(Pinehurst) Starting the day nine shots from the lead, Collin Morikawa believed he had to at least play par to have a chance of winning the United States Open.
He did more than his part with a bogey-free round and a 66 (-4), the best score of the day.
On the other hand, he did not expect Bryson DeChambeau to do almost as well, with a 67 (-3). That left Morikawa seven shots behind, with one round to go.
DeChambeau is the leader at seven under par.
The powerful slugger hit eight drives of 340 yards or more en route to a score that gave him a three-shot lead.
DeChambeau won the competition in 2020, and he placed second at the PGA Championship last month.
Rory McIlroy (69), Matthieu Pavon (69) and Patrick Cantlay (70) are three shots behind the leader.
Ludvig Åberg started the round with a one-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard, but he was the victim of a triple bogey on the 13th hole to finish the day with a 73 (3). He is five shots behind DeChambeau, as is Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (70).
Morikawa, who is now tied for par overall, shares ninth place with his American compatriot Tom Kim and Canadian Corey Conners (71).
If he hopes to win this Sunday, Morikawa will need the type of magic that Arnold Palmer generated when he won this Omnium for the first time, in 1960. Palmer was then seven shots behind Mike Souchak after 54 holes. However, he birdied six of his first seven holes in the final round, beating amateur Jack Nicklaus by two strokes. It’s the biggest comeback in the tournament’s 124-year history. That day, Palmer shot 65 and Souchak 75.
“If I play like today, who knows what can happen,” said Morikawa, winner of the PGA Championship in 2020 and the British Open in 2021.
At the U.S. Open, Morikawa has two top-5 finishes in the last three editions.
On Saturday, his fourth birdie of the day came on the last hole.
“I made the putts I needed,” Morikawa said. I didn’t waste any shots near the flags. I was very consistent. »
After a 74 on Friday, Morikawa studied some video and realized he needed to slow things down.
“For me, every time things go fast, things go wrong,” Morikawa said. I tried to be a little more patient and execute the best I can. »
Aged 27, Morikawa had the chance to win his third major tournament at the Masters Tournament in April. He was one shot behind Scheffler and in the final group, before finishing tied for third.
The other Canadians in the running Taylor Pendrith (70) and Adam Svensson (74) are in 12th and 47th place respectively.
