Rickie Fowler and fellow American Wyndham Clark shared a one-stroke lead over Rory McIlory of Northern Ireland entering Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club.
Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked men’s golfer and pre-tournament favorite, was in fourth, three strokes off the lead. Harris English was in fifth, four strokes off the lead, while Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele were tied for sixth, five strokes off the lead.
Since 1974, all 49 U.S. Open championships have been won by a player who was either leading or was no more than five strokes off the lead entering the final round, with 48 of the 49 winners leading or within four strokes of the lead.
The largest come-from-behind victory in the U.S. Open is seven strokes by Arnold Palmer in 1960.
Fowler held a one-stroke lead over Clark entering Saturday’s third round, then shot an even-par 70, including three-putting for a bogey on the 18th hole, including a 3 1/2-footer for par that lipped out.
“Bummer to have that one slip away, but tomorrow is a whole new day,” Fowler said Saturday. “Through three rounds we’re in the spot that we want to be in, and tomorrow is when the tournament starts.”
Playing in Saturday’s final twosome with Clark, Fowler had three birdies and three bogeys. He birdied the first hole, then bogeyed the second and the fifth to drop into second, two strokes behind Clark, who birdied the first and third holes.
Fowler moved within a stroke of the lead with a birdie on the seventh hole and regained the lead when Clark bogeyed the 11th and 12th holes.
Both golfers birdied the par-4 13th hole. Fowler’s lead grew to two strokes when Clark bogeyed the par-4 17th hole.
Clark birdied the 18th hole to complete his round at 1-under par 69, with four birdies and three bogeys, dropping to 10-under 200 for the tournament.
The 34-year-old Fowler, who was born and raised in Murrieta, has not won on the PGA Tour since the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open. This is the 10th time he has been the 54-hole leader or co-leader on the PGA Tour and the first time in a major. He is 2-for-9 in converting a 54-hole lead or co-lead into a victory.
“We have a chance tomorrow,” said Fowler, the second choice in betting at 5-2, behind McIlory, who is at 2-1, according to BetMGM, an official betting operator of the PGA Tour. “After going through the last few years, I’m not scared to fail. I’ve dealt with that. We’re just going to go have fun, continue to try to execute, leave it all out there, see where we stand on 18.”
This is the third time the 29-year-old Clark has led or co-led an individual stroke play event on the PGA Tour and first in a major. He converted his 54-hold lead in last month’s Wells Fargo Championship to his first PGA Tour victory.
Sunday’s final round got underway around 8:20 a.m., but Fowler and Clark — again playing in the final twosome — were set to begin their rounds at 2:30 p.m. They began their rounds at 3:40 p.m. Sunday.
“It’s a little ridiculous that we teed off that late,” Clark said. “I would say right around hole 15 or 16 it started getting to where you couldn’t see that well. I 100 percent think my bogey on 17 was because I couldn’t see, and I think Rickie’s bogey on 18 was because he couldn’t see.”
McIlory shot a 1-under 69 Saturday with three birdies and two bogeys.
“The golf course definitely got a little bit trickier today than the first couple of days,” said McIlory, who began the round two strokes off the lead, tied with Schauffele for third. “Felt like I played really smart, solid golf. Hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. Sort of felt somewhat stress free out there, if you can ever call golf at a U.S. Open stress free.”
This is the fifth time McIlroy opened a U.S. Open with three rounds in the 60s. He went on to win three of the previous four times.
Scheffler shot a 2-under 68 with four birdies, including on the 18th hole, four bogeys and an eagle on the par-4 17th hole, which is playing as the most difficult hole on the course this week, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“Could not see the ball go in, but there was a nice crowd there on the grandstand behind the green,” Scheffler said. “I saw where it landed and I thought it would funnel out on to the green and I’d have a look for birdie and then you could see everybody as the noise started to kind of rise, got excited, and then they erupted, which is always nice when you’re standing back there in the fairway.”
Scheffler is the first player in 20 years to make an eagle on the hardest hole of a U.S. Open championship.
English shot a 1-over 71, to remain alone in fifth, but dropping one stroke further off the lead.
Johnson also shot a 1-over 71, remaining tied for sixth, but also falling one stroke further off the lead. Schauffele shot a 3-over 73, dropping out of a tie for third and falling three strokes further off the lead.
Tom Kim matched a U.S. Open record by shooting a score of 29 over his first nine holes. He is the fifth player to shoot a nine-hole score of 29 in the U.S. Open and first since Louis Oosthuizen in 2015. Kim is in a three-way tie for ninth with Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, seven strokes off the lead.
The winner will receive a record $3.6 million. The total purse is $20 million, also a record. The previous highs were $3.15 million and $17.5 million last year.
The LA Country Club course was criticized by defending U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick over the weekend. The Englishman sank a hole-in-one Friday, then lamented the relatively small size of the gallery. On Saturday, he took aim at the course itself.
“I just think the golf course is interesting, to be polite, I think,” Fitzpatrick said. “There’s just too many holes for me where you’ve got blind tee shots and then you’ve got fairways that don’t hold the ball. There’s too much slope. I think the greens certainly play better when they’re firmer. I definitely think that’s the case. They’re rolling really, really well. Some of the tee shots are just — I think they’re a little bit unfair. You hit a good tee shot and end up in the rough by a foot and then you’re hacking it out. Meanwhile someone has hit it miles offline the other way and they’ve got a shot. Yeah, not my cup of tea.”
Fitzpatrick was tied for 15th after Saturday’s round at 1-under par, nine strokes off the lead.