by the incident, Poulter raced to the turn in 32 with birdies at the third, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth and a solitary bogey on the fourth. That lifted the flamboyant 34-year-old to level par and alongside Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, who had birdied the first and parred the next three holes. Clarke had been in with an outside chance of victory yesterday but, playing alongside Tiger Woods, slumped to a 77 which included a triple-bogey seven on the 17th after driving out of bounds. Poulter picked up another shot on the 13th, but his charge came to a shuddering halt with bogeys on the 14th and 16th and a double bogey on the dreaded Road Hole.

The front nine was again looking the best place to make a good score, with former Masters champion Trevor Immelman out in 33 and American Matt Kuchar three under after his first five holes. However, even that was only enough to lift the pair to two under overall, still 13 off the lead. Poulter, second to Padraig Harrington at Birkdale two years ago, parred the last to complete a closing 71, but admitted he was going away from the Open 'very disappointed'. At three over par Poulter was in a share for 66th out of the 77 players who made the cut when he finished, one stroke better off than Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, who also took six on the 17th in his 73.

1205 McDowell has pushed his way down to three under par. The pair of Irishmen who are having more success this weekend, Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy, are out on the course at 12.55 and 13.15 respectively. Both of those two lads will start the final day on four under par.

1122 A third Irishman is also out on the course in the form of Graeme McDowell. He also lies on one under par, but has only played 2 holes, Moriarty has played nine and Clarke 13.

1120 The action is underway in Scotland with the stragglers on the scoreboard already well out on the course. Two of those stragglers are Irish: Colm Moriarty and Darren Clarke. Both of those golfers have picked up two shots this morning, they both started at one over par and are no both one under par.

1108 Good morning golf fans. The final day of action at St Andrews beckons as this Sunday dawns and your hangover either recedes or burgeons into something more tedious. Good luck with that - at least there is plenty of golfing action on the way to help you through the day.

Hole-by-hole on the leaders on the third day of the Open:
PAR Out: 444 454 434="36" In: 434 454 444="36"-72-216
OOSTHUIZEN Out: 544 454 333="35" In: 434 454 343="34"-69-201
CASEY Out: 433 444 333="31" In: 434 454 444="36"-67-205
KAYMER Out: 443 354 435="35" In: 333 544 443="33"-68-208
STENSON Out: 344 444 423="32" In: 434 254 553="35"-67-209
CANIZARES Out: 444 354 435="36" In: 335 444 354="35"-71-209
WESTWOOD Out: 444 555 434="38" In: 324 445 443="33"-71-209
JOHNSON Out: 444 444 434="35" In: 433 455 433="34"-69-210

Tee-off times in the final round of the 139th Open Championship, St Andrews Old Course:
(x) denotes amateurs

0725 Richard S Johnson (Swe)
0735 Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Ian Poulter
0745 Jason Day (Aus), Zach Johnson (USA)
0755 Danny Chia (Mal), Scott Verplank (USA)
0805 Colin Montgomerie, Hirofumi Miyase (Jpn)
0815 Peter Senior (Aus), Edoardo Molinari (Ita)
0825 Heath Slocum (USA), Steven Tiley
0840 Toru Taniguchi (Jpn), Darren Clarke
0850 Vijay Singh (Fij), Y.E. Yang (Kor)
0900 Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Andrew Coltart
0910 John Senden (Aus), Simon Dyson
0920 Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor), Colm Moriarty
0930 Rickie Fowler (USA), Matt Kuchar (USA)
0940 Tom Pernice Jnr. (USA), Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn)
0950 Bradley Dredge, Alvaro Quiros (Spa)
1005 Marcel Siem (Ger), John Daly (USA)
1015 Simon Khan, Marc Leishman (Aus)
1025 Zane Scotland, Steve Stricker (USA)
1035 Hunter Mahan (USA), Soren Kjeldsen (Den)
1045 Graeme McDowell, Robert Allenby (Aus)
1055 Stewart Cink (USA), Mark Calcavecchia (USA)
1105 Tom Lehman (USA), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe)
1115 Bo Van Pelt (USA), Jeff Overton (USA)
1130 Adam Scott (Aus), Kevin Na (USA)
1140 Phil Mickelson (USA), Stephen Gallacher
1150 Luke Donald, Steve Marino (USA)
1200 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Peter Hanson (Swe)
1210 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Ignacio Garrido (Spa)
1220 Tiger Woods (USA), Lucas Glover (USA)
1230 Camilo Villegas (Col), Ross Fisher
1240 Robert Rock, Jin Jeong (Kor)
1255 Robert Karlsson (Swe), Shane Lowry
1305 Sergio Garcia (Spa), J.B. Holmes (USA)
1315 Rory McIlroy, Ricky Barnes (USA)
1325 Retief Goosen (Rsa), Sean O'Hair (USA)
1335 Nick Watney (USA), Dustin Johnson (USA)
1345 Lee Westwood, Alejandro Canizares (Spa)
1355 Henrik Stenson (Swe), Martin Kaymer (Ger)
1405 Paul Casey, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)