Saturday, Round 3

SOUTHAMPTON, NY

"Yeah. Scottie is the best player in the world, and he's going to play probably really good. He always does, but it's nice to have a six-shot lead on him. But really I'm just going to keep approaching it the same way. If I go out and execute and go through my process and hit the shots I know I can hit, I like my chances. But yeah, we'll address that when we get to it. I'm not necessarily thinking about my lead or anything. It's more of, hey, if I can get to this number, I like my chances." - Wyndham Clark on being in the final group with Scottie Scheffler on Sunday.

All credit to Wyndham Clark and his backers. Clark has handled the pressure for three rounds after opening with 64. The same guy who destroyed an Oakmont locker one year ago and probably helped inspire the Joaquin Rule now has a chance to become a two-time US Open Champion in three years. Prior to this week, 21 players have held a 6+ shot lead in a major championship, and 20 of them have gone on to win. Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters is the only exception. Wyndham Clark also looks to become a wire-to-wire US Open winner. The last time that happened was in 2014 when Martin Kaymer won at Pinehurst #2.

Round 3 summary:

• Leader: -7, Wyndham Clark (64-69-70=203)
  • There are 5 players under par after 54-holes.
• Scoring average:
  • Rd 3: +3.63 (2018: +5.33)
  • First nine scoring average: +1.43, back nine: +2.19 (+0.76)
  • Morning wave: +4.44 (+1.63), afternoon wave: +2.81
  • Hardest hole Rd 3: #3 +0.57, easiest hole: #5 -0.47
  • The Field was 261 strokes over par today with 3 eagles, 143 birdies, 329 bogeys, and 36 double bogeys or worse!
• Strokes gained T2G leaders through two rounds:
  • Sahith Theegala, Wyndham Clark, Corey Conners, Scottie Scheffler, Keegan Bradley, Alex Fitzpatrick, Sam Stevens, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Maverick McNealy
• Betting favorites after Round 3:
  • Clark (-230), Scheffler (+570), Schauffele (+2350), Theegala (+2800), Kim (+2900)
• Conditions: The forecast played out as expected. The morning tee times were beat up by the wind. The scoring averages reflected the conditions. That Northwest wind is really tough across this course. Temperatures reached the high 70s under partly cloudy skies.

Observations:

Between the lines...

• Two players signed for rounds in the 60s on Saturday; Emiliano Grillo (67) and Scottie Scheffler (69). They did it in different ways, Grillo with the putter, and Scheffler with his ball striking.
• "Obviously when you see the first guy out there makes an 8, then the second guy out there almost -- Chris Gotterup had to back up three, four times on the first green. His ball moved -- it was marked, but his ball moved and it went like a good 12, 15 feet before they grabbed it. Some of the hole locations -- hole location on 2 with the wind off the left, you kind of know what you're going to find out there, and it's kind of nice seeing that on TV before going out. That always helps." - Emiliano Grillo on his mindset before Round 3.
• "I mean, they're huge. That's what you have to make to win U.S. Opens. You're not going to have too, too many birdie putts, and when you do miss, it's really hard to hit a gimme, so you've got to make those kind of 5- to 12-footers." - Wyndham Clark on making over 50' of par putts in Round 3.
• Putting continues to play a huge roll in this championship. Here are the putting leaders through three rounds.
  • Keith Mitchell, Zac Blair, Wyndham Clark, Rory McIlroy, Emiliano Grillo, Xander Schauffele
• "Yeah, it was awesome today. I think this was probably how the viewers and all golf fans want to see the course play. It still wasn't crazy firm out there. It was still soft enough to where pins are accessible, and you weren't worried about one-hopping too many balls over the green.But it put a lot more emphasis on the strike of your approach shot. I think that's something that's pretty underrated. The fairways are pretty dry now, and the lies are a lot thinner, so you catch some of these iron shots a groove or two low on the face. They come out a little bit lower with a little bit less spin, so that first bounce gets really big." - Sahith Theegala on the importance of iron contact.
• Based upon Sahith's iron analysis, keep an eye on our approach leaders after 54-holes.
  • Ben Kohles, Sahith Theegala, Sam Stevens, Alex Fitzpatrick, Harry Higgs, Corey Conners, Akshay Bhatia, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Dustin Johnson
• "This one is the perfect example of why you should watch the broadcast. You can see where the pins are, how the ball is reacting when it lands on the green to those pins because these greens are big but they're effectively small. The square footages are deceiving because there's so many slopes and false fronts. So when you watch the coverage, you can see where the guys are landing the ball and you can see where it rolls out to and then you can see where -- if they can get up-and-down from short side or not. It's kind of like seeing the test before you actually have to take it." - Keith Mitchell on using the television coverage as an advantage.
• Of the top 6 GIR guys this week, five are in the top 13 on the leaderboard. If Wyndham can hit greens today, he will win. For the purpose of finding little edges in Round 4, here are the top 6 GIR leaders through 54-holes.
  • Sahith Theegala, Joaquin Niemann, Sam Stevens, Corey Conners, Sam Burns, Keegan Bradley

The US Open is such a unique event. It requires such a specific skill set independent of the venue. Take for example Sam Stevens. Coming into Shinnecock Hills, Stevens had made the cut in his first three US Open starts. Stevens, in his words, "I don't know, I'm an average PGA TOUR player, I guess. Yeah, I don't know. That's a good question. I'm just a golfer." An elite driver of the golf ball, Sam proves that if you can just keep it in play, one can survive the toughest test in golf. Stevens has hit 41 of 54 GIRs, and 29 of 42 fairways. Third in approach play and top 25 putting, that's the blueprint for success. What makes the US Open special are the players who continually climb the national championship leaderboards. Enjoy the final round, and let's hope one or two of these chasers can make it interesting...

Live Betting - US Open

Sunday card: S. Theegala over T. Kim (-112 DK) M. McNealy over B. Harman (-134 DK) S. Stevens over E. Grillo (-128 DK)

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