Saturday at U.S. Open a Tense Back-and-Forth Affair


The third round of the U.S. Open was a wild one as the names atop the leaderboard at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., changed regularly. While the course baked in the sun during a gradually hotter afternoon, the golf balls caromed in unintended directions on the links course, and the scores fluctuated minute by minute.

At the end of the day, four players shared the lead at 4-under 206. The group includes Jason Day, who recorded a heroic 2-under 68, Dustin Johnson (70), South African Branden Grace (70), and second-round co-leader Jordan Spieth (71).

Johnson and Day will be paired in the final group, with Grace and Spieth preceding them.

Only eight players have gone under par heading following 54 holes at the Chambers Bay links.

The 68 by Day came after he had collapsed to the ground on his final hole Friday while suffering from a bout of vertigo. Day's grittiness was lauded by his caddie and coach Colin Swatton, who called the Queenslander's performance, "the greatest round I've ever seen." Swatton noted that Day, who's also been suffering from dehydration, wanted to withdraw three times on Saturday. But Day had enough gas left in his teetering tank to log three birdies in his final four holes.

"He just dug as deep as he could possibly dig today. It was just a monumental effort. A lot of people diagnosed with that would spend the time in the bedroom with the drapes drawn and get over that recovery period. But it's the U.S. Open. He's played well U.S. Opens before and he's playing well in this one. He dug deeper than he's ever dug before, it was really, really impressive."

The 27-year-old Aussie - who withdrew last fall at a WGC event in Ohio for the same vertigo issue - went to a local hospital in Tacoma for treatment Friday night. He was still suffering from the mysterious malady the day after.

"I felt pretty groggy on the front nine just from the drugs that I had in my system, then kind of flushed that out on the back nine," said a drained Day, who, health depending, is in position for his first major victory. "But then it kind of came back - the vertigo came back a little bit on the 13th tee box, and then (I) felt nauseous all day.

"I started shaking on the 16 tee box and then just tried to get it in, really. Just wanted to get it in."

Day has a history of vertigo, withdrawing last fall at a WGC event in Ohio for the same issue. On Saturday, he recognized his prior bouts but hinted that being in position to win a U.S. Open title is too important. "Last year I didn't play the round after I had vertigo and this one was worse. I think the goal was just to go through today and see how it goes."

There are no sick days in championship golf and Day, who if he wins the 2015 U.S. Open will be likened to Ken Venturi's heroic 1964 victory at a broiling Congressional, will play in the final twosome with Johnson. Johnson got off to a good start with four birdies and two bogeys to make the turn in 2-under 33, then wobbled coming home with a birdie, bogey and a double on the par-4 13th.

"The golf course is playing really firm and fast," Johnson told reporters. "It's just tough out there. I played really well today, I thought. A few three-putts. Other than that I felt like I putted it well, just missed a few short ones. I made some putts, too. But really could have been a good day today."

Spieth, who has Tacoma-area resident and erstwhile local schoolteacher and former Chambers Bay caddie Michael Greller on his bag, posted four birdies and five bogeys for his 71. The 21-year-old from Dallas and winner of the 2015 Masters was occasionally wild off the tee and seemed to be in scramble mode most of the day.

"All in all it was just a little bit off. Tomorrow, I need to get more birdies," he said during a TV interview. "I'm going to have to drive the ball a little better tomorrow."

Spieth later noted the difference between playing in the cooler morning and in the more windswept and desiccating afternoons at Chambers Bay. "It was a significant change for us. But I like that. I like that (the greens) are a little quicker. I didn't have my best stuff at times this week, and I'm pretty sure I know where it is and how to get it tomorrow and get ready to go. I started to really strike the ball well right at the end of the round today and I can take a lot of momentum from that."

Grace, an under-the-radar (in America anyway) 27-year-old Pretorian, was one of the players bouncing into the lead Saturday thanks to two birdies through eight holes. But a bogey on the beguiling par-3 ninth followed by bogeys at 12 and 13 brought the six-time European Tour winner back. A birdie on the par-3 15th took the January winner in Qatar to 4-under and a spot in the penultimate group with Spieth.

"I actually played some great golf and the concentration slipped a little bit around the turn," admitted Grace. "I'm still happy. I'm still in good position. I'm grinding away. It was a good day out there. But it was tough and I'm looking to see what tomorrow has in store for us."

As for being in position to win the U.S. Open, Grace remarked, "We all dream of this and we all practice for this, so it's a matter of fact if you grab it or you don't . . . I think I'm in a good frame of mind after today going into tomorrow . . . I'm just happy I'm still in a good position."

