- Round of 65 gives Wolff two-shot lead over DeChambeau
- US Open leaderboard: how they stand
Here’s our golf correspondent, Ewan Murray’s report:
Related: Debutant Matthew Wolff at head of pack going into final round of US Open
Tiger Woods won the Masters in 1997 at 21 years and three months. Matthew Wolff is just two months older than Tiger and would be the youngest winner of a major since. He was irresistible today, making only two fairways but turning dodgy lies into wondrous approach shots. He will partner DeChambeau tomorrow. Could that be a problem? Bryson is bundle of energy who never stops talking. Might that chatter get to Wolff? I’d argue any of the players in the top seven (down to +1) are in contention, especially so given the layout of the course tomorrow may throw up a few surprises.
These last few holes are what the majors are all about – who can handle the pressure and who can’t. This is exciting to follow. But they’re all staying close for Rory to make a charge tomorrow!
-5 Wolff (F)
-3 DeChambeau (F)
-1 Oosthuizen (F)
E Matsuyama (F), Schauffele (F), English (F)
+1 McIlroy (F)
+2 Z Johnson (F), Hovland (F), Cabrera Bello (F)
DeChambeau can’t hold his nerve and drops a shot at the last, shovelling his par putt wide by millimetres. It’s a solid round of 70 for the big man, though. He will start two off the lead tomorrow and with the knowledge that he reeled in Wolff in that recent ding-dong in Detroit. It’s another bogey for Reed. Well, of course it is. He’s been awful on the back nine. He’s reversed back to +3 and out of contention.
Reed lofts a wedge in to the back of the green, where he hopes his ball will shuffle back up towards the hole. It doesn’t. It goes rogue and scoots to the fringe. DeChambeau sets up a knee-trembler for par with a solid chip and run to within 10ft.
DeChambeau has creamed his drive on the 18th into some lush rough down the right. He flexes his muscles and rips through the rough, taking half of the New York State foliage with it, landing it just short of the green. Even with all that beef he couldn’t make the green there. He needs to double his intake of carbs tomorrow morning. Reed has missed the fairway again. But that’s not news is it? He too lays up short of the green (about 70 yards from the pin) and will do well to avoid his eighth dropped shot on a horrible back nine.
Harris English has sunk a monster birdie putt on the 18th to finish with around of 72. What a way to hole out, it was all of 50ft from the pin. He moves within five shots of the lead. The best he has ever finished at a major is 15th at Muirfield in the 2013 Open. He’s evens now and looks highly likely to better that tomorrow.
DeChambeau moves to within one shot of the leader! He holes a firm 10-footer on the 17th to make an impressive birdie. After starting with two bogeys, he’s performed wonders to race back up the leaderboard. Reed is having a mare, though. He misses the kind of 10-footer for par he was making for fun yesterday. Another bogey – his seventh dropped shot on the back nine! – means he’s slipped back down to +2. Oh Patrick!
“Good shot!” DeChambeau tells himself after ripping through the semi thick stuff to the right of the 17th fairway and landing the ball on the right of the green, where it catches a slope and scurries down to within around 10ft of the pin. He’s right. It is a good shot. That’s a half-chance of a birdie. Reed lands his approach in the thick stuff surrounding the bunker guarding the front-left of the green. It’s the kind of position from which he played so well yesterday but that touch has deserted him on the back nine here.
Harris English has steadied the ship on the back nine after shedding three shots on the way out. The 31-year-old just needs to make par on the 18th to get home blemish-free on the back nine and go into the final day on +1, very much in contention.
Both DeChambeau and Reed are on to the 16th in regulation two. Reed dinks his 15-footer down a little slope, watching it curve towards the cup but miss by inches. Good Patrick, but not good enough. Perhaps the hard break from right to left helps DeChambeau recalibrate his putt, because he barely hits it but soon has his hands on his head in joyous relief after watching it inch up to the cup, take a hard left and roll round the edge before plonking home for a birdie. He’s up to -3, two shots off Wolff.
The 21-year-old leader, Matthew Wolff speaks. How did he score 65 having hit just two fairways all day?
