By Mathieu Wood
The winds initially dropped, then changed direction from the opening two days as the rain arrived, and the leaderboard became bunched at The 152nd Open.
After some of the earlier starters capitalised on calm and sunny conditions to charge into contention, many of those in the final groups toiled in the incessant rain at Royal Troon.
Ahead of the third round the top ten were split by six shots. By the end of play, one shot separated the leading seven players. Of the final 12 groups, only two players were under par for their round. The changeable British weather had played a big part in bringing the field back together.
Here is what those in the final groups had to say after battling against the elements, and the course - with the back nine playing particularly long - on Moving Day at the final Major Championship of the season.
Billy Horschel (-4 after a two under 69)
"This one's by far my best round in really tough conditions in an Open Championship. I've just always embraced the toughness of anything. I've always enjoyed it. I think that's the best way you can do to have a chance to play well. It was a tough one out there today. Just knew going into the back nine that it was going to be a grind no matter what."
Daniel Brown (-3 after a two over 73)
"Proud of how I handled myself, but obviously a bit of a sting on them last two holes through not really hitting a bad golf shot. Links golf got the better of me on them two holes."
Justin Rose (-3 after a two over 73)
"That was super tough. Wasn't really expecting it, if I'm honest. I think I talked the first couple days about how well I was prepared for that southerly wind. I saw it coming. I practised with that in mind. Today I did not expect that. I kind of saw it was going to be a southwest, maybe a little westerly, a little bit of rain in the afternoon.
"Obviously with the way the guys played this morning, I kind of felt like it was going to be the type of day where you could go out and post a score, and it turned into an absolute survival test out there. I think I did a good job of surviving.
"I'm not exhausted yet. I'm frustrated because I definitely played the hardest golf course every single day, but proud that I have the opportunity to win the golf tournament tomorrow with a great round."
Xander Schauffele (-3 after a two under 69)
“It is a true test. It's a long day, and you and your caddie are basically a team. He's going to need an extra arm. I at times need an extra hand. We basically just plod our way around the property.
“You try to get lost in the process, and fortunately we were able to do that on a tough day like today.
"It was a day where you're one bad shot away from having a nightmare on certain holes. You really just had to keep it in front of you.
"When you look at the flow of an Open Championship, this is like a classic one to me. I don't know what the wave split was, but I was in the good wave, and depending on how you played, if you were able to survive the bad wave, you were rewarded.
"You obviously had to go out there and shoot a number, but you were rewarded with a good morning, and those guys did that. The board sort of started to go this way. There was separation, and then everyone just kind of came together.
"It's sort of a classic links and Open, from a spectating standpoint when I'm at home. It is what it is."
Scottie Scheffler (-2 after a level par 71)
"I can think of a couple of days with some crazy high winds that may have been more challenging, but overall the back nine, I think that was probably the hardest nine holes that I'll ever play. I shouldn't say ever, but it's definitely the hardest that I've played to this point, I think.
"Here you never really know with the forecast and there was some rain in the forecast but it was supposed to be a southwest wind, which was similar to the wind we've had the last couple of days, and it came more directly into us on the back nine versus down off the left. It was definitely very challenging."
Shane Lowry (-1 after a six over par 77)
"This game is just hard, and now you feel how hard it was for playing well the first two days in those conditions. Honestly, it was brutal.
"Driver, driver into 15. 16 playing ridiculously long. Driver into 17. Then you're standing on the 18th tee wondering if you can actually reach the fairway, and it's 230 yards to the fairway. Bear in mind my driver pitched about 220 yards on the 17th hole. So, yeah, it's not much fun out there."