Tied for fifth at 1-under 209 are Australian Cameron Smith, who shot a stellar 69, Ireland's Shane Lowry (70), South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen (a 66 that matched the low third round), and J.B. Holmes (71).

Oosthuizen was on the cusp of a truly special outing. Though he still shot a second straight 4-under 66 to rise into contention at 209 after starting with a 77 Thursday, the 2010 British Open champion at St. Andrews could have gone even lower. But the diminutive but powerful player missed several makeable birdie putts. "If I hit it the way I did today I think I've got a pretty good chance of putting a good number out there again," said a confident Oosthuizen, who had three birdies on the front nine and two birdies - and a bogey - on the back.

"I gave myself loads of birdie opportunities, which is what you want to try to do around here. I think ball-striking is keen to really pinpoint where you want to pitch it on the greens. The greens are so firm now, and it's pretty dead, the grass, so you need to work the slopes on the greens to get it close. And I did that today. But still it's a challenge to make a lot of putts on these greens."

Patrick Reed, who began the third round tied for the lead with fellow Texan Spieth, had difficulties controlling his ball all day on the firm-and-fast links alongside Puget Sound. The 24-year-old from San Antonio carded a 76 to drop into a share of ninth at 1-over 209 with fellow Americans Brandt Snedeker (70) and Tony Finau (74), Argentina's Andres Romero (71), Sweden's Henrik Stenson (72) and The Netherlands' Joost Luiten (74).

No. 1-ranked Rory McIlroy, who will remain atop the World Golf Rankings regardless of who wins this week, carded an even-par 70 to enter Sunday at 4-over 214.

When asked afterward whether his putting struggles on the parched and tilted Chambers Bay greens were a result of the surfaces or his own stroke, the 26-year-old Northern Irishman responded, "It's me, but then whenever you start to miss a couple you start to get a little tentative. You start to doubt yourself. You start to doubt the greens a little bit. And then it just sort of - it snowballs from there. I holed a few nice ones early on, but once I missed a couple it got into my head and couldn't really get out of it."

On Friday Henrik Stenson said that the greens are like "broccoli" To that, McIlroy quipped Saturday, "I don't think they're as green as broccoli. I think they're more like cauliflower."

On a more serious note, the four-time major champion and record-setting winner of the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional said, "Like, they are what they are, everyone has to putt on them. It's all mental. Some guys embrace it more than others, and that's really the way it is. It is disappointing that they're not in a bit better shape. But the newer greens like 7 and 13, they're perfect. They're just - one grass, fescue, and the ball rolls really well on those. But it's just the ones where the poa has sort of crept in and the two grasses grow at different speeds and that's what gives it the bumpiness."

McIlroy added that the course set-up favored the long hitters Saturday. "I think the course is really set up for a longer hitter today just with where they've put the tees, where they've put some of the pins. They're tough. It's a U.S. Open. The greens are getting firmer. It's hard to stop balls where you want them to. I mean even the holes where you think you have a chance, like 16, it's short. They put the pin right there up there on that little knob on the front of the green and it's hard to get close to that. They give you 110-yard par-3 on 17, but it's a pin where if you don't hit it right on line, I think that hole is going to cause a bit of havoc this afternoon. They're tough. That's to be expected at a U.S. Open."

Also at 4-over 214 with McIlroy is England's Ian Poulter, who posted a 69. Poulter set the Twitter-verse ablaze last week when he called Chambers Bay a "farce" without ever stepping foot on the course. Poulter has been ribbed by some fans as he's played this week, including one on the ninth hole Friday who shouted out, "Nice putting, Sally!"

On Saturday, the 39-year-old Brit's bland, controversy-free quotes dealt with his third round and corresponding swing adjustments. "Could have been a really good round, could have posted 5-under today and really been right back in this golf tournament. Too many loose shots out to the right. I'm going to the range and rectify it and get the swing back on track."

Phil Mickelson will have to wait until Oakmont next year to win a U.S. Open, the only title missing in his quest for a career Grand Slam. After opening with rounds of 69 and 74 to make the 36-hole cut by two strokes, Lefty couldn't get anything going Saturday, carding five bogeys on the front nine to make the turn in 5-over 40, then adding four more bogeys - against just two birdies - for a 77.

Of his third round, Mickelson said, "As bad as my score was, I hit a lot of good shots that ended up as bogeys. And through three rounds I haven't made a double."

The low amateurs at a respectable 4-over 214 are Ollie Schniederjans and Jack Maguire, who shot 72 and 73, respectively.

For all the scores, visit http://www.usopen.com/en_US/scoring/index.html.