British Open Standings 2015: Monday's Easy-to-View Mobile Updates Leaderboard

Jordan Spieth is 18 holes away from history. Paul Dunne is 18 holes away from shocking the world. Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen are 18 holes away from getting a major monkey off their back.

Each of the four players who entered Monday's final round at the 2015 Open Championship in the two final groups began their day with palpable motivation.

• Spieth was trying to become the second player in golf history to win the year's first three majors.
• Dunne was trying to become the first amateur since Bobby Jones to take the Open as an amateur.
• Day was looking for his first major.
• Oosthuizen was seeking his first since the last time the Open was at St. Andrews.

Of course, most of the pre-round focus was centered on Spieth, the 21-year-old Texan who appears primed to challenge Rory McIlroy for the next decade-plus. Spieth followed his dominant Masters win by taking the U.S. Open by one stroke, getting a lucky break when Dustin Johnson missed a putt on No. 18 that would have sent the event to a playoff.

Seemingly counted out following a disappointing second round, Spieth roared back into contention on Sunday with a six-under 66. The world No. 2 had seven birdies against a single bogey, cutting his putts from 37 in Round 2 to 27 in Round 3.

“I'm going to play to win,” Spieth said, per Bill Nichols of the Dallas Morning News. “I'm not playing for a place. I don't want to place third tomorrow. I want to win. And so I'm going to play my game—to stay in the mix if it’s not all there at the beginning, and if it is, I'm going to continue to play that way to try and get out in front. It's going to be hard.”

Spieth winning would be one of the best accomplishments in modern golf history. He'd become just the fifth golfer since 2000 to win three consecutive majors and the first since Tiger Woods pulled off his Tiger Slam.

He would also become the youngest golfer in history by more than a year to win three majors overall.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Dunne, who amazingly is older than Spieth, is one of the unlikeliest contenders in recent memory. The UAB standout had only previously appeared at a major once, getting cut at last year's Open Championship. His ascent to the top of the leaderboard was aided by a third-round 66, and he's yet to card a score worse than 69.

“If we were playing an amateur event here, I wouldn’t be too surprised by the scores I shot,” Dunne said, per Sam Borden of the New York Times. “It’s just lucky that it happens to be in the biggest event in the world.”

With apologies to Dustin Johnson, Day is perhaps the best golfer on Tour without a major victory. The Aussie has eight top-10 finishes in majors, including a tie for ninth at this year's U.S. Open. This is by far his best performance in an Open Championship, with his previous best being a 30th-place finish in 2011.

Taking a diplomatic approach, Day maintained that Spieth was the favorite heading into Monday.

“He’s a heavy favourite tomorrow, just being one shot back,” Day said, per Daniel Schofield of the Telegraph. "Everyone knows it. I can’t control what he does. He’s just playing phenomenal golf. If you look at the run that he's had this year, it’s been amazing."

Jon Super/Associated Press

Also worthy of attention is Oosthuizen, who seems to have a knack for this course. He won the 2010 Open Championship by seven strokes in 2010 and needs to shoot 68 in Round 4 to match that score.

Chasing the leaders is a group of players which made waves early in the morning. Zach Johnson ascended to the top of the leaderboard by birdieing seven of his first 12 holes, while Adam Scott is one stroke behind with six birdies in his first six.

Sergio Garcia and Marc Leishman, who went for a surprising 64 on Sunday, are both working their way into contention with solid front nines.

As of publication, there are eight players within four strokes of the lead. If that trajectory is any indication, we could be headed to a second straight major that comes down to the final shot.

Follow Tyler Conway on Twitter @tylerconway22.