TROON, Scotland — Where’s the beef at the British Open?

Right there on the leaderboard.

Andrew Johnston, a burly, bearded Englishman who answers to ‘‘Beef,’’ has become the fan favorite at Royal Troon with his brilliant shots and jovial demeanor over the first three rounds.

This is a guy everyone seems to relate to.

He sends the love right back.

‘‘I’m no different than anyone else,’’ Johnston said. ‘‘That’s how I see it. I’ll talk and chat to anyone. It really doesn’t bother me. I like meeting new people and I don’t care where they’re from and who they are — if they’re nice, I get on well with them and I’m going to make friends.’’

The 27-year-old from the north of London has made plenty of friends along the Scottish coastline, literally bouncing around the course to the cascading chants of ‘‘Beeeeeeef!’’

When a shot goes his way, he breaks into a huge grin. When a putt drops into the cup, his head bounces up and down in unison with the roaring fans. With a paunch that hangs noticeably over his beltline — OK, the guy likes to eat — he comes across as just one of the crowd.

‘‘At the end of the day,’’ he said, ‘‘I’m just a normal guy who happens to play golf.’’

He’s playing it well at Royal Troon, as one of only five players to break par all three days. Johnston shot a 1-under-par 70 Saturday that left him at 5-under 208 overall, seven shots behind leader Henrik Stenson but still the most noteworthy performance of his fledgling career.

It wasn’t that long ago that Johnston was wondering whether he could really make a living as a golfer.

Toward the end of 2013, coming off a shoulder injury and with a dwindling bank account, he managed to get into a tournament in South Africa, finished high enough to earn a decent paycheck, and found the motivation to keep going.

‘‘I was sort of wondering, ‘What am I going to do for Christmas about presents and stuff like that?’ ’’ he recalled. ‘‘I didn’t have much at all.’’

Six years after turning pro, Johnston finally claimed a full-time spot on the European Tour in 2015. This year, he picked up his first win at the Spanish Open. He also made his first trip to America, playing in both the US Open and the Bridgestone at Firestone Country Club.

During the latter, he showed off some of the personality that has already made him a fan favorite on this side of the Atlantic. While filming a dinner segment for the Golf Channel — and, naturally, eating was involved — he took on the challenge of downing a 32-ounce steak.

‘‘I would have never picked that,’’ Johnston said. ‘‘The waitress lied to me. She was like, ‘It’s that big'’’ — holding his hands about 6 inches apart — ‘‘and it comes out and it’s massive. And I turned around and I said, ‘You liar, you liar.’ And she went, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘You said it’s this big.’ And she said, ‘My husband can eat it.’ And I went, ‘Challenge accepted.'’’

In a matter of minutes, that huge of piece of meat was in Johnston’s belly.

Now, Johnston admits he could lose a bit of weight. When a reporter bluntly asked how much he weighed, the golfer replied, ‘‘I have no idea. You want to pick me up?’’ He finally conceded that he tipped the scale at around 16 stones — roughly 224 pounds.

‘‘I need to start shedding a stone,’’ Johnston said. ‘‘I'm heavier that I should be.’’

But he’s not going to get too worked up about a few extra pounds.

In fact, he’s having fun with it.

During an interview after Friday’s round, Johnston joked that he was going to have a Caesar salad for dinner (he actually had pizza, in case you were wondering). During the first few holes of the third round, a young fan kept screaming at him, ‘‘Caesar salad! Caesar salad!’’

Johnston didn’t mind a bit.

His girth and that distinctive nickname — which he got when he was 12 because his friends thought his curly hair looked like a side of beef — are a big part of who he is.

‘‘I do like his swag,’’ said American golfer Tony Finau, another of the unlikely contenders at Royal Troon. ‘‘He’s pretty cool. He’s got that big beard, and he plays it well.’’

Ahh, the beard.

Johnston has been growing it for about nine months, and these days he looks more like a lumberjack than a staid ol’ golfer. He’s not sure how much longer he can hold out, though, since his girlfriend is getting a bit tired of all that hair. Then again, it’s also become part of who he is.

