The bogey-free run may have ended but Georgia Hall’s bid for the Ricoh Women’s British Open is very much alive and kicking.

The 22-year-old’s cards had been so tidy over the last few days it was if they had been swept by the Fylde Borough Council street cleaners.

For 48 holes, there hadn’t been a leaked shot but, despite that sequence being disrupted with a couple of bogeys on her back nine yesterday, the Dorset youngster was still in the merry midst of the scrap for the title on a 12-under aggregate after a spirited three-under 69.

Pornanong Phatlum, who led overnight, cemented her place at the top with a 69 of her own but Hall is breathing right down the Thai pacesetter’s neck and lurks just a stroke behind.

Hall may not have been fully dialled in with her long game during a testing third round but her putter salvaged many a situation.

Good par saves from 10-feet at the second, 15-feet at the fifth and 18-feet on the seventh underlined the effectiveness of her form on the greens.

“I holed them when I needed to,” she said. “It’s a relief that’s over because this was the toughest day of the week so far with plenty of tricky pin positions. It does take a lot out of you mentally.”

Both Hall and Phatlum had been bogey-free for the opening 36-holes but something had to give on the robust Lytham links. Hall’s first spilled shot arrived on the 13th. Not long after, Phatlum stumbled on the 12th. This little outbreak of bogeys wasn’t too contagious, though.

Phatlum would par in while Hall, despite another bogey on the 17th, made a further three birdies, including two in a row at 15 and 16 and a terrific gain on the last when her cracking approach dropped to within six-feet.

Being at the sharp end of affairs in a major is not a new experience for Hall having been in the final group at Kingsbarns in 2017.

She’s aiming to be the first British winner since Catriona Matthew here at Lytham in 2009 and her taste of the high life a year ago is standing her in good stead. “I think I’ll be more relaxed going out in the final round,” she said.

Phatlum, meanwhile, has her own way of keeping calm amid the growing tension. “I just sing some songs in my head and that seems to work,” she admitted.

Club golfers all over the world may now be trying that. Then again, we’re used to croaking out sombre laments every time we take to the tee.

So Yeo Ryu, a two-time major winner, is hovering menacingly on the 11-under mark as the Korean mounted a purposeful recovery after an early wobble.

The 28-year-old, who was third in the Women’s British Open in 2015, slithered backwards with bogeys at the first and the fourth but four birdies on the spin from the fifth sparked her resurgence and three more on the back-nine polished a fine 67.

Golf can be a funny old game. Or “a crazy game” as the aforementioned Matthew put it.

The reason for the Scot’s sense of sighing reflection? “I probably played my best golf of the week but had a 72,” said the 2009 champion of a level-par round which promised more than it delivered as she finished on the three-under mark.

There was plenty of good stuff from Matthew but Lytham doesn’t hold back from punishing any deviation from the straight and narrow.

“I had one bad shot on the ninth, ended up with an impossible lie in the bunker and had to come out backwards,” she said of a costly trip into the sand which led to a double-bogey five.

With one round to go, Matthew’s mission is pretty simple. “Just try to make as many birdies as I can,” she added. That can be easier said than done.