I got pretty fortunate with my lies in the rough. I just stuck with my game and had a bunch of good lies. It was a grind out there. But hopefully I can hit a few more good shots tomorrow. I’ve been in a few bunkers, but it’s better than being in the rough. I feel really good with my putting. I worked hard on it really. I had a really good time in Detroit and learnt what it was like to be out in the lead.
-5 Wolff (F)
-2 DeChambeau (14)
-1 Oosthuizen (F)
E Matsuyama (F), Schauffele (F)
+1 Reed (F) English (16), McIlroy (F)
Schauffele finishes with a birdie to sign for a stellar 68. Meanwhile, more woe for Reed, who long ago stopped pulling rabbits out of hats and sheds another shot after scrambling to no avail on the 15th.
Matthew Wolff sets himself for a 10ft birdie attempt on the 18th. If he holes this he equals the record of 65 for a round this tournament set by Justin Thomas in more favourable conditions on day one. He takes one glance, then another, before nudging it on its way. It trickles slowly up to the cup, hangs over it, and plops in. What a round! Wolff is 21 years old! He moves to -5 and leads by three shots. That’s a truly stunning performance.
“Come on honey!” yelps DeChambeau, as he thwacks his second on the 15th up on to the green. His playing partner, Reed, has landed his drive a few feet shy of a boulder. He has a decent lie, mind, and connects almost too well with his approach. He looks vexed as he watches the ball land on the green and zip through to the curly stuff just off the back of it. He will have to rediscover the magic in his short game that he enjoyed yesterday to avoid another bogey.
Matsuyama has signed for a third-round 70 after recovering from his double-bogey on 17 with par on 18. Coming up behind him is the leader, Wolff. With his adrenaline up, he whips his second to within 15ft of the pin. He’s not going to finish with a round of 65 is he?
Wolff opts for an iron off the tee on the 18th and gets a huge slice of luck. The the ball skips up off the fairway and looks bound for the thick rough, only to bounce off a divot (I think) in the rough before diverting it into the forgiving semi-rough. Behind him, on the 14th, Reed is dropping shots like marbles. Another wayward tee shot left him playing catch up and his par putt from 20ft grabs the cup, peers down the hole, and then rolls out again. Them’s the breaks, Patrick. Evens.
Earlier in the day, I said that no one would beat Alex Noren’s 67. If Wolff can hold his nerve he can rub a round of 66 in my face. Having landed in the rough on the 17th, the leader rips his second into the middle of the green. He’s a slight-looking young whelp but boy can he hit it. He has 36ft for a birdie at 17. He cocks back his putter and goes after it but it takes a hard right before the pin and ends up a couple of feet short. A tap-in for par.
Matsuyama, who has nestled in behind the leader on -2, is having a torrid time on the 17th. He’s going to be moving backwards as he comes home. He shanked his third into the bunker off the back left of the green and splashed out to leave himself a 15ft putt for bogey. He can’t salvage a dropped shot, and takes a double. Beep! Beep! Beep! This golfer is reversing. He’s back to evens. And so is Reed. He back to -1 after his putting let him down on 13. DeChambeau makes par, however, and still looks full of beans as he enters the home straight.
Reed could be staring at another bogey. He landed his tee-shot on the par-3 13th way over to the right of the green. His second was a monstrous 65ft putt – and boy did he hit it! The ball picking up speed and waving to the pin as it raced past and on to the fringe at the back of the green. No such problem for DeChambeau. He leaves himself a two-footer for par.
Wolff has gone 19 consecutive holes without making a bogey. Let me rewrite that. Wolff had gone 19 consecutive holes without making a bogey. He drops a shot at the 16th after a wild drive behind trees on the left of the fairway forced him to lay up with his second. His third gave him a 12-footer for par, but the movement in the green discombobulated Wolff, the ball moving left and right and then right again to miss by a foot. But what a run that is. At Winged Foot too! He’s -4 and leads by two.
DeChambeau is jabbering to himself furiously after throwing away a chance to hole a 6ft birdie chance on the 12th. He taps home for par though and should be proud of the way he has steadied the ship and slowly got back into a strong position after a disappointing start. Reed will be relieved to have made par after shedding three shots in the previous two holes.
