Fitzpatrick and Zalatoris share lead as field struggles on round 3 – US Open
Round 3
Matt Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris hold a share of the lead going into the final round of the US Open, with defending champion Jon Rahm a shot off the pace after a frustrating finish.
Zalatoris posted a three-under 67 in breezy conditions at The Country Club to move to four under alongside Fitzpatrick, who made three birdies in a four-hole stretch before finishing his third-round 68 with a closing bogey.
Rahm also made a back-nine charge to briefly grab the solo lead, only for the Spaniard – looking to become just the fourth player since World War II to win back-to-back US Open titles – to double-bogey his final hole and slip a shot off the pace into third.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler remains within two of the lead alongside Keegan Bradley and Adam Hadwin, while Rory McIlroy produced a string of length par-saves to salvage a three-over 73 and head into Sunday three strokes back.
Some 16 players are within five shots going into what is set to be a thrilling Sunday in Boston, with overnight co-leader Collin Morikawa six strokes back after stumbling to a seven-over 77.
Morikawa grabbed the solo lead when Joel Dahmen three-putted the first but slipped back when he holed a 20-footer to scramble a bogey at the fourth, having fatted a chip, with Aaron Wise briefly joining the tie at the top until he followed a birdie at the fourth with a dropped shot at the next.
Scheffler, starting the day three behind, holed a 25-footer at the first and cancelled out a bogey at the second by taking advantage of the next, before jumping two clear with a stunning hole-out eagle from 100 yards at the par-five eighth.
Morikawa reduced the deficit to one with a birdie at the fifth but lost ground when he followed a bogey at the sixth with a three-putt double-bogey at the next, while Zalatoris followed a front-nine 33 by converting from five feet at the 15th to move to four under.
Scheffler took two attempts to escape thick rough to double-bogey the 11th, before bogeying his next two holes, as Zalatoris closed out a bogey-free back nine to set the clubhouse target.
Fitzpatrick had started three back and fell further behind when he bogeyed the first, only for the Englishman to hole from ten feet at the fifth and make a two-putt gain at the eight and turn in 34.
The 2013 US Amateur champion responded to a bogey at the tenth by posting back-to-back birdies from the 14th to move alongside Zalatoris on four under, before holing from eight feet at the 17th to briefly move into the outright advantage.
Fitzpatrick failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker to save par at the last, slipping him back into a share of the lead, with Rahm making it a three-way tie at the top when he recovered from bogeying the 13th to take advantage of the par-five next and hole a 30-foot birdie at the 15th.
Rahm added a six-foot birdie at the 17th but then took two attempts to get out of a fairway bunker at the par-four last, with a closing double-bogey seeing him sign for a one-over 71 and dropping him a shot behind.
Bradley posted a second successive 69 and first-round leader Hadwin carded a level-par 70 to remain at two under, with Scheffler completing the trio tied-fourth as he chases a second major win and fifth PGA Tour victory of the year.
Also in with a chance is Waterford’s Seamus Power who produced a brilliant level-par 70 to sit on one-over par, just five strokes back.
