Nick Faldo enjoyed a belated birthday treat in the third round of the 132nd Open championship today.
Faldo fired a superb 67, the lowest round of the week so far, as Royal St George's finally released its grip on the world's best golfers.
After two days of battling the windswept links on the Kent coast, only Davis Love was under par from the 156-strong field at the halfway stage.
No-one else had even matched par on probably the toughest course on the Open rota, which rising star Paul Casey felt made him "look stupid" after a first-round 85, while former champion Nick Price described some of the holes as "brutal".
Faldo had made the cut with nothing to spare on his 46th birthday, pulling out what he described as a "career" shot on the 17th to set up a vital birdie.
And with the wind easing considerably and the early starters greeted by glorious sunshine, conditions were finally conducive to some low scoring which the six-time major winner made the most of.
Paul McGinley is another of the players who moved in the right direction after carding an impressive 69. The Dubliner, who only just made the cut yesterday evening, is now six-over for the tournament and still within touching distance of the leaders.
Darren Clarke, however, did not enjoy his round despite recording a level par 71. The Tyroneman, one of the pre-tournament favourites, failed to live up to the expectation this week and at eight over his challenge appears dead and buried.
Still out on the course are Padraig Harrington and Gary Murphy. While Harrington is wilting in the Kent sunshine, he is currently eight-over after 13 holes, Murphy continues to display admirable composure and remains at five-over, heading the Irish challenge.
The last group of Love and Korea's SK Ho were not due out until 3:30pm, with Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and Scotland's Alastair Forsyth beginning 10 minutes earlier.
An hour before the leaders started Tiger Woods' challenge would begin, the world number one four off the lead on three over par, one ahead of defending champion Ernie Els.