BROOKLINE, Mass. — Saturday is typically considered moving day, but at the U.S. Open it was more like a reshuffling of the deck as nobody was able to separate themselves from the field.
With temperatures running about 20 degrees cooler than Friday and the wind flipping around to the northwest brought a taste of fall to The Country Club, the third round became a case of who could show the most mettle. Only seven of the 64 players were under par on the day.
Will Zalatoris had the round of the day with a 3-under-par 67 and Matt Fitzpatrick, the members’ choice after winning the U.S. Amateur here in 2013, fashioned a 68 and share the lead at 4-under 206. They lead defending champion Jon Rahm by one shot.
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, Keegan Bradley, who turned in a second straight 69, and first-round leader Adam Hadwin are just two shots off the pace.
“That was brutal. When I made a mistake, I made sure I was on the fat side of the green or having room where I could maybe at least chip one up there to 8, 10 feet,” said Zalatoris, who will tee off in the final pairing with Fitzpatrick at 2:45 p.m. “I think it took a lot of discipline today. I mean, we didn’t aim at a single flag even with some wedges just because you really only have a foot or two to deal with on these greens in some situations.”
Zalatoris had three birdies on the front side, and then played the back nine cleanly, making a birdie at the par-4 15th.
Fitzpatrick was stuck in neutral over the bulk of his round with two birdies and two bogies over the first 13 holes. He made his move beginning with the 619-yard, par-5 14th, reaching the green in two and making a two-putt birdie.
At the 510-yard 15th, Fitzpatrick hit his tee ball 359 yards across the main driveway and leaving himself just 142 yards to the hole. He hit his approach to 5 1/2 feet and made the putt. He added another circle on the card at the 17th to get to 5 under.
But in a place where history seems to repeat itself, Fitzpatrick was unable to follow Curtis Strange’s lead from the third round of 1988, when he got up and down from the front bunker to take a 1-shot lead into Sunday.
“I certainly think it gives me an edge over the others, yeah. I genuinely do believe that,” Fitzpatrick said of his previous success at TCC. “It’s a real, obviously, positive moment in my career. It kind of kickstarted me. To come back here and play so well again, it kind of just gives me growing confidence round by round.”
There are plenty of chasers, including Rahm, who left a shot in the fairway bunker at the last leading to a double-bogey 6.
Rahm knows what it takes to win golf’s toughest major, having done so a year ago. He admitted he wasn’t thrilled about having to return the trophy and is in position to bring it back home with him. With three birdies between Nos. 14-17 he claimed the lead before leaving his tee shot on the 18th in the left bunker and then put his third into the bunker that stretches across the front.
“Maybe I was trying to get too cute, making sure — looking for another birdie, where I could have just hit a 9-iron and hope it gets over the bunker and see what happens,” Rahm said of his second shot on the 18th.
Scheffler appeared to be ready to seize control of the tournament after chipping in for an eagle 3 at the par-5 eighth, his approach skipping just past the left side of the hole before checking up and spinning into the cup. That moved him to 6 under and two shots clear of the field.
Just as quickly as he gained two shots, he lost them on the tiny 131-yard par-3 11th. His wedge hit the back edge of the green and bounded down the slope and on the edge of the penalty area. He stared in disbelief for at least 10 seconds before moving back to the edge of the tee box.
His chip came up short, settling deep into the thick rough and hacking out. He needed two putts and took a double-bogey 5.
The problems continued as he left his second shot at the par-4 12th short of the green from in the fairway just 112 yards out and that lead to another bogey. Bogeys followed at 13 and 14 as well and he was at 1 under for the tournament.
“I reminded myself on 11, 12, 13, 14, I just kept reminding myself I’m still in the golf tournament. I made the double on 11, and I kind of just – when I walked off that one, I was, like, dude, just pretend you bogeyed 10 and birdied 8. It’s not a big deal.
“After the bogey on 12, it’s not a big deal. I’m still maybe 1-under for the round. Then after 13 I just kept trying to pretend that what was happening wasn’t happening. Eventually I was able to steady the ship.
“For me that stuff is going to happen at U.S. Opens. The golf course is just hard. The conditions are hard. The scores are high. All I was going to do is just try and hang in there. That was my only goal. Just kind of hang and keep myself in position. That’s why I was so excited with the par on 18 because that was a big momentum putt for me.”
Scheffler birdied the 17th and then managed an up and down from the sand at the last, rolling in a devilish downhill putt from 15 feet.
Bradley was 3 over on his day after just six holes, but made five birdies over the final 12 holes to get to 2 under. He is attempting to become the first New England native to win the U.S. Open since Julius Boros of Fairfield, Conn., won his second title at The Country Club in 1963.
Rory McIlroy turned in a 73 to slip into a share of seventh at 1 under.
Leaders entering the day at 5 under, Collin Morikawa (77) and Joel Dahmen (74) both fell down the leaderboard.
Denny McCarthy, started the day tied for 55th after making the cut on the number at 3 over, fired a 68 in the third group of the day and enters Sunday tied for 11th at 1 over.
Each of the previous three U.S. Opens contested at The Country Club have required a playoff. They will use Nos. 1 and 18 in the two-hole aggregate playoff.