-5 Wolff (15)
-2 Reed (11), DeChambeau (11), Matsuyama (16)
-1 Oosthuizen (17)
E Schauffele (14)
+1 Kokrak (14), English (13), McIlroy (F)
Sorry, a little later than advertised with this.
De Chambeau has creamed two incredible shots to get to within 140 yards of the pin on the 623-yard 12th. Yes, 623 yards. I think the pin is in a different timezone. Reed needs to stop the rot on this hole. A couple of decent knocks suggests he might just do that.
Wolff goes this close to making a sixth birdie of the day on the 15th, but his downhill trickler steers right a tad sooner than he anticipated. It’s another par, though. He hasn’t dropped a shot yet. I’ve cursed him, haven’t I?
Having landed in some lush semi-rough 130 yards from the 15th, Wolff cracks an iron to within 20ft of the pin to set up a half-chance for a birdie. Behind him on the 11th, Winged Foot has finally embedded her talons into Patrick Reed. He misreads the downwards slope on the 11th and sends his bogey putt wide left and does well to hold his nerve to make a 6ft uphill putt for double. He’s back to -2, alongside DeChambeau and three shots behind Wolff.
It’s all going pear-shaped for Reed on the 11th. He’s traded some thick rough 144 yards from the pin, for some even thicker rough 40 yards from the pin. He duffs his third shot about 15ft to the whispy stuff on the edge of the green. “It’s just frickin’ [something],” he yelps. His fourth is a chip and run to give himself a 10ft knee-trembler for bogey. DeChambeau makes par after a curving third from 25ft that loops back round behind the cup and settles inches from the hole. An easy tap-in for par.
While I was gone, I see McIlroy completed a fine round of 68. He’s +1 and officially a “contender” tomorrow. Zach Johnson mirrored that round to finish on +2. And Matsuyama has birdied 14. He’s breathing down Reed’s neck on -3.
“It’s still OK, there.” DeChambeau smashes his drive on the 11th 275 yards and just shy of a huge bunker on the right in some reasonably tick stuff. But he’s not too worried. Reed’s radar is still off. His 3-wood goes right and he’ll have work to do to make par 4 on one of Winged Foot’s easiest holes (note: still not that easy). Meanwhile, up ahead on the 13th Schaufelle overcooks a par putt and drops back to -1.
Thanks Tom. I return just as Patrick Reed makes a bogey at the 10th to drop back down to -5. It’s a very missable bogey putt. He’ll be grateful to escape with just one dropped shot. So we have a lone Wolff at the top. Apologies, it’s been a long day.
Ouch. Reed is below the green on is second shot but nestles the ball into the grass in front of the green. His third, for par, is good in the circumstances and will have a tricky shot for bogie. DeChambeau has better fortune, hacking to within a foot of the hole and par. Reed’s bogey sends him back down to -4.
Reed and DeChambeau tee off on the par-three 10th. Neither men is likely to make birdie – Reed goes too short and DeChambeau is just off the green close to the bunker.
The officials have agreed DeChambeau will not face a penalty after his ball moved a little on its own on the eighth. He can’t sink the ensuing (very long) eagle putt and will have a 6ft chance for birdie to move to -3 (update: he missed and is still two under). Meanwhile, Patrick Reed is now the co-leader after his putter hots up and he sinks a nerveless shot to move to five under.
DeChambeau has an eagle putt and notifies the officials that his ball moved “on its own”, just to make sure he’s not penalised. They’re having a second look now.
I’m around 25 miles from Winged Foot and the skies are clear and blue, a beautiful late summer/early autumn day – no sign of any bad weather to disrupt play. Which means Wolff can’t blame the heavens for the birdie putt he just missed on the 12th – he struck it a little too weakly and it misses by a foot or so. Elsewhere, Matsuyama nearly holes a monster putt for a birdie but it hits the lip and he’ll have to make do with par.
Reed hits marvelous tee shot on the ninth, straight and true and far. Wolff is 126 yards from the flag on the 12th and gets it to within six feet, although it rolled back quite back a bit and looked like it would be a little closer when it first landed. Still, he’ll have a a good chance to extend his lead with a birdie putt.
