Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts made the first move on the final day of the British Open at Royal Lytham on Sunday at five under through 16 holes.
But at one under for the tournament, he was no danger to the leaders who were all due to set out in mid-afternoon.
With a stiff breeze picking up off the Irish Sea, low-scoring was tricky and that did not help struggling Rory McIlroy, who had a second consecutive 73 to finish well down the field in what has been a disappointing tournament for him.
Among the early starters both John Senden (68) and Ross Fisher (69) came in with sub-par rounds.
World No. 3 Lee Westwood of England was even par through 12 holes and countryman Ian Poulter was two under after 11.
Bottom of the pack was Andres Romero of Argentina, who had a horrific 82 despite having Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez caddying for him. He was last of the 83 players in the field for the weekend.
Leader by four shots, Adam Scott of Australia, was not due out until 2:30 a.m. (1330 GMT) with Ulsterman Graeme McDowell at his side.
Ahead of them will be 14-time major winner Tiger Woods, who is five strokes off the pace, and American Brandt Snedeker, who held the lead at the halfway stage but stands five adrift.
Level on five under were 2002 Open champion Ernie Els of South Africa and 2007 Masters winner Zach Johnson of the United States.