For the first time in his career, Bryson DeChambeau will take the 54-hole lead into the final round of a major championship. Blitzing the field at Pinehurst No. 2 on Saturday, the 2020 national champion electrified the crowd and carded six birdies on his way to a 3-under 67 to stand at 7 under and three clear of Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay and Matthieu Pavon at the 2024 U.S. Open.
With his 67, DeChambeau became the only player to shoot his first three rounds in the 60s at a U.S. Open held in Pinehurst, North Carolina. A fourth would all but solidify his second U.S. Open victory and pull him alongside the likes of Walter Hagen, Lee Trevino, Brooks Koepka and Payne Stewart -- on the 25th anniversary of Stewart's dramatic victory at Pinehurst, no less.
Playing to the crowd and unleashing the driver with confidence, the 30-year-old became not only the man to beat but the man to root for in North Carolina. One stroke off the 36-hole pace to start the day, DeChambeau took an initial step back when he dropped a shot on the par-4 4th.
That was the last mistake he would make for some time as jaw-dropping distance off the tee -- that elicited a trip from his physio to work on his hips -- combined with relentless wedge play nearly took the oxygen out of this championship. Five birdies over his next 11 holes saw DeChambeau's name surge to the top of the leaderboard.
Not only did the lead become his, the feeling of this championship belonging to him did as well. Stretching his lead to four at one stage late on the back nine, the rejuvenated American looked like he could do no wrong. Until he did.
A double bogey on the par-4 16th saw his lead shrink to two, but a bounce-back birdie on the par-3 17th confirmed his margin would be three heading into Sunday's final round. Even with that blemish, DeChambeau -- in the final group in a major championship on Saturday -- carded the second-best round of the day only to be outdone by Collin Morikawa's bogey-free 66 in the morning.
DeChambeau's effort featured almost everything: fist pumps (plenty of them), exasperated looks, discussions with the crowd on club selection, stretching sessions in the woods caught by drone cameras, every score between two and six, and bombs (plenty of those, too) off the tee. It was DeChambeau at his peak: entertaining, fun-filled and giving the people what they want. It just so happens he wants the same, too: another U.S. Open trophy to put on his mantle.
2024 U.S. Open leaderboard, Round 3
1. Bryson DeChambeau (-7): The driver steals the headlines, but the putter was the star of the show Saturday. DeChambeau has now 1-putted 20 of his last 32 greens as he gained over three strokes on the field with the flat stick in hand. If he putts like that Sunday, he will win this golf tournament. (And even if he doesn't, there's a good chance he does anyways with the way he''s performing from tee-to-green.)
T2. Rory McIlroy, Matthieu Pavon, Patrick Cantlay (-4): McIlroy described it as a "good day overall," but there were chances for it to be even better. The four-time major champion got it to 3 under through his first 14 holes -- even without making a birdie on either par 5 -- before three consecutive loose iron swings undid most of his work. Dropped shots on Nos. 15 and 17 saw McIlroy drift off the pace ever so slightly, but he remains in prime position to play spoiler on Sunday and break his decade-long major drought.
"I'm excited about it," McIlroy said. "It would have been nice to hole that putt at the last and get to 5 under and break out of that logjam at 4. Pros and cons. Pros and cons to being in the last group, and maybe playing one group ahead mightn't necessarily be a bad thing. I'm pretty much in the same position that I was last year going into the final day at LACC. So, familiar position, been here many times before, and hopefully tomorrow I produce the golf that's needed to go one better."
Meanwhile, the two other men alongside McIlroy experienced far different rounds. Pavon shot out the gate carding three birdies and six pars across his front nine to turn in 32 and took the lead into the second nine. He struggled to keep up the pace but was still able to card one of the few under-par rounds. As for Cantlay, the co-first round leader plodded his way through Pinehurst without his best stuff. Playing his last nine holes in 1-under fashion, he has given him a chance to grab his maiden major.
T5. Hideki Matsuyama, Ludvig Åberg (-2): The young Swede was a smidge unsteady compared to his first two rounds, but he hung tough. Exchanging a couple birdies for a couple bogeys on his front side, Åberg hit one of the shots of the week when he laced his 7 wood to 10 feet on No. 10. The big mistake came just a few holes later, however, as he played ping pong on the 13th green and carded a triple bogey.
Matsuyama, on the other hand, was slow out the gate with three bogeys across his first seven holes. It appeared he would become an afterthought in this tournament, but a three-birdie run across four holes in the middle of his back nine shot new life into his strut and may have been enough to give him a chance Sunday.
T7. Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton (-1): Finau found his footing early Saturday with a pair of birdies in his first five holes to reach 6 under. After a dropped shot on the difficult par-3 6th, he made amends with the closest shot of the day into the par-3 9th. He was cruising up until the par-4 13th when he made the inexplicable decision to putt from short and low of the green. Finau ultimately putted his third through the green and into the bunker leading to a triple bogey.
T9. Collin Morikawa, Corey Conners, Tom Kim (E): Morikawa's 66 represents his first bogey-free effort in this championship, and it could not have come at a better time. Off in the morning hours, the two-time major champion leaned on the putter to successfully navigate his way around Pinehurst. He rolled in birdie bids from 10 feet, 35 feet, 6 feet and 24 feet in addition to several lengthy par saves.
"[My goal is] to win," Morikawa said. "I mean, look, if I play the way I did today, who knows what could happen? This course is only going to get tougher. I know it's not going to be easy. Today was not easy by any means. I just put it in the right spot, kept the ball in front of me, really just played very simple golf."
T12. Xander Schauffele, Sergio Garcia, Aaron Rai, Taylor Pendrith (+1): The PGA champion got off to a brutal start making a pair of bogeys out the gate. Another dropped shot before the inward half saw Schauffele turn in 3 over and all but dashed his chances of a potential comeback. He did well to play his second nine under par, but it may have been too little too late. Schauffele's hit only a shade over 50% of the fairways this week.
T16. Russell Henley, Thomas Detry, Davis Thompson, Akshay Bhatia (+2)
T20. David Puig, Mark Hubbard, Brian Harman, Sam Burns, Stephan Jaeger (+3)
T25. Min Woo Lee, Billy Horschel, Denny McCarthy and four others (+4)
T32. Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark, Cameron Smith and five others (+5)
T42. Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Daniel Berger, Keegan Bradley, Tom McKibbin (+6):Scheffler's 71 marks his fourth straight over-par round dating back to last week's Memorial -- it's the first time in 120 professional starts that the world No. 1 has been on such a skid. It's clear he's been somewhat annoyed by the wire grass and with his green reading as Scheffler has lost five strokes putting across the last two days.
"Really, my swing today felt a lot better than it did yesterday," Scheffler said. "I felt like the last 27 holes I've played, I've hit it really nice, but I just haven't been able to hit it quite close enough, which is difficult around this course. I haven't been able to hole the putts the last few today."
