Former world No.1 Adam Scott delivered on his Friday night promise to shoot “one hell of a round” on day three in a bid to climb back up the leaderboard at the Open Championship at Troon, a day after scraping inside the 36-hole cut by a shot.

Taking advantage of optimal morning conditions, hours before the afternoon wave Saturday faced horrendous rain, Scott, playing his 24th consecutive Open, fired a brilliant 66. It could have been a 64 if it weren’t for several unlucky breaks on the back nine of an almost bogey-free third round.

The 2013 Masters champion Scott finished at even-par for three rounds and was six shots behind the leader on-course, Shane Lowry, who was six-under overall when he finished the made the turn on day three.

Scott burned the edge of the hole at No.15 for bogey and then had a potential chip-in lip out at the 17th, which would have secured him a seventh birdie for the round. “The chip? Yeah, it looked good to me. I was excited for a second,” he said. “It’s nice out there (at the moment). It was good. You can’t really complain about 66, but when you’re so far back, you kind of need everyone possible (to work). I think I got what I deserved out there. I played some fairly good golf and didn’t make too many errors.”

Starting the third day at five-over after a second round 77, Scott got off to a flyer with birdies on the opening two holes. Scott, who turned 44 on Tuesday, played the front nine in four-under.

He finished his round before heavy rain arrived but backed the leaders to maintain their scores despite the torrential rain. “I’m probably not going to be in the mix, let’s be honest,” he said. “I’m likely nine shots behind, seven to nine shots behind, I would guess. If I am, then that’s a bonus, but I’m going to need wind and everything to be in my favour to kind of be in the mix. “Yesterday kind of counted me out, with a lot of players who are not steady Eddies, fell out of contention yesterday.”