TROON, Scotland — Even with six PGA Tour victories, Bill Haas knew his record in the majors was lacking.

He had never contended. He never even had a top 10.

Haas finally put together three solid rounds at Royal Troon, including a 2-under 69 on Saturday, and was in third place going into the final round of the British Open.

Just his luck, he picked a major where Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson have turned it into a two-man race.

Stenson had a one-shot lead over Mickelson, and Haas was six shots back. Haas’ consolation going into the final round was that he only had one player between him and the lead, even if that one player already has five majors.

“Maybe not,” Haas said. “You see your name on the board close to the leaders and there’s only a few guys that could fall backward, and you certainly can’t expect Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson to fall backward.”

That was out of his hands. He thought more about the golf he has played over three rounds – at least four birdies a day, no big numbers that have derailed the likes of U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and so many others.

Haas certainly has the game for majors. He won the FedEx Cup in 2011 and has victories at highly regarded venues such as Congressional and Riviera. For whatever reason, though, he hasn’t been able to put it together during the four weeks of the year when careers are measured.

“I certainly haven’t competed as much as I’d like in majors,” he said. “I’ve played in my fair share of them, but certainly not 20 years’ worth. I’ve played it enough where I think I could have done better than I have in these tournaments. I typically don’t feel like I put more pressure on myself. It’s just it’s the toughest test of golf that we play, and it’s beaten me more than I’ve beat it.”

His best approach to Sunday is to play the course as he finds it and see how it shakes out.

Haas can be hard on himself and he’s honest to a fault, such as when he was asked about playing the final round with Andrew “Beef” Johnston in the penultimate group.”

“I certain don’t think Phil and Henrik Stenson are feeling the pressure tonight sleeping, knowing that Beef and Bill Haas are behind them,” he said with a smile. “So we’ve got to use that to our advantage and just try to surprise some people.”

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