The Final Round of the U.S. Open is Going to Be Spectacular

The U.S. Open appeared to be headed down a path that would seem boring to most casual fans after the first two rounds. Guys like Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, and Rickie Fowler had all either dropped too far back early on to be a part of the conversation or had missed the cut entirely. Of course the casual fan doesn’t realize that this is Oakmont, where things can change in the blink of an eye.

Dustin Johnson went out and handled the course with ease in his first two rounds. At one point DJ had hit 25 straight greens in regulation, which is a U.S. Open record, and had played 27 straight holes without a bogey. His first round was bogey free and was the first bogey free round at Oakmont since 1994.

His putting wasn’t exactly spectacular, but it didn’t need to be because no one was striking the ball nearly as well and with only Andrew Landry to compete with it all seemed too good to be true for DJ. To expect someone to play as well as Johnson did the first two rounds on the weekend is a tough ask, of course we’ve seen this from Johnson before; in his last in his last 10 rounds at the U.S. Open Johnson has been no lower than a tied for 6th.

And then came Saturday, the day most would imagine Johnson would begin to struggle, and he did to an extent. Johnson got off to a great start with a birdie at one, and then made a spectacular par save on the second before giving up two strokes and making a double bogey on the third. The long bomber wasn’t striking the ball as well as he had been the first two rounds, but he wasn’t done and bounced right back with a birdie on the fourth and although he made two more bogeys, he birdied the par-4 15th and finished his third round at one-over to give himself yet another chance at a U.S. Open win.

Johnson was only part of the story on Saturday, the other part was the fortitude of Andrew Landry, who went through qualifying to play in the U.S. Open, and shot an even par 70 in his third round and appeared to be right at home on the big stage. Landry made three birdies and three bogeys and finished at three-under overall. Should he win, he would become the first player to win the U.S. Open in his major championship debut since Francis Ouimet did so in 1913.

Then there’s Irishman Shane Lowry, who made an unbelievable seven birdies and only two bogeys in his third round. Lowry’s overall score of 203 through the first three rounds is the lowest 54-hole score at Oakmont in U.S. Open history. At the end of his round, which he finished on Sunday morning, he held a four-stroke lead at seven-under over Landry and Johnson.

Lowry caught a break heading into the final round and will be paired with Landry thanks to his third round score of 70, which bested Johnson’s 71. It will surely work to his benefit to know that while the pin placements are tucked away in difficult spots, he won’t have to do anything spectacular and only maintain the course he’s currently on while the guys chasing him will be forced to attempt more difficult shots.

It doesn’t end there, Lee Westwood, who has finished in the top three in major championships nine times in his career charged up the leaderboard and at one point on Saturday, held the lead. He finished his day at two-under overall and is still very much in the hunt.

Throw in Branden Grace, who held a share of the lead on the 70th hole at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in 2015 before he lost his drive right and dropped behind Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, at one-under, Sergio Garcia at even par, and Jason Day, who shot 31 on the back nine in his third round to climb back within striking distance at one-over with Bryson DeChambeau and Zach Johnson and you’ve got yourself a Sunday that will surely be memorable.