Bryson DeChambeau has taken the lead in the third round of the US Open as the major heads for a thrilling conclusion.
DeChambeau, who is eight-under for the tournament, leads a chasing pack of Rory McIlroy, who is six-under, along with Matthieu Pavon, who is four-under.
DeChambeau’s early charge in the third round is made even more impressive by the fact he is working through a hip injury, having woke up with discomfort in the area.
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Pavon, trying to become only the second Frenchman to win a major title, made three birdies on the front nine at Pinehurst to grab initially grab share of the lead.
World number 24 Pavon stood on six-under at the turn but has since dropped to four-under.
Not since Arnaud Massy took the 1907 British Open has a French golfer won a major.
But Pavon became the first French winner on the PGA Tour since Massy’s triumph at Royal Liverpool when he won at Torrey Pines in January.
Meanwhile, Ludvig Aberg of Sweden made a strong start to the day but then suffered a triple bogey at the 13th hole which saw him drop down the leaderboard, although he made an important birdie soon after and currently sits at three-runder.
Aberg, April’s Masters runner-up in his major debut, could become the first US Open debut winner since 1913, when 20-year-old American amateur Francis Ouimet upset Britain’s Harry Vardon and Ted Ray at The Country Club in his hometown of Brookline, Massachusetts.
Aberg was the first debutant since Taiwan’s Chen Tze-chung in 1985 to lead the US Open after 36 holes.
Elsewhere, Tony Finau held a share of the lead but has since suffered an unfortunate meltdown, dropping six shots behind DeChambeau after following up a bogey with a triple bogey.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler was 12 strokes adrift. American Scheffler, the hottest golfer entering the week and a huge favorite, fired a 71 to stand on six-over 216 through 54 holes.
“Another frustrating day,” Scheffler said.
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“I thought I played a lot better than my score. I’m having a lot of trouble reading these greens.”
Finau sank an 11-foot birdie putt at the second and tapped in for birdie at the fifth but made bogey at six, finding a bunker off the tee.
Cantlay stumbled with an opening bogey but birdied the fifth. Cantlay has a chance to move past Collin Morikawa for the final spot on the US team for the Paris Olympics but needs no worse than a two-way share of second to do it.
Morikawa fired a 66 on Saturday to stand on level par 210, closing his round with a 25-foot birdie putt.
DeChambeau, the 2020 US Open winner and runner-up at last month’s PGA Championship, fell back with a bogey at the fourth but birdied the fifth.
Hatton birdied the second and made an eagle putt from just inside 14 feet at the par-5 fifth to climb within one of the lead before a bogey at the par-3 sixth dropped him back.
Northern Ireland’s McIlroy, seeking his first major win in 10 years, dropped his approach inside three feet at the third hole and sank his birdie putt only to bogey the par-3 sixth after a 10-foot par miss.
Only 11 players were under par for the tournament as the perils of Pinehurst took a toll, with its dome-shaped elevated greens and dirt and weeds waste areas.
Scheffler, who made the cut on the number at five-over 145, had three bogeys and two birdies.
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“Definitely tricky pin positions,” Scheffler said.
Scheffler was the first player since Tom Watson in 1980 to win five US PGA Tour events before the US Open, taking the fifth last week at the Memorial, and has 12 top-10 finishes in 13 events this season.
The usually stoic and calm Scheffler, flipped his putter in the air and slammed down a driver on Friday.
“Golf is a mental torture chamber at times, especially the US Open,” said Scheffler, who refused to call the course borderline unfair.
“When it comes to the US Open, ‘borderline’ is such like a trigger word,” he said.
Scheffler wasn’t the only one to refer to it as “mental torture” though, with Shane Lowry also making similar comments after recording three birdies and three bogeys in a round of 70.
“It’s torture out there, honestly it’s absolute mental torture,” he said.
“That’s the best level par I’ve ever shot in my life,” he said.
“Every single shot you have, even when you hit a good shot the putts you have, it’s brutally difficult. It’s not much craic out there to be honest.
HOW HAVE THE AUSTRALIANS FARED?
Not well. Unfortunately there won’t be an Australian winner at this year’s US Open, with Adam Scott continuing to struggle after his strong start while Min Woo Lee and Cameron Smith were also unable to do enough to move up the leaderboard.
Lee was the best-placed Australian after the third round, recording a two-over-par 72 to put him at four-over on the tournament, 11 shots back from current leader DeChambeau.
Smith was another shot back from Lee after also managing a 72 on a day which included four bogeys, one double bogey and four birdies for the 2022 British Open champion.
Scott, meanwhile, was in contention after the first round but has continued to slip down the leaderboard and had six bogeys without a single birdie on Sunday to finish eight-over, 15 shots off the lead.
Fellow Australians Jason Day, Cam Davis and Jason Scrivener had already missed the cut.
Source Agencies
