We started Moving Day with a U.S. Open rookie leading the way.
By the time Pinehurst No. 2 cleared for the night, Bryson DeChambeau had built up a dominant lead over the rest of the field.
DeChambeau ran away with the third round on Saturday afternoon in North Carolina. He carded a 3-under 67 and built up a ridiculous four-shot lead over the rest of the field at one point as everyone else slipped away. He’ll enter Sunday’s final round with a three-shot lead while hunting for what would be his second U.S. Open win.
DeChambeau will go off with Matthieu Pavon, who finished with a 1-under 69 on Saturday. Rory McIlroy, who hasn’t won a major in nearly a full decade now, is at 4-under on the week, too. He was in the mix briefly on Saturday, but he bogeyed twice in his final four holes to fall back. He’ll go off with Patrick Cantlay in the penultimate group, marking their first time playing together since the Ryder Cup last fall.
Hideki Matsuyama is in fifth at 2-under on the week. Ludvig Åberg, who started the day with a one-shot lead, had a brutal triple-bogey on his back nine and ended up finishing the day 3-over. He’ll go off with Matsuyama. Tyrrell Hatton and Tony Finau are tied at 1-under, and are the only other golfers under par heading into the final round.
Bryson DeChambeau pars the 18th, which gives him a 3-under 67 on the day. He’ll enter Sunday at 7-under with a three shot lead over the field.
McIlroy vs. Cantlay rematch
Well, this paring should be a lot of fun on Sunday after the chaos that went down in Rome.
Tomorrow will be the first time Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay have been paired together since the Ryder Cup. Penultimate group on Sunday of the U.S. Open. pic.twitter.com/UPJGb3GWE7
Bryson DeChambeau didn’t waste any time. He booked it to the 18th tee, teed off almost immediately and sent his drive went well left of the fairway. We’ll see how this turns out.
Bryson extends his lead again
Bryson is absolutely cruising. He just bounced back with a birdie at the 17th, his sixth of the day, and he’s got a three shot lead once again heading to the final hole.
Bryson throwing darts again
Yeah, that double didn’t shake Bryson any. He just stuck his tee shot at the 17th within a few feet of the cup to set up another birdie look. Incredible.
Bryson gives two back
Well, that changes things. Bryson DeChambeau, after a rough chip at No. 16, just made a double bogey. His lead is suddenly just two shots with two holes to go.
Rory’s day is done
Rory McIlroy’s day is done, and it’s hard to think he’s not disappointed. He made two bogeys in his final four holes, and missed a couple of good birdie looks down the stretch, en route to his 1-under 69.
As it stands, he’s four shots back of Bryson DeChambeau.
Bryson’s lead keeps growing
Bryson’s lead keeps growing. Rory McIlroy just bogeyed again ahead of him to fall back to 4-under. So DeChambeau’s lead is now an incredible four shots as he tries to go up-and-down for par at the 15th.
ANOTHER Bryson birdie
Bryson DeChambeau is starting to run away with this thing. He just sank another birdie putt after a rough drive, which pushed his lead to three.
The fans at Pinehurst are loving it, too.
Walking with Bryson and he is a HUGE crowd favorite now. The U-S-A chants kicked up as he punched the air after that birdie.
Bryson had a great birdie look at the 13th, but he just barely missed the cup. He settled for an easy par — but, since Rory McIlroy just bogeyed ahead of him, Bryson’s lead is back to two.
Ludvig Åberg, on the other hand, is now out of it. He just made a triple at No. 13, which was the fourth on the hole today, to drop five shots back. Brutal.
“Don’t boo me, I’m sorry.”
Bryson couldn’t give the crowd what they wanted, and he landed in the bunker.
Of course, it worked out for him.
Rory cuts the gap
Rory McIlroy is now 1 back after a huge tap-in birdie at the 14th. We could be looking at a Rory-Bryson final pairing on Sunday …
Rory’s not going away
Rory McIlroy is hanging in there. A huge par save at No. 13 keeps him at 5-under for the week, which is still two back from DeChambeau.
Bryson pushes his lead to 2
Yeah, Bryson DeChambeau is fine.
After getting work done on his hip and hitting the longest drive of the day, Bryson just sank his second straight birdie. His lead is now 2.
Bryson DeChambeau getting work done
Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau was down getting some work done before teeing off at No. 11.
He then hit the longest drive of the day, because of course he did.
Leaderboard update (again) after Rory’s latest birdie
This is getting hard to keep up with. Rory McIlroy just sank a birdie putt at No. 12 to join the group at 5-under. It was his second birdie in the last four holes.
Bryson DeChambeau may be in the lead, but we’ve got a lot of golf to go on Saturday. Let’s look at the top of the leaderboard.
Leaderboard
1. Bryson DeChambeau -6 (10)
T2. Matthieu Pavon -5 (13)
T2. Tony Finau (11)
T2. Rory McIlroy (12)
T2. Ludvig Åberg (10)
DeChambeau takes solo lead
Ludvig Åberg just barely missed his eagle putt at the 10th, so he’ll settle for birdie. That gave him a share of the lead at 5-under … which lasted all of about 30 seconds.
Bryson DeChambeau, who landed a ridiculous approach of his own in the greenside bunker, went up-and-down for a birdie to take the solo lead at 6-under.
