US Open: Matthew Wolff leads after third round, Rory McIlroy back on the hunt | Golf news

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4:23

A look back at the best of the action from the US Open third round at Winged Foot in New York

Matthew Wolff challenged his inexperience in the majors and Winged Foot’s difficulty when he built a two-shot lead after a captivating third round of the US Open.

Wolff shot an outstanding five-under-65 to put himself in prime position to celebrate his tournament debut with a win, just a month after finishing tied for fourth in his first major appearance at the PGA Championship, while also he aspires to be the first rookie winner since Francis Ouimet, 107 years ago.

Rory McIlroy jumped back into contention and is six behind after 54 holes

Bryson DeChambeau and Louis Oosthuizen were the only other players to complete 54 holes under the card when Patrick Reed’s hopes plummeted with a horrendous 43 in, while Rory McIlroy was given an outside opportunity to end his great six-year drought. with an impressive 68 that left him six shots behind the leader.

But Wolff was the standout player on day three and seemed the epitome of the new generation of young golfers who are “combat ready” as soon as they join the professional ranks, a skill demonstrated by Collin Morikawa when he lifted the Wanamaker Trophy. at his second grand opening in San Francisco.

Day three how it happened

How the action unfolded in the third round at Winged Foot …

His swing may be unorthodox, but his hitting the ball and belief in his own abilities are unquestionable, and his lead might have been more dominant had he not missed three good chances from within 10 feet to add to his six-birdie tally. in a stellar. Saturday.

But Wolff certainly got his fair share, making a pair of 15-foot birdies in the first and fourth, and with Reed unable to gain momentum early in his round, Wolff took control of the championship with three birdies on four holes that swept him. . around the corner in just 30 shots.

4:04

Matthew Wolff goes over the highlights from this third round of 65 at the US Open and discusses how he plans to approach the final round.

The 21-year-old consolidated his position at the top of the leaderboard with six cast iron pairs in a row before a drive thrown at 16 resulted in his only blemish of the round, pitching back to the fairway and clipping. a nine foot wedge but misjudging your line of putt for par.

However, he rallied the shot on the last after a lucky bounce from the thick rough into the first cut as his tee shot leaked to the right, and he made the most of the favorable lie as he knocked down his approach to 10 feet and nailed the knock. putt to close at five under par.

“I think my putt was by far the best it’s felt in the last two or three months,” Wolff said, uncaring about hitting just two of the 14 fairways on the third day. “I feel like I’m really hitting the ball well. My irons were really good, and even though I only hit two fairways, my driver was barely out, but that’s the US Open.

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“I feel like even though I missed the fairway, there were a lot of times that I was in that graded rough that’s a little shorter, and I feel like yesterday the difference was that I was on the really long things. But I felt really good about all of them. parts of my game, and I’m excited to be where I am and look forward to tomorrow. “

Wolff was three strokes off the course when he signed his card, but DeChambeau, who had previously bogeyed the first two holes, closed within one when he birdied at 16-17 only to end his round when he started, missing a six foot. on par in a disappointing finish to a 70.

Reed stayed within reach of Wolff despite an uncertain start, with two birdies and a pair of bogeys in the first five holes, although he was again below par by the day he birdied in the ninth to reach five below par.

Patrick Reed was one down on the turn, but stumbled home at 43

But the 2017 Masters champion lost his way after the corner and skipped the bogey on 10 before turning up on 11 and making a pitch from near the green en route to a damaging double bogey six.

Reed went into full freefall with three consecutive bogeys from 13th and his measly nine seconds ended with consecutive knockdowns on 17th and 18th, putting him eight strokes off the beat en route to the final round.

1:32

Rory McIlroy believes he still has a chance of winning the US Open after hitting a 68 in the third round at Winged Foot.

Oosthuizen, who has a career runner-up grand-slam in the majors, charged his fourth birdie of the day on the penultimate hole in his 68 which lifted it to a low one as Hideki Matsuyama, Xander Schauffele and Harris English enter the final round. at even level.

Schauffele rebounded from a rocky start with birdies in sixth and eight followed by a superb eagle in ninth after drilling his second at 15 feet, but dropped three shots over four holes from 13 before finishing high with a good three in the last.

McIlroy’s torrid third-round 76 was quickly forgotten as he revived his hopes for a major fifth win with a composite 68 with three birdies and only one bogey, an impressive response to a second-round card containing seven bogeys and a double bogey. .

The 2011 runaway champion is just one more and one ahead of Rafa Cabrera Bello, Viktor Hovland and two-time Major League winner Zach Johnson, while the world’s No. 1 and 2: Dustin Johnson (+5) and Jon Rahm (+7)) came out of the race.

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