Like a cunning fighter who ruins an opponent to complacency, the Country Club punched hard on Saturday, shaking off the best of the game and preparing for a Sunday at the U.S. Open without a clear favorite.
The winds rose in adolescence. The greens dried up and throbbed. The roughness, let rise, swallowed wildly and endured. The field as a whole soared nearly a-and-a-half times worse than Friday’s 71.99 average, and Friday night’s lead of -5 fell sharply to -4. At the start of the day, 23 players were below; on Saturday evening, they were only nine.
“This place is a beast,” co-leader Will Zalatoris later said. “It’s so easy to make mistakes out there that you can, of course, do it in major leagues in general, but especially this one.”
The leaders
Zalatoris, who started the day with four shots out of the lead, took the club’s lead to -4 with a 67, the low round of the day. Zalatoris has gotten into the habit of playing ridiculously well seniors; in his last seven majors, he has five finals in the top eight, a missed cut and a retirement. He lost to Justin Thomas in a playoff at last month’s PGA Championship, but has only returned four weeks later. But the dispute is not a championship.
“Obviously, there are a lot of important champions in this standings, and by no means is the job done,” he said. “Not even close. But keep doing what I’m doing. Make sure you get to the green as fast as you can or at least minimize mistakes.”
About 45 minutes after Zalatoris took the lead alone, Matthew Fitzpatrick (-4) tied 14 and 15 to tie with Zalatoris, and then made 17 to take the lead. Fitzpatrick, who has spent a long time on the “upcoming” roster, is one of the few experienced players on the country club before this week, having won the U.S. Brookline fan in 2013. once on the 18th, but still arrives on Sunday tied with the Zalatoris.
The story goes on
“It simply came to our notice then [the 2013 win] it gives me an edge over others, yes. I really think so. It’s a real, obviously positive moment in my career. It gave me a boost, “he said.” Going back here and playing so well again gives me a growing confidence round by round. “
The challengers
Current champion Jon Rahm (-3) took away some of the early concerns about channeling part of his Ryder Cup mojo (three birdies in four holes) and taking the lead at -5 with two holes to play. But one disastrous day 18: he fired two shots to get out of a street bunker, buried his approach to a green-edge bunker and ended up with a double bogey, costing him the lead for Sunday.
Even more impressive was the sharp decline of Masters champion Scottie Scheffler (-2). He reached the eighth, sinking from 101 yards, to -6, the furthest below parity reached this week. But he returned it all and much more in the last nine, making five in the course of just four holes. With a win on Sunday, Scheffler would become the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win both the Masters and the U.S. Open, and a bit of constant play in the final holes kept him in position to do so.
“The U.S. Open is very demanding, mentally and physically. I think that’s all part of what makes this tournament so much fun. You’re going to test yourself in different ways, whether physically, mentally, whatever. This golf tournament will put you to the test, “he said. “That’s why I’m introducing myself here. I think it’s a little fun. If all golf tournaments were like this, it would be a long season for all of us. A few times a year I think it’s a lot of fun.”
The most disastrous round of the day was for Collin Morikawa (+2), Friday night’s co-leader, who seemed to lose all the touch he had generated on a 66 Friday. Two separate bogey-double bogey back-to-backs helped clear his card, leaving him +7 for the day and +2 for the week. Morikawa had been playing with a swing change a week, and on Saturday he finally updated it.
Rory McIlroy (-1) did almost everything he could to vaporize his chances early, bogeing three of the first six holes to drop up to five strokes of the lead. But he remained stable, at one point throwing eight nine-hole shots, and kept his distance from the lead. Given that he has managed to detonate almost every major in the last eight years with a bad round, the fact that he was able to stay together on Saturday could be a good omen for a career in a fifth major.
“It was one of the hardest days on a golf course I’ve had in a long time. I just needed to grind it, and I did it in the next nine,” he said. “I just stayed in the tournament. That’s all I was trying to do. It’s just going on here.”
Also nearby: Keegan Bradley (-2), winner of the 2011 PGA Championship and a local Boston product. It launched its first launch earlier this week at Fenway Park and took to the streets at 6pm to a banging reception in Boston.
“Honestly, it was one of the most amazing moments of my entire life,” Bradley said afterward. “I felt like I was playing at Fenway, playing at the Garden, playing at Gillette Stadium. I felt like a Boston player there. It was a moment I will never forget for the rest of my life and I am grateful that the fans they have given, and I hope to encourage them again [Sunday]. “
The tight standings allowed for cameo appearances from several players who had a good hole at the right time. Adam Hadwin also finished -2, and Patrick Rodgers and Nick Hardy were among those who were twice in the lead, although Aaron Wise, Hayden Buckley, Joel Dahmen and Matthew NeSmith saw their strong positions. on Friday night they faded. .
(Painful) image of the day
How hard was it out there in the greens of the Country Club? Travis Vick was 12 yards from the pin. After this chip, which could only see rolling, rolling and rolling, it was 75 meters away. He would continue to make a new bogey quadruple in the hole:
Sunday’s weather is expected to be cooler and windier than Saturday’s, meaning the U.S. Open is gearing up for an even more chaotic final afternoon.
Will Zalatoris finished his day at the US Open as No. 1 (Andrew Redington / Getty Images)
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Contact Jay Busbee at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter at @jaybusbee.