The leader, Wolff, has a bad lie very close to an upturned divot after his tee shot on the 12th. He spends an age trying to move the divot, without shifting the ball. A testament to his steady hands – maybe he should have been a surgeon – he is successful and ready to take his second shot. He makes it to the fairway and has a decent chance at a birdie on the par five.
Reed has a chance at a loooong putt for a birdie on the eighth, which would see him tie for the lead. He doesn’t make it – it would have been an exceptional putt if he had – but he gets within 18 inches to hole comfortably and make par.
-5 Wolff (10)
-4 Reed (7)
-2 Schauffele (9), DeChambeau (7)
-1 Matsuyama (11), Thomas (8)
It’s Simon McMahon back with another double-barrelled major winner: “Of course, Tiger Getinthehole-Woods has won a few, and who could forget Ben WTF?-Curtis and Todd Really?-Hamilton.” Let’s not forget Keegan How?-Bradley! Right, I’m going to depart for a break shortly, but Tom Lutz will guide you through the next 45 minutes or so. I’ll post a leaderboard update and then Tom will be with you.
Wolff fails to hole a 10ft birdie chance on 10. It’s almost something of a shock given the irrepressible form he is in. But remember, the 10th has been among the hardest holes this championship, playing at around 3.4, so a par 3 will do very nicely indeed.
Schauffele uses the momentum from that glorious birdie at the 8th to follow it up with an eagle at the 9th. It’s a 20-footer with a slight right to left arc … and he nails it! He leaps from evens to -2 and third position on his own. And that’s a 33 for the front nine.
Reed’s birdie putt on the 6th pulls up inches short. So on a soft par 4 that’s arguably a chance missed. DeChambeau watches a shot pass him by too. He clips the rim with his birdie attempt from 8ft and takes par to stay at -1.
Matthew Wolff is smiling broadly with good reason. We have a new leader on -5! He rattles home a 6ft birdie putt on the 9th to record 30 for the opening 9. He’s 21 and only just old enough to drink in the US. That’s clearly ridiculous.
What a putt this is from Schauffele at the 8th. He’s back to evens and right in the hunt just four off the lead.
.@XSchauffele curls one in at the 8th to get back to E in the #USOpen. pic.twitter.com/1Vlq6RHwRv
Perhaps there are only so many times you can get away with missing fairways. Having landed in a bunker with his drive on the 5th, Reed thrashes out only to land back in the sandtrap guarding the front-left of the green. This time he splashes out to within 15ft but his putter can’t rescue him. That’s his second bogey. He’s back to -4 with a lively Wolff for company. DeChambeau’s mini recovery continues. He makes par again.
McIlroy is still ticking along very nicely indeed. He’s just drained a 15-footer for par at the 15th after a couple of wild swipes left him with a chip and run from the greenside rough. He’s still +1 for the championship.
An email! “ Evening Gregg,” writes Simon McMahon. “I’m rooting for Rafa Cabrera-Bello, principally on account that he’s one of the few double barrelled named golfers. Other than Ian Baker-Finch, I can’t think of many golf major winners in that category. Vamos Rafa!” Does John Henry Taylor (big in Victorian times) count? He doesn’t does he?
Reed does indeed make birdie. If only he was half as precise with his driver as he is with his putter. He finds sand on the 5th after slashing right. Apparently, he was heckled by onlookers in a nearby house on the 4th. I doubt he cares but it does make you wonder what kind of verbal pelters he would have been getting off a New York crowd if one was present. He has 220 yards to the pin. DeChambeau assaults his ball, thumping it to within 120 yards.
Webb Simpson wins the award for artistic merit. His birdie on the 11th is a joy to behold. A 2oft putt uphill that arcs around behind the hole before scuttling back down and rattling home. Delicious stuff. He’s +1. Thomas has birdied two in a row (5 and 6) to do some decent repair work on his card after bogeying the opening three holes.
Well, players are actually moving on moving day. Matthew Wolff chief among them. He’s taken a share of the lead with Reed at -4 with back-to-back birdies on 6 and 7. But I expect Reed will be back in front again in the space of a few minutes. He’s spanked a glorious second on to the green of 4th, where his ball trundles up towards the pin. Is that a birdie I can hear?
