120th U.S. at Winged Foot. It may be time to change the opening announcement in three weeks. After this week’s BMW Championship, it will play as the 121st US Open. On the third straight day, Olymp Limpia Fields delivered the goods to the best packed field in the world. After the game’s holes play holes, there are only two players better than one over, and we’ll be on Sunday to see the winning score we haven’t seen in two decades.
Surprisingly, some of the best ball-strikers in the world (and perhaps all-time) have reached the top in this incredible tax week. Patrick Cantle left, but while Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, Rory McLeroy, John Reham and Hideki Matsuama are still clearly involved, you know the test is tough. Let’s see how Round 3 went down and what to expect at the end of Sunday.
T 1. Hideki Matsuama, Dustin Johnson (-1) – Winning a DJ last week will be exactly under 30 and this week too. He left shortening a handful of putts on Saturday, but he snaps when he’s most important. He loves to go on Sundays for no reason. Matsuama actually leads the area from tee to green, but that’s a lot because he’s been out there several times around these greens (on the eagle’s first hole on Saturday). I’m less confident about where I am with his swing than the DJ
T 3. Adam Scott (+1) – I haven’t yet confirmed what to make of Scott’s Week. He’s been driving very terribly, hitting his erno and having the second-best rate in the field. That doesn’t sound like a formula for a Limpia Fields winner – especially not this week – but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him turn 68 on Sunday to win and completely destroy the Greens. Just go knowing it can go bad.
T 3. Joaquin Niemann, Mackenzie Hughes (+1) – Get Niemann to 100-1 to win Winged Foot while you still can. He has every shot shape and ball in the book, and they have been on display at Olympia Fields this week. She is in the top five losing strokes with Tea Green and her putter. This is a good formula if you are looking for someone to pop for 18 holes on a Sunday afternoon.
T 6. Rory McLeroy (+2)) – McLero fought himself a bit on Saturday because he didn’t hit him quite well and in the first two days he made a third hole and put himself at an early loss. However, even when he was offered a chance to go out, he gave himself a chance on Sunday. To extend his 19th PGA Tour trophy on Sunday evening, he will either have to give himself more chances with his short earns or hit some long stretches (he made it just over 8 feet on Saturday).
T6. John Rahm, Sebastian Munoz, Kevin Kissner, Bubba Watson, Brendan Todd (+2) – The mercy ended exactly as the leader zoomed in on Saturday, and now he has one last time on Sunday. He scored 66 runs in one round of the week in Round 3 (with a stroke penalty for forgetting to mark his ball on the ball green!). Don’t let the +2 score fool you, it’s too much in this event. McIlroy said earlier this week that the tournament was similar to Muirfield Village about two months ago, with Rahm moving on to win. If he does something like 66 66-67 like on the weekend to win this tournament here, it could be an even better win than Memorial.
T55. Tiger Woods (+10) – Big Cat had a rough day at the very end of his round. He made a triple on the 17th hole which erased the great work that led to it. His putter was even better on Saturday, hitting the U.S. at Winged Foot. Going to the Open is an encouraging sign, but Woods doesn’t seem to be able to put his entire game together in a single tournament. It’s not too far, but margins are mega-slim in this type of field at this time of year.
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