‘‘I desperately need a haircut and a beard shape-up after this week,’’ he said. ‘‘I just haven’t had time.’’

He'll have to wait until after Sunday.

He’s got another appointment in the next-to-last group of the British Open.

Spieth struggling

The putter has really been Jordan Spieth’s downfall.

After barely making the cut, Spieth got off to a blistering start in the third round with four birdies in the first seven holes.

But his momentum was snuffed out when he missed par-saving putts at the ninth and 10th holes, both from about 4 feet. A double bogey at the 11th effectively finished off his round, and he limped home with a 1-over 72 and a 5-over 218 for the tournament.

After winning two majors in 2015 and making a run at the Grand Slam, Spieth has gone 10 straight rounds in the majors without breaking par. And, of course, a final-round meltdown at the Masters cost him a chance to capture his second straight green jacket.

Spieth says he’s ‘‘hitting the ball great,’’ but can’t get past his struggle on the greens.

Meanwhile, US Open champion Dustin Johnson was working his way up the leaderboard until a shot into the gorse on the 11th led to a triple bogey. Johnson made two double bogeys the day before.

Rickie Fowler started well until an 8 on the 11th hole. He finished with a 5-over 76.

World No. 1 Jason Day shot an even-par 71 and is at 1 over for the championship, tied for 25th.

Keegan Bradley struggled to a 76 and is at 2 under, tied for ninth.

McIlroy snaps

Rory McIlroy’s 3-wood already wasn’t in the best shape, so it had no chance when he chucked the club to the ground in frustration after a bad shot.

It snapped in two.

Add it to the list of club-throwing episodes from one of the world’s top golfers.

McIlroy had slipped out of realistic contention during the third round when he pushed right his approach shot from the middle of the fairway. He reacted by hurling the 3-wood to the ground in front of him, and the head flew off.

‘‘The club head came loose on it earlier on the week and I had to get the head re-glued. So it was probably partly to do with that,’’ McIlroy said, ‘‘and partly the throw as well.’’

McIlroy already was frustrated after making three bogeys in his first five holes. He dropped another shot at No. 15 after letting a 3-iron from the fairway slip right, and things came to a head, so to speak, on the next hole.

‘‘I did the exact same thing there,’’ McIlroy said. ‘‘So it was basically just a bad swing. No one likes to make the same mistake twice.’’

‘‘I'll get it reshafted tonight. The truck’s here, so I'll have it reshafted, and all will be well in the morning.’’

McIlroy shot 2-over 73 and was even par for the tournament.

There’s precedent in regard to McIlroy throwing clubs. He did so at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2012 and 2015, and perhaps more famously at the Cadillac Championship at Doral last year.

After hitting his second shot into the water on the par-5 eighth hole, McIlroy heaved his club some 50 yards into the lake.

‘‘Looking back,’’ he said at the time, ‘‘it isn’t one of my proudest moments.’’

McIlroy has made more of a splash off the course at Troon this year, mostly because of his explosive pre-tournament news conference in which he called out golf for its lax drug-testing procedures and questioned the relevance of his sport being part of the Olympics.

He was caught on the wrong side of the draw in the first two days, saying on Friday he felt he played better than his 2-under total suggested.

Going into the third round, McIlroy still thought he could catch Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson at the top of the leaderboard. His bad start, when he missed short putts on Nos. 1 and 3, ended those hopes.

''It was a tough day,’’ he said. ‘‘I just wish I had gotten off to a better start.’’

One bad hole

Steve Stricker has got to be kicking himself over one miserable hole.

The 49-year-old American turned in another fine round Saturday, shooting a 3-under-par 68 in cool, blustery conditions.

Stricker opened the tournament with a 67, and he made 17 pars in brutal conditions Friday for what would've been a very solid round if not for a quadruple-bogey 8 at the 15th hole.

As it is, Stricker is at 3-under 210 for the tournament and probably too far back to make a run at becoming golf’s oldest major champion.