Matsuyama has still to make a par in the third round. He’s added a third bogey to his four birdies. His tee shot on the 7th gave him a wide-eyed birdie chance. But overexcitement got the better of him, because he overcooked his birdie effort down the slope and and took two putts to climb back up the other side. He’s back to -1.
As you can see, Reed’s three-shot lead immediately becomes a one-shot one. A little misfire with the putter on the 3rd. He didn’t read the uphill gradient and left his 8-footer a few inches short. De Chambeau stops the rot and makes his first par of the day.
-4 Reed (3)
-3 Wolff (6)
-2 Cabrera Bello (3)
-1 Matsuyama (7), DeChambeau (2)
E Horschel (9), Oosthuizen (8), English (3)
Patrick Reed has a three-shot lead! He’s a wizard on these greens. He reads the undulations on the 2nd perfectly for his first birdie of the day, thank you very much. But it’s not been a stellar start for DeChambeau. He found a bunker with his second on 2 and couldn’t salvage par. Meanwhile, there’s another birdie for McIlroy at the par-5 12th. He’s having a much better day and is into the top 10 on +1.
Matsuyama is on fire! Japan’s No 1 has opened birdie, bogey, bogey, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie. Someone needs to get a wet flannel and cool him down. He’ll burn out at this rate. He’s tied second for the championship at -2. Whisper it, but Winged Foot may be playing easier, you know.
DeChambeau slashes wildly at his tee shot on the 2nd. It’s so far left he may have flown it over the rough and on to the fairway from another hole. Mind you, having made 5 after a supreme drive on the 1st, maybe he will surprise us all by saving par here. Reed has landed his drive into the sand. But he thrashes his second on to the green, no bother. He loves an adventurous par.
DeChambeau has wasted that thunderous opening drive, taking four shots to find the hole from 120 yards. He duffs his second and leaves his ball short and then spends the next two shots trying to make sense of the green to no avail. His par putt has little conviction and trickles right. He drops back to -2. Meanwhile, Reed chips out of the rough and then wallops a glorious third to within 10ft. Does he make par? Of course he does. He’s leading the US Open by two shots on -4.
Matthew Wolff has come out snarling. Having birdied the 1st, he’s rattled home another on the 4th. A delicious right-to-left 15-footer. And after bogeying the 10th, McIlroy has saved par at the 11th.
Koprak scrambles to make par at the 2nd but Thomas has dropped another shot. He had to go sideways out of the rough after a wild tee shot and could only get to within 25ft of the pin. It’s another par he can’t save. The leading player on the opening day is moving backwards. He’s at evens.
The leading group are out. Bryson DeChambeau has clearly gobbled up an epic breakfast. His tee shot is a glorious 325-yarder, with just a smidgin of fade that takes it round the corner to leave him with about 120 yards to the pin. He’s clearly hoping to gobble up Winged Foot today too. Patrick Reed thwacks his opening drive into the rough down the left. He wasn’t routinely hitting fairways yesterday but his short game was dazzling. He’ll need more of that stardust today if he’s wild off the tee regularly.
It’s not getting any better for Thomas. He’s pulled his tee shot on the par-4 493-yard 2nd into trees down the left. He looked horribly stiff as he hit it. Someone needs to spray him with WD40. Is loosening up golfers one of its 40 uses? Koprak has gone wide left. Maybe he needs lubricating, too.
Not the most auspicious of starts from Thomas and Koprak. Both pay the price for wild tee shots. Despite some decent scrambling they begin with a pair of bogey 5s. Koprak is back to evens, Thomas to -1.
And McIlroy does indeed bogey the 10th to drop back to +2. It’s a shame. His second was a delicious scoop in which he showed delightful lightness of touch to control the roll down towards the flag. The 12ft par putt got away from him though, trickling downhill and veering left just before the cup.
McIlroy has dumped his tee-shot into thick rough beside the sand trap to the right of the rock-solid 10th green. His stance is going to be more awkward than a family conversation about politics over Christmas dinner. It’s playing at 3.412 today. He will be lucky if he brings that average down.
