Frustrating day shakes up leaderboard at U.S. Open

Justin Rose reacts after missing a putt on the 12th hole during the third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday in Southampton, N.Y. Rose shot a 3-over-par 73 and was fifth, one shot out of the lead.
Justin Rose reacts after missing a putt on the 12th hole during the third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday in Southampton, N.Y. Rose shot a 3-over-par 73 and was fifth, one shot out of the lead.

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. - Dustin Johnson gets at least one more round to try to redeem himself in the U.S. Open.

So does the United States Golf Association.

The best players in the world were no match for a Shinnecock Hills course that even the USGA conceded got out of hand Saturday. Putts were rolling some 50 feet by the hole and over the green. No one from the final 22 groups could match par. Phil Mickelson intentionally broke a rule on the 13th when he trotted to his ball rolling by the cup and swatted it with his putter as the ball was still moving.

"It was a very tough test, but probably too tough this afternoon," said Mike Davis, the USGA's chief executive. "We must slow the courses down tonight, and we will."

It was too late for one of the wildest Saturday shakeups in U.S. Open history.

Daniel Berger and Tony Finau, who started the third round 11 shots out of the lead, each shot a 4-under-par 66 before Johnson hit his first shot. Johnson faced greens that made him feel as though he were putting on glass, and it was like that to the very end.

Johnson, who had a four-shot lead before the third round, barely nudged his 17-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole and watched it roll - and roll - eight feet by the cup. He missed the par putt coming back and signed for a 77 to fall into a four-way tie for the lead.

"I didn't feel like I played badly at all," the 2016 U.S. Open winner said. "Seven over usually is a terrible score, but with the greens the way they got this afternoon, I mean they were very, very difficult. I had seven or eight putts that easily could have gone in the hole that didn't. And that's the difference between shooting 7 over and even par."

At least he still has a chance, though he had plenty more company at the top than at the start of the day. Johnson joined Berger, Finau and 2017 tournament champion Brooks Koepka (72) at 3-over 213, the highest 54-hole score to lead the U.S. Open since the fabled "Massacre at Winged Foot" in 1974.

It was the first time since the 2007 tournament at Oakmont Country Club that no one was under par going into the final day. With wind that was stronger than expected - plus a few pin positions that turned the layout into carnival golf - it was easy to see why.

Davis told Golf Channel he would have liked a mulligan, the same word he used nearly a month ago when discussing the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in 2004, when the seventh green wouldn't hold shots and had to be lightly sprayed with water between groups. That didn't go over well with Ian Poulter, who shot a 76 and shared his displeasure on Twitter, saying mulligans weren't an option "in business at this level."

Mickelson brought plenty of attention to the 13th hole, where anything that ran by the cup was headed off the green. Worst yet might have been No. 15, where Scott Piercy had a 30-foot birdie putt that finished rolling 75 feet away off the green. Koepka hit an approach to near the hole, but it moved a few inches to the right, then a few more feet and soon was in a bunker.

"You were seeing shots that were well played and not rewarded," Davis said.

Berger and Finau, who made the cut with one shot to spare, now will play in the final group.

Right behind them will be the past two U.S. Open champions. Koepka made only two birdies in his hard-earned round of 72, leaving him poised to become the first player since Curtis Strange in 1989 to win the tournament in back-to-back years.

Only three players broke par, all before the final groups teed off. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (68) joined Berger and Finau with the only other round under par and was just three shots out of the lead.

"If they'd have shot 4 under this afternoon, it would probably have been the best round of golf anybody's ever seen," Koepka said.

Two other former major champions - Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson - were right behind, and both had a share of the lead at one point. Both had three straight bogeys. Rose wound up with a 73 and was one shot behind at 214. Stenson had a 74 and was another shot back.

The return to Shinnecock Hills was supposed to make the U.S. Open feel like a traditional test that felt more like survival.

"Be care what you wish for," Rose said. "We've all been asking for a real U.S. Open again. So I guess we got one for sure this week."

And typical of an old-fashioned U.S. Open, there were plenty of complaints.

"I'm going to find Mike Davis," Pat Perez said after signing for a 77. "It's the U.S. Open. It's supposed to be hard. When is enough enough? It's not about hard. There's no other tournament where you see the guys putt off the greens."

Upcoming Events