LOS ANGELES – Despite all the concerns about the Los Angeles Country Club giving players too much during the week, the balance was at least partially restored at the start of the weekend– not least because typical Southern California weather has finally arrived. The lowest score among the top eight players on Saturday was just 68, and Rickie Fowler’s late three putts kept a convincing group in touch with the lead.
Fowler (under 10) is trying to win his first major and his first tournament since the 2019 Waste Management Open. Wyndham Clark (under 10) won for the first time earlier this year at Wells Fargo and is also seeking her first major degree. And in the penultimate duet? Rory McIlroy (under nine) attempts to exorcise nearly a decade of major championship frustration, while world number one Scottie Scheffler (under seven) is back in position despite an uneven week on the greens.
Fowler is undoubtedly the sentimental favorite to recover from an epic slump that knocked him out of the world’s top 180. As inspiring as his comeback was, Fowler’s last real dose of major contention came at the Masters in 2018 – and his last sniff at the US Open was in 2017 at Erin Hills.
Whether or not this experience of 2017 is a valuable avatar for Fowler depends on your perspective. Erin Hills was just as receptive early on: Fowler was the first-round leader at seven under and Brian Harman led at 12 under after three rounds. But Brooks Koepka won his first major by taking control on Sunday with a 67, while Fowler finished fifth after shooting an even-par 72 on Sunday.
It seems to have happened in a different career, but Fowler said his previous experiences in the majors and the journey out of his slump left him with a healthy, stress-free outlook. “It’s the best I’ve felt in a normal tournament, but especially in a major tournament, in my career,” he said. “I’m not afraid to fail. I sorted all that out. We’re just going to have fun, keep trying to execute and see where we are on 18.”
At least we’re not talking about illegal top fives this week. McIlroy started strong and was a constant presence at the top of the leaderboard, but he performed without any of the bursts of momentum that have been the signature of his four major victories.
He never had any serious problems on Saturday and almost made his 69, but he was visibly frustrated to pull away from 18 for a round that saw only three birdies and never seemed to get out of low gear. His post-round comments were short and clipped, and he perhaps revealed the most about his state of mind when asked about the value of having the most winner among the last two pairs.
“I don’t know, I haven’t done it in a long time,” McIlroy said. “I’m going to go out there and try to execute a game plan, and over the last three days I feel like I’ve executed that game plan really, really well. I just need to do it for one more day.
We know it can close—Clark I did it convincingly at Wells Fargo last month to win his first PGA Tour title. But the major pressure of the championship is different. Still, the place to break down might have been on the 13th on Saturday, when Clark was coming off back-to-back bogeys that knocked him out of the solo lead. He responded with birdies there and on 18 to enter the final pairing with Fowler, a fellow Oklahoma State Cowboy. he idolized during his time in Stillwater. “Following those bogeys with a birdie and a birdie at the end, I felt like I had faced adversity,” he said. “I feel like my best lap is still there.”
If you judge by body language, Clark’s boss’s club is spinning after stuffing his approach on 18 is a pretty good leading indicator of his comfort.
The stats indicate that Scheffler is emerging from the slump he was in last month – he gained positive strokes/putting territory for the week – but some of the visuals from Saturday afternoon had to be concerning.
There was, for example, the seven-footer for birdie on the miniature par-3 15th that didn’t scare the hole, and the series of doable holes in the middle of the front nine that he played in a very vanilla par .
After signing for his 68th birthday, the famously amiable Scheffler forcefully (for him) redirected a line of questioning about his putting to how good he felt about working his way through a poor ball-striking round on Thursday and regaining momentum with his eagle from the fairway and the arrival of the birdie. “I’m here, on tee 17, and I’m seven shots behind. I think maybe I could steal a shot coming in, Scheffler said. “I hit a good drive and the shot went in, and that’s a huge boost. Two more good shots in 18, I make the putt and all of a sudden, instead of seven shots back, I’m only four back. I hope I will continue this momentum. »
Well, the 1973 U.S. Open has been a popular topic this week, from Johnny Miller making an appearance to accept the USGA’s Bobby Jones Award on the 50th anniversary of his victory at Oakmont to Fowler and Xander Schauffele smashing Miller’s US Open in a single round. scoring record with their 62nd birthday on Thursday. Could someone come from six years ago like Miller did to find Arnold Palmer?
Dustin Johnson seems to be the only realistic candidate. He has five behinds and has an explosive game that results in birdies. So does Schauffele, and he also has five behinds, but his struggles Saturday made it seem like 62 happened a month ago. He was visibly uncomfortable with the ball as he left two in the No. 1 bunker and spent the rest of the day trying to tread water.