Jason Kokrak and Justin Thomas have both landed their tee shots on the 1st into lush filth at either side of the fairway. They may not find the opening hole as soft as others have today.
McIlroy is officially in the groove and on the move! A ripping second gives him an outside chance of an eagle on the 9th. It’s a chance he can’t take but he gobbles up his second birdie of the day to go out in 33. He marches off to the 10th like he means business. He’s +1 for the tournament.
-4 Reed (-)
-3 DeChambeau (-)
-2 Cabrera Bello (-), English (-), Thomas (-)
-1 Kokrak (-), Matsuyama (1), Wolff (1), Todd (1)
There are not many groups left to go out. Reed and DeChambeau head off in 25 minutes. Birdies are starting to flow on the 1st. Winged Foot isn’t going soft on us again is it? I doubt it.
I forgot to mention McIlroy in that select group of under-par players on round three. And Zach Johnson! He has certainly found his mojo. Having caressed a monster put home for a birdie on the 5th, he has only gone and eagled the 9th. He joins McIlroy on +2 and is the two-time major winner is officially on the prowl.
What a Jekyll and Hyde round Paul Casey had today. He made five bogeys and a birdie coming out, and five birdies coming in to sign off on a round of 69 to go +5 for the championship. Along with Noren, he’s the only other player to post an under-par score for round three. There are others out there now in minus figures so that may change. Among the contenders, Hideki Matsuyama (-1) has just birdied the 1st and Billy Horschel and Tony Finau (both +1) have picked up shots at the 2nd.
A birdie for McIlroy! And it comes at the par-3 7th, the easiest hole on the course. The pin’s at the front right today. McIlroy lofts his tee-shot straight at it, landing it within 8ft. He nudges his birdie putt downhill, watching it slow up and then finally … drop. That’ll do nicely Rory. He’s +2 and in the mix.
Alex Noren, take a bow. The young Swede rattles home a birdie on the 18th to record a quite brilliant round of 67. His second was beauty, landing the ball just past the pin before doing a little moonwalk to within 5ft. I doubt that 67 will be beaten today. He’s +3 for the tournament and an outlier on for a major championship. And to think, he only just made the cut.
Alex Noren is setting the bar on Moving Day! #USOpen pic.twitter.com/lDvbsFhle1
It turns out Rahm made a hash of the 1st after all. Having got on the green in two he looked in good shape but he three-putted. Ah well, this course will do that to you.
The beefy Jon Rahm has pinged his drive on the 1st to the middle of the picture-perfect fairway. Rounds of 69 and 72 so far suggest he’s a bona-fide contender. He’s on the green in two and should open with par with little trouble. Meanwhile, McIlroy has made par again. Go on Faldo! He fired a monstrous drive to just off the green and gave himself a birdie chance with a chip and run that went this close to the pin before rolling 6ft away. It’s a chance he couldn’t take but standing still fees like progress at Winged Foot.
McIlroy still has a spring in his step. He thrashes out of the rough on the 5th and finds the front of the green, where he two putts with little fuss. He’s made par on the opening five. What a difference a day makes. He was +4 for his round as he sloped off the 5th yesterday. It’s not gone swimmingly for DJ so far, mind. He’s bogeyed the 3rd and battled to make par on the 4th. He’s at +5 for the championship and will need to find his usually serene groove to get in contention.
The 2012 US Open champion, Webb Simpson, has got his third round under way. Two 71s would suggest he’s been as steady as a tugboat around Winged Foot, but he battled hard for a +1 round yesterday and, at +2, is in good shape to challenge. He makes par at the 1st. He’s one to keep an eye on.
McIlroy wallops his third down the fearsome par-4 5th. It’s the most difficult hole on the course after the first two rounds, playing at around 4.44. It’s 502 yards long and a par 5 for the club players. Gulp. It’s the reason Rory lets loose with his drive and finds the rough on the right. It’s not a bad lie, though. He can probably make the green in two.
