Herbert 11 strokes behind Hovland, McIlroy ahead Open final round

Herbert is currently T24 (70-68-73) on the leaderboard, 11 strokes behind Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy (-16), and will need to shoot low in round four to remain in contention.

During the third round the 26-year-old shot a one-over par round after encountering trouble on the iconic par-four 17^th road hole at St Andrews.

After a wayward tee shot, Herbert wrapped up the second last hole of the day with a triple bogey seven, but then buckled down to finish the round with a birdie on the par-four 18^th.

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Earlier in the round he has a one-under par front-nine, paired with the two-over back to finish the day at one-over, five-under par total and T24 on the leaderboard.

Herbert's countryman Cameron Smith is the top Australian in contention at 12-under par and will be determined for a strong finish in hope of securing his first career major.

Smith started the third round with a two-shot lead but had to contend with bad breaks all day to finish the day at one-over par, 12-under total.

"The golfing gods weren't with me today. I felt like I hit a lot of good putts with nothing really dropping," Smith said.

"I stuck in there pretty good and I hit the ball pretty good. It's probably actually the best I've hit it all week. Had lots of opportunities, just no putts were dropping which was quite frustrating."

Adam Scott isn't far behind at nine-under, followed by Anthony Quayle at five-under.

Herbert returns to the Old Course at St Andrews at 9.05PM (AEST) alongside Xander Schauffele who is also at five-under.

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