British Open 2016: Leaderboard Scores, Highlights and Reaction from Saturday

The 2016 British Open at Royal Troon appears to be a two-horse race after Saturday's third round, as Henrik Stenson enters the final round with a one-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson at 12 under. 

Lefty held the 18- and 36-hole lead, but he fell into second place with a one-under 70 Saturday, while Stenson posted a three-under 68 in Ayrshire, Scotland. Here is a look at the leaderboard with just one round left to play:

While there were several entertaining moments and notable shots throughout the day, the third round was all about the back-and-forth duel between Mickelson and Stenson, as they shared or exchanged the lead on multiple occasions.

Mickelson entered the day with a one-shot lead, but the first hole was a sign of things to come. His Swedish counterpart nailed a birdie putt to tie things up, as seen in this video courtesy of The Open:

Stenson birdied three of the first four holes to storm into the lead, but he bogeyed Nos. 6 and No. 8, while Mickelson posted one birdie and eight pars on the front nine.

Per the PGA Tour on Twitter, the 2013 British Open champion has been flawless on Royal Troon's front nine all week:

Stenson's shaky end to the front nine nearly continued on the back, but he sank the following long par putt on the 10th hole, which seemingly turned around his fortunes:

Mickelson extended his lead to two strokes with a birdie on the 13th, but the tide started to turn in Stenson's favor after that.

Lefty carded his first bogey of the day on the par-three 14th, and it loomed large when Stenson supplemented a great tee shot with a birdie to force another tie at the top.

Mickelson once again surged into the lead by birdying the par-five 16th, but he quickly gave it away with a bogey on the following hole, while Stenson carded another birdie.

The two players entered the 18th hole with Stenson in front by one stroke, and the crowd showed its appreciation:

Mickelson and Stenson each entered the clubhouse with pars, which sets the stage for what should be a remarkable showdown Sunday.

Both Soren Kjeldsen and Keegan Bradley played their way out of contention with rounds of four over and five over, respectively. That leaves Bill Haas and Andrew Johnston as the players with the best chance to make a miraculous Sunday run.

Haas turned in one of the best rounds of the day with a two-under 69. He sits all alone in third place at six under for the tournament.

He posted three bogeys on the day, but spectacular shots like this chip-in from the bunker on No. 8 at least provided him with an outside shot to be competitive in the fourth round:

Johnston is one stroke behind Haas at five under following a one-under 70 thanks to shots like this one:

Several big names attempted to get themselves in the mix, but none of them made noticeable gains.

The world's top four players—Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy—all posted rounds of even or worse, and none of them is likely to figure into the race for the Claret Jug Sunday.

Day appeared to be making some progress with four birdies on the front nine, but he played the back nine four over, which has been an issue for him throughout the tournament, per Mike McAllister of PGATour.com:

McIlroy entered the round at two under and had an opportunity to make things interesting, but a two-over round of 73 left him at even overall.

Spieth's major struggles also continued in the form of a one-over 72, leaving him well off the pace at five over.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Spieth's performances in big tournaments this season are in stark contrast to a 2015 campaign that saw him win the Masters and U.S. Open:

While much of the star power is out of the picture, Mickelson vs. Stenson carries plenty of intrigue.

Lefty is a five-time major champion with an opportunity to cement his legacy even further, while Stenson could remove his name from the list of the best players to never win a major.

The 40-year-old has come close on several occasions but hasn't yet figured out how to seal the deal under pressure.

He does have the benefit of a one-shot cushion, but Mickelson's winning experience in majors could render that moot.

Saturday produced no shortage of drama with Mickelson and Stenson battling it out in the final group, and if they are as competitive Sunday, it may make for one of the most entertaining finishes to a major in recent memory.

Post-Round Reaction

Mickelson finds himself trailing following a round for the first time in the tournament, and while he admitted that he wasn't on top of his game Saturday, he expressed optimism ahead of the fourth round, according to Steve DiMeglio of USA Today:

"

I was off today. I didn't have my best stuff. I was a little bit jumpy and my rhythm wasn't very good. I found a way to kind of settle in and hit some shots and then find ways to make pars on the times that I hit some poor shots. Today could have been a day that got away from me. Instead I shot under par and kept myself right in it heading into tomorrow's final round, so I'm proud of that.

"

Stenson is well aware that his work is far from done since a Sunday showdown with Lefty is looming, but he was fairly confident after jumping into the lead that he only has one other golfer to worry about, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com):

"

Unless someone goes out there and posts a silly number. But as of now, I would pretty much think it's a battle of Phil and myself.

I know he never backs down and he's one of the best players to play the game. I'm just going to try my hardest to keep him behind.

"

Saturday marked another difficult outing for Spieth, and he admitted the the media scrutiny as of late has bothered him, according to ESPN.com's Bob Harig:

"

It's been tough given I think it's been a solid year and I think, had last year not happened, I'd be having a lot of positive questions. Instead, most of the questions I get are comparing to last year and therefore negative because it's not to the same standard.

So that's almost tough to then convince myself that you're having a good year when the questions I get make me feel like it's not. So that's a bit unfair to me, but don't feel sorry for me. I'll still be OK. But I would appreciate if people would look at the positives over comparing to maybe hopefully what would happen to me a few times in my career a year, like last year. It seems a bit unfair at 22 to be expecting something like that all the time.

"

Spieth has struggled in the past two majors after winning a pair of them in 2015, and his drought is almost certain to extend to five consecutive majors without a title.

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