-4 Reed (-)
-3 DeChambeau (-)
-2 Cabrera Bello (-), English (-), Thomas (-)
-1 Kokrak (-)
E Todd (-), Matsuyama (-), Wolff (-), Schauffele (-), Pieters (-)
Rory has made a fourth par in a row. He looked dissatisfied with every shot on his way to making it but at no point did he look in trouble on the 4th. This is all very steady. Where’s the real Rory hiding?
Noren is now a shot ahead of DJ now, who splashed out to within 8ft on the 3rd before making a hash of a 7-footer for par, catching the lip and watching his ball roll out the other side. He’s back to +5.
Alex Noren is having a lovely time out there. He’s birdied the 15th to go -2 on the day and +4 for the championship. He has just the one blemish on his card and is close to putting himself in the group of official “outsiders”.
Dustin Johnson looked like he was back in his usually serene stride after making par on the second without any fuss. But he’s plopped his drive on the par-3 third into the little sand-trap guarding the green at the front left.
Some forwards movement on moving day. Will Zalatoris, the young American who almost made two hole-in-ones on the opening day, has birdied the 1st to join the gaggle of golfers lurking on +3. McIlroy has left himself a 26-footer for birdie on the 3rd. He nudges it downhill but it doesn’t break from left to right as he expects. He looks vexed. He’ll have to hold his nerve to make a third par in a row.
It’s par again for McIlroy on the 2nd. He’ll be more than happy to tread water here. If those leading lights who are yet to go out want a little encouragement, Paul Casey can give them some. He’s birdied 11, 12, 13. He’s still +7 bit at one point he was +11 having made five bogeys in his opening seven holes.
Perhaps I’m being a bit unfair to DJ. That bogey on the 1st could have been a lot worse had he not hit this incredible second shot. Look at the angle he finds from the 9th fairway.
.@DJohnsonPGA found a great angle to the right-hole location at the 1st from the 9th fairway. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/j0QL60Ve9m
McIlroy has found the green in two again. His second at the 2nd, from 176 yards, lands with a thud around 20ft from the pin, situated towards the back of the green. That’s an outside birdie chance. Johnson has failed to rally on the 1st. A thrash into the rough just short of the green is followed by a chip and run to within 10ft. But his par putt misses left. A testing start for DJ. Take a breath. Start again.
Dustin Johnson, the 2016 champion of course, will hope that his opening drive is no indication of how his day is going to pan out. His tee shot is wild. In fact, I think he found the 9th fairway. That’s some effort. Meanwhile, McIlroy holds his nerve to sink his 8-footer on the 1st to make par.
Rory McIlroy flapped to a round of 76 yesterday. He will hope to take a less adventurous route to a more solid score today. He birdied the 1st yesterday, but that was no indication of how his day would go. He’s safely on the 1st in two as he gets his third round under way but his birdie putt – a long left-to-right dink – leaves him with a very missable putt for par.
There is only one player currently out on the course who is under par on round three: Sweden’s Alex Noren (+5). He birdied 6 and 7 before dropping a shot at the 8th. There is a reason birdies are as rare as hen’s teeth. The course is playing much the way it was on day two. Gulp. Here are the pin positions for round three:
Here are the hole locations ⛳️ for Round 3 of the 120th #USOpen at Winged Foot.
Live Scoring ➡️ https://t.co/msuyGXZhMi pic.twitter.com/8C6vNzAib0
It’s “moving day” at Winged Foot! But after a second day in which the grand old course left many a golfer physically and mentally shot, those who are still in contention will be happy to stand still today. Only three players shot under par on day two and only one of them – Bryson DeChambeau (-3) – could be said to have attacked the course with any success. His refreshingly aggressive attitude led to five bogeys, five birdies, an eagle and six pars. Bryson is well-known for his epic breakfasts. Let’s hope he’s gone large this morning so we get more of the same today.
He’s not the leader, though. That honour (or curse) belongs to Patrick Reed. The man others love to hate has been in fine form around the greens. And a nimble short game is essential with pin positions that are often downright brutal. Justin Thomas could not repeat his first day form on day two, but he is still in contention after rallying late to add 73 to his ridiculous 65 on Thursday. Along with Harris English and Rafa Cabrera Bello, he starts on -2.
