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Ninety-seven years ago, Bobby Jones won the US Open at Inwood Country Club, aged 21. It was almost a century before another 21-year-old, Jordan Spieth, won the title at Chambers Bay. Now with one round remaining at Winged Foot, Matthew Wolff looks to do the same, just weeks after his college rival Collin Morikawa took the PGA championship in a wise and weary 23.
Wolff produced one of the best rounds you will see in a major championship, or indeed anywhere, to move to a two-shot lead late in the third round. His athletic abilities are evident, but what impressed the most was his handling of those abilities and this fearsome ride. Most of the time, his misses were on the right side and when he got out of position on the 16th hole, he took his medicine, scored a bogey and just went and recovered the shot with a dynamite approach last.
There was fortune involved in that closing birdie, his drive came out of the heavy, in the first inconsequential cut, but it is in those breaks that the winning platforms are built. And there is no doubt that you now have one. Wolff is two ahead of his closest pursuer, four ahead of the only other player below par and five ahead of all but those two.
How well this kind and quirky young man has slept we might find out later, but I don’t expect him to buckle under pressure and disappear from this ranking the way Dustin Johnson did a decade ago. In just over a year as a professional he has competed three times, winning his first title with an eagle, doing little wrong by leading the Rocket Mortgage Classic and settling for second, and working his way to a top five in his career. great debut in the PGA Championship.
Throughout all these tournaments, BRYSON DECHAMBEAU he’s been a constant presence, and while Wolff doesn’t give up easily, the most decorated player may eventually take home one of golf’s greatest awards.
It was DeChambeau who had the 3M Open stolen by the eagle shutting down Wolff, and he earned some revenge in Detroit where, losing by three, he quickly staggered in the lead and won his sixth PGA Tour title. Wolff couldn’t buy a putt that day, yet he birdied five of his last seven holes to ensure DeChambeau had to work hard to achieve it.
Ten weeks later, DeChambeau, despite being closer this time, progresses to the final round at the same price. He looks a bit generous, and the way he fought off the bogeys in the first two holes of round three bodes well for what’s to come. Most importantly, her long game has been crisp and with the course playing from the rough more often than from the fairway, I think it has been easier for her to gain an advantage when taking shots from the rough, as we saw yesterday in spectacular fashion
The biggest concern when arriving at the event was that his form was poor. Some will have argued that his methodology may not work in a US Open, but it worked in a difficult PGA Championship and I’m not sure there is a field outside of Valderrama where, properly exploited, his combination of strength and desire to put it into practice. use would not be an asset.
He has responded to the concern for form and it is those approach shots that have been key. All summer we’ve seen him fly the wedges too far or twist them too far after drilling a knee-deep hole with a 370-yard drive down the middle. We saw him again on the first hole on Saturday, actually. And yet most of this week he has found a measure of control and precision that had been missed during the FedEx Cup Playoffs. I think it could well drive a great victory.
Wolff has some motivational factors that may well have underpinned this performance. His agent is in very bad shape, a point he made Saturday night that helps him downplay a golf tournament, even this one. And then there’s Morikawa, his college training partner who so ruthlessly put together his first honors. Wolff must have been absolutely inspired by that confirmation that, these days, lack of experience is not much of a barrier.
And yet he enters this round with a target on his back, playing alongside perhaps the only opponent he wouldn’t want to see alongside him on that first tee. DeChambeau’s constant self-analysis and pace of play can unsettle anyone at best. Under the pressure of a final round of the US Open, I may be able to get Wolff out of his rhythm and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he is ahead of the corner.
The above effectively considers this to be a coincidence, which it is not. There are many candidates to fire the best round of the day that would see them enter the conversation, Hideki Matsuyama and Xander Schauffele may be the chosen ones. However, DeChambeau has yet to shoot above par and both members of the final group will have to back off if this really wants to open up. I don’t expect them to.
Looking at the two balls, it’s tempting to go up against a wayward Justin Thomas with Billy Horschel and there’s a case for opposing Alex Noren, whose pitch on Saturday was unimaginably good, even by his standards. Lucas Glover is 11/8 in a place to beat the Swede and he might as well do it, having been solid across the bag, but at the end of a long week I don’t have the stomach to watch Noren pour a 30-foot par save while Glover Makes three putts for bogey.
Opposing Shane Lowry almost paid off Saturday; Unfortunately, he was grouped with one of the six players in a 61 field who scored worse, but again, Chesson Hadley is not my idea of a strong candidate to expose the fact that Lowry wants out of here. He said so himself after the second round and would probably prefer the Irish Open not take place next week.
The advice then is a little double in RICKIE FOWLER and TONY FINAU both to win their two balls against English rivals, in the form of Matt Wallace and Lee Westwood respectively.
Fowler looked good in the third round, doing very little wrong as conditions were the most difficult. He carelessly shot at 10 with a triple putt and again at 18 with a short focus, but overall there were a lot of positives as he looked for something to take the season ahead.
It’s not a huge surprise that the putter has stopped you while you’ve been reshaping your swing with John Tillery and that can often lead to a lack of focus elsewhere. Still, those swing changes seem on track and he has always been a great feeling player, ideal for when conditions are tough and some old-fashioned instinct is required.
Wallace has hit a lot of fairways and greens this week and he doesn’t take it lightly, especially as he showed how much he enjoys the grind when he stays on the field at Muirfield Village this summer. Still, he has struggled as the greens have gotten faster and the pins more difficult after a strong start and having scored the best in round three, I expect Fowler to do the same in round four.
Finau drove the ball very well on Saturday and should have gotten more out of his round. With three more and in a part of 21, he is not completely out of this if he is capable of producing a Wolff-like number and throughout the summer he has underlined how well he plays these long, hard courses with thick, rough and fast greens.
At just over 2/1 double, a small bet gets the nod, the stakes have been reduced from Saturday due to the fact that it is more than two players that I hope to play well rather than find weaknesses in opponents. Westwood and Wallace are respected, but for now it’s America until the end.
Posted at 0925 BST on 20/09/20
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