Phil Mickelson didn't have to stare at the numbers yesterday, he knew where he stood, and while his demeanour remained much the same as the previous two rounds, his situation was best summed up in one word: desperate.

Not alone was the gulf between himself and his principal rival insurmountable, he also had to face the fact that his earlier measured strategy would be a waste of time. No one prepared as meticulously as he had in the weeks leading up to the championship, but now the game plan devised in conjunction with his coaches Rick Smith and Dave Pelz was out the window.

It had to be all-out attack with the headcover coming off the driver at every hole bar the par threes. High risk, with low results. Mickelson was just about treading water when he began to sink with three bogeys in a row from the seventh. Perhaps the wounds of his final-hole collapse at the US Open hadn't healed after all.

There was some respite at the par-five final hole where a magnificent second shot left him with just a short putt for an eagle, but by then Mickelson had dropped further off the pace. A 73 for a three-under-par total of 213 might have been acceptable last month at Winged Foot, but not here where birdies have been as common as heat rash.

Meanwhile, Scott Verplank probably had a glance at the scoreboard as well, but for him the stakes were different.

No lost pride here, no gambling on a links which as Tom Watson put it so succinctly "can eat your lunch". With so many aspiring Ryder Cup players catching early flights back to the States, Verplank had an opportunity not just to shoot a score, but to improve his current 18th place in the standings.

The former he most certainly achieved with an impressive five-under-par 67 after making the cut on the number, but as for the latter, he will have to wait until today to see if he can somehow secure the top-10 finish which would earn him some valuable points.

A member of the losing team at the Belfry in 2002, but part of the victorious American line-up in last year's Presidents Cup, Verplank is eager to be at the K Club in September. "I think I'm a hell of a team player, I can coax anyone into playing a bit better than they think they can, " he said after his best-ever British Open round which included six birdies and just one dropped shot at the 17th hole.

"At the Belfry, the guys were telling me to take some deep breaths, to just take my usual swing, because I wouldn't be able to see the ball I'd be so nervous on the first tee.

But actually, I got up there and I was smiling. How could you be nervous when the you're playing in the greatest golf event in the world? I thought it was the cat's miaow."

As for the course, Verplank found it deceptively difficult despite his excellent score.

"You don't think they're going to put the pins on the sides of hills, and then you go out there and 'Wow'. Some of the flags feel like they're on little volcanos. That's the protection the course has."