Padraig Harrington is one shot off the lead going into the final round of the US Senior Open at Scioto Country Club.

The Irishman had two bogeys on his card in the third round, one on the fourth hole and then a closing bogey on the difficult par-four 18th hole, on his way to shooting a four-under-par 66.

Harrington has carded rounds of 69, 67, and 66 to leave himself one shot behind leader Stewart Cink as he bids to defend his title and become just the second man after Miller Barber to win it three times.

However, despite the chance to win his third US Senior Open, Harrington suggested that all the pressure is on Cink, as the American is looking to become the first man to win the first three senior Majors of the year.

‘I think that feeling is gone now, as in Stewart is leading the tournament,’ Harrington said of the pressure of being the defending champion. 

‘It’s on his shoulders. He’s the one with the lead. I’m now chasing, so I don’t have that feeling at all. Even today, I didn’t feel like that.’

George McNeill is just one shot behind Harrington, and the Dubliner is not ruling out a final-round shoot-out, insisting that anyone can make a strong run. Harrington himself was briefly six shots behind McNeill before birdies at the sixth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th.

‘It’s always hard to win these things,’ Harrington said after a closing bogey. ‘Stewart [Cink] is not giving it up. George [McNeill] had a good day, too. I see the three of us playing tomorrow again. 

‘Later on in the round, if you fall three shots behind, you’re going to have to just go all out. You can’t be defensive at all at that stage.’

Padraig Harrington won last year’s US Senior Open by one shot, with Cink finishing in second place and describing Harrington as ‘the ultimate competitor’.

‘He’s [Harrington] never going to take a shot off, and I don’t expect him to tomorrow either. I’m going to have my hands full with him and all these other guys tomorrow, but mostly with Scioto and me,’ Cink said.

After losing the final-round battle last year, Cink is expecting a tough day and will surely be out for revenge. The two are paired up and are set to tee off at 1:45 pm Irish time on Sunday.