In his own words, Jason Day is eyeing sporting immortality at the British Open on Monday.

Day will enter the final round as a joint leader striving to join golf legends like Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Australia’s own Kel Nagle and Peter Thomson and his idol Tiger Woods as an Open champion at St Andrews after carving out a flawless five-under-par 67 on Sunday.

No Australian has grasped the game’s greatest prize since Greg Norman in 1993, but Day, at 12 under, and Adam Scott (70) and Marc Leishman (64), both three behind, have huge opportunities to break the drought.

‘‘I always wanted to be the first Aussie to win the Masters, but ‘Scotty’ beat me to it,’’ Day said.

‘‘Since we haven’t had an Aussie win the Claret Jug since Mr Norman, it would be nice to put my name on the Jug.

‘‘We’re just trying to chase that bit of immortality. That’s probably the best way to put it - just that you’re stuck in history at that moment.

‘‘You know that year, that person’s name on that Jug is immortal in some way.

‘‘That little piece of immortality and glory that comes along with winning the Claret Jug at the home of golf, at St Andrews, it would be an unbelievable piece of experience that no one could ever take away from you.’’

Day, 22-year-old Irish amateur Paul Dunne and South African threat Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 champion on the Old Course, are 12 under and holding a one-stroke advantage over tournament favourite Jordan Spieth, who is outright fourth at 11 under in his bid to keep the Grand Slam hunt alive.

Irishman and dual British Open champion Padraig Harrington is on his own at 10 under with Scott and Leishman only three off the pace in a nine-way share of sixth spot.

But with so many big names - including major winners Retief Goosen (-9), Zach Johnson (-9), Justin Rose (-9) and two-time runner-up Sergio Garcia (-9) - also on the star-studded leaderboard, Scott knows he must shoot a low number in the Open’s first Monday finish since 1988.

‘‘It’s super bunched, so it’s really going to be a shootout tomorrow,’’ Scott said after failing to fire and carding a ho-hum 70 in pristine scoring conditions on moving day.

‘‘But that’s the pressure of the Open, so I’m happy with that.

‘‘I’m still in the mix and I’ve got to go out and get off to a quick start.’’

Leishman is also dreaming of Open glory after producing a magical 64, his lowest round at a major - and the best of the Open so far - to also be poised, three back.

‘‘It obviously means a lot to everyone. People from over here, from the UK and Australians, we grew up watching Greg Norman win the Open championship,’’ Leishman said.

‘‘I take a lot of good things from last year. I shot I think 65 in the last round last year, and obviously Rory (McIlroy) ran away with it.

‘‘But when I needed to make birdies, I was able to make a few.

‘‘So you take some confidence away from that, hitting good shots under pressure.’’

Steven Bowditch, at eight under after a 69, is also in the hunt, while Greg Chalmers and Matt Jones are longshot chances after moving to six under with a pair of 69s.

Marcus Fraser (68) and Geoff Ogilvy (70) are five under and eyeing a big finish too, with John Senden (68) at four under and Brett Rumford (71) at three under also well placed for a big pay day.

AAP