Sibling showdown at Open Championship as Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick create a thrilling subplot at Hoylake

The Open Championship 2023 is unique in its own kind. Not just because of the dominance Brian Harman has shown at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, but also due to stellar performance by brothers Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick.

After the end of 54 holes, the Fitzpatrick brothers have shown class performance. Where the elder brother, Matt, hangs on T17 rank, his younger brother, Alex, stands ahead of him at T9 position on the leaderboard.

Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick at The Open Championship (via Getty Images)

First, it was Matt Fitzpatrick who carded a score of 67 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Later on, Alex Fitzpatrick bettered his brother's score to card 65 to his name.

After finishing his round in the morning, Matt waited for his brother. Alex spoke with NBC Sports and shared about the moment.

As quoted by Golf Digest, Alex said:

"He waited for me after I finished on 18 and the first thing I asked him is 'What did you shoot?'"

Alex Fitzpatrick added that it feels better to play a "bit better" than his brother. However, he wants Matt Fitzpatrick to do well too.

"Obviously, it's nice to play a bit better, but at the end of the day, I want him to do as well as possible. He roots for me, I root for him, so that’s how it is," said Alex.

Alex Fitzpatrick is playing in his first major tournament. Meanwhile, Matt Fitzpatrick has already won a major, the US Open 2022, and is the World No. 9.

Interestingly, it was not just England's Fitzpatrick brother playing at the Open Championship 2023. Denmark's Hojgaard twin brothers too teed up at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake. However, Rasmus missed the cut on Friday, meanwhile, his brother Nicolai stands on the T11 rank on the leaderboard.

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Exploring the leaderboard of The Open Championship 2023 leaderboard after Round 3

After the end of Saturday's play, Brian Harman still leads the table. He is five strokes ahead of second-ranked Cameron Young.

Here are the top 25 players on the Open Championship leaderboard:

• 1 - Brian Harman
• 2 - Cameron Young
• 3 - Jon Rahm
• T4 - Viktor Hovland
• T4 - Antoine Rozner
• T4 - Jason Day
• T4 - Sepp Straka
• T4 - Tommy Fleetwood
• T9 - Alex Fitzpatrick
• T9 - Shubhankar Sharma
• T11 - Thomas Detry
• T11 - Tom Kim
• T11 - Nicolai Hojgaard
• T11 - Matthew Jordan
• T11 - Rory McIlroy
• T11 - Emiliano Grillo
• T17 - Matt Fitzpatrick
• T17 - Sungjae Im
• T17 - Romain Langasque
• T17 - Hideki Matsuyama
• T17 - Max Homa
• T17 - Jordan Spieth
• T17 - Min Woo Lee
• T24 - Rickie Fowler
• T24 - Patrick Cantlay
• T24 - Xander Schauffele
• T24 - Cameron Smith
• T24 - Patrick Reed
• T24 - Tyrrell Hatton
• T24 - Corey Conners
• T24 - Byeong Hun An
• T24 - Alexander Bjork
• T24 - Richard Bland
• T24 - Wyndham Clark
• T24 - Henrik Stenson
• T24 - Stewart Cink
• T24 - Michael Stewart
• T24 - Guido Migliozzi

Jon Rahm registered the best figures in a single round at Hoylake after carding a sub-65 round. However, the Spaniard still ranks third and is six strokes behind the leader, Brian Harman.