Anybody’s U.S. Open To Win On Sunday
Will Sunday Be A Walk In The Park En Route To A U.S. Open Title For Jordan Spieth? - Image Credit Bryan Outram
by Alfie Lau
Not even an hour into Jordan Spieth’s third round on Saturday at Chambers Bay, the 21-year-old had dropped two bombs for birdies at the second and third holes and sat at (-7) for the tournament and two clear of his closest challenger.
But then Spieth went on a horrendous bogey binge, with mistakes at five of his next eight holes and suddenly, the Texas Grand Slam was now seriously in jeopardy.
Spieth would make one more birdie, at the par-3 15th, but may lament all the short putts he missed on the way in to his (+1) round of 71 that has him in a four-way tie for the lead heading into Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Open.
“Four three-putts today, two of them I could not do much about,” said Spieth. “The other two were unforced. All in all, just a little bit off. But plenty of birdies, I just need to limit the mistakes (Sunday)
That opened the door for Dustin Johnson, Branden Grace and Jason Day, who also sit at (-4), with Johnson and Day comprising the final group at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Grace and Spieth go out 12 minutes earlier, and the quartet sits three shots clear of another quartet of golfers, J.B. Holmes, Shane Lowry, Cameron Smith and Louis Oosthuizen, who sit at (-1).
Johnson looks to be the biggest threat to Spieth as the long-hitting South Carolinian had an up-and-down even par round of 70.
Johnson hit his approach to the second long into a greenside bunker and couldn’t get up-and-down. That got Johnson charged up, as he went on to make three birdies in his next four holes en route to a (-2) front 9 score of 33.
image credit bryan outram
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“I thought I played really well today,” said Johnson. “It’s just tough out there. I played really well . . . A few three-putts . . . It really could have been a good day.”
Quietly staying near the top of the leaderboard was unheralded South African Branden Grace, who played steady golf with two birdies and two bogeys through his first 12 holes. Apparently staying in place at the U.S. Open means moving ahead of all the golfers who were falling back behind Grace.
“I actually played some great golf and the concentration slipped a little bit around the turn,” said Grace. “I’m still happy. I’m still in a good position, I’m grinding away. It was a good day out there. But it was tough.”
The biggest surprise amongst the four co-leaders is Aussie Jason Day, who’s suffering from vertigo and admitted that there were several times he felt like he might have to quit. Day looked to be in visible pain every time he had to bend down to tee up his ball, pick up the tee and pick up the ball after he holed putts.
Day didn’t have much time to do media interviews after the round, as his coterie of handlers made sure his first stop was the medical tent. “I really gave it all I had out there, but I am extremely fatigued and need a chance to rest,” said Day. “Hopefully, I’ll get some rest and feel better for the next round.”
The biggest move Saturday came from South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, who finally escaped the Tiger Woods-Rickie Fowler vortex of 80 to shoot his second straight round of (-4) 66. It’s too bad Oosthuizen shot 77 during his opening round, part of a Woods-Fowler-Oosthuizen car crash that was a combined (+28).
The South African winner of the 2010 British Open looks like he’s a man on a mission to win his second Major. “9-over through 20 holes, I didn't give myself much chance, but I never gave up,” said Oosthuizen.
“I always want to give myself chances, and even if you're playing badly, you want to work on something in the second round or last few holes just to take it into next week.
I started hitting the ball better and better and better as I went through the second round and hit it really well today. So it just shows you to never give up, especially on a golf course like this. If you play well and you shoot 1 or 2-under you can really climb the leaderboard.”
Oosthuizen took full blame for his opening round nightmare. “I played as bad as them that first round,” he said. “I think we just pulled each other down quite a bit. It's tough when all three players play like that, you don't really get into it.”
The biggest tumble off the leaderboard came from cocky Patrick Reed, who made three double bogeys in his first 10 holes, falling from the second-round lead into the worst round from any of the top 20 golfers on the leaderboard at the start of Saturday’s action. Reed would finish with a (+6) 76 for the day and fall five strokes behind the co-leaders.
Sunday’s final round will go late, as the last tee time at 3 p.m. will have the final shots hit sometime around 7:30 p.m. If there’s still a tie, that means an 18-hole playoff on Monday at Chambers Bay.