Matt Fitzpatrick will take a share of the lead into the final round of the US Open as he seeks a first major title and historic Brookline double.
Defending champion Jon Rahm looked set to finish an eventful Saturday on top of the leaderboard when he birdied the 14th, 15th and 17th to take the outright lead, only to run up a double bogey on the 18th. Rahm was unlucky to catch a fairway bunker with a well-struck drive, but then drilled his second shot into the face of the hazard and found more sand in front of the green with his third.
The resulting six dropped the Ryder Cup star back to three under par, a shot behind Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris on four-under, who had overcome the blustery conditions to shoot 68 and 67 respectively.
Rory McIlroy’s chances looked to be fading fast when he covered his opening seven holes in three over par to slip five behind world number one Scottie Scheffler, who had holed from 102 yards for an eagle on the eighth to reach six under.
However, Scheffler ran up a double bogey on the short 11th and dropped further shots on the next three holes, while McIlroy birdied the 11th and relied on a brilliant display of putting to keep the leaders in his sights on one under, despite a disappointing 73.
Home favourite Keegan Bradley is a two-under, alongside Scheffler and Canada’s Adam Hadwin, while the group at one-under includes Sam Burns and Joel Dahmen in addition to McIlroy.
Follow all the action from the third round of the US Open below.
