17 July 2011 14:59 GMT

Phil Mickelson briefly shared the top of the leaderboard with Darren Clarke at five under par after three birdies and an eagle at the seventh. But when Clarke reached that same 564-yard par five 30 minutes later, he hit a perfect iron into the centre of the green and rolled in his own 20-foot eagle putt to re-establish a two-shot lead at seven under par.

Thomas Bjorn has recouped the shot he dropped at the fourth with birdies at the sixth and eighth. At three under for the Championship he shares third place with Dustin Johnson. Ricky Fowler hasn’t looked like dropping a shot today, but he is finding birdies impossible to track down. Eight straight pars keep him in the hunt in sixth place at one under.

Further down the field, Sergio Garcia’s resurgent game brought him home in 68 with a birdie at the last, well ahead of playing partner Rory McIlroy who closed with a 73 for a disappointing week after his triumph in the US Open.