Lowry took a four-shot lead over Andrew Landry and Dustin Johnson into the final round at Oakmont, armed with the knowledge that the late Payne Stewart was the last to enjoy such a lead and not secure victory.
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Jason Day of Australia plays a shot on the third hole during the third round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania.
Leader Shane Lowry went off in the final group with Andrew Landry, a U.S. Open rookie ranked No. 624 in the world. Johnson and England’s Lee Westwood, who is five strokes behind at two under, will tee off 10 minutes earlier and chase Lowry throughout the final round.
Sergio Garcia, also in search of an elusive first major, dropped back to level par after back-to-back bogeys at 15 and 16.
“Obviously that kind of put me a little bit behind the eight-ball, and I said, “Just keep it under par and still have some birdie opportunities”, said Landry. “If that’s good enough, I’ll be quite happy”. Day posted a 69 in the morning and a 66 in the afternoon and at one point was within in four shots of the lead. The most memorable failure was past year at Chambers Bay in the U.S. Open, when he was 12 feet away from winning and three-putted to finish one behind Jordan Spieth. With such margins, it’s a setup that dictates that Sunday’s victor play relatively boring golf and par the place to death.
To join them on the roll of honour would be the high point of Lowry’s blossoming career after his breakthrough win at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational a year ago.
He drained a 12-foot putt on the 15th hole for his first birdie Sunday morning and then nailed a seven-foot birdie putt on No. 17 after executing a strong wedge out of dense rough.
It was a insane Saturday afternoon of golf in the third round, which began just past 3 p.m. local time.
Two ahead overnight in the second major championship of the year, Lowry birdied two of his last four holes to get to seven-under 203 with a first grand slam title looming in his sights.
Lowry has never finished higher than ninth in majors, although he did win a World Golf Championship event past year.
Johnson, who three-putted the 72nd hole at last year’s US Open to hand the win to Jordan Spieth, refuses to be drawn into any debate over his near misses at the majors and especially last year’s last green horror show. “So there’s no reason I can’t go out and do it again (Sunday)”.
Landry made his way into the tournament as a qualifier and had made only five of 11 cuts coming in.
He produced four birdies and an eagle in a third-round 66 to reach the clubhouse on one-over 211 – six shots behind the lead held by Shane Lowry with four holes to play. He bogeyed the first two holes to slip to five shots off the lead. He has been at the doorstep in a handful of major tournaments, including ninth place finishes in the 2015 U.S. Open and The Open Championship in 2014.
“When I came out this morning I would have taken four pars”, Lowry said on Fox Sports 1.
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Spaniard Sergio Garcia, a nine-times victor on the PGA Tour who has suffered several near-misses in the majors over the years, was at even par after 54 holes.
