Thomas gets a grip on history
Longest hitter pound for pound cards scorching third-round 63 — Open record relative to par
ERIN, WIS.— Justin Thomas sat on the end of his golf bag, like a hiker resting on a log, and extended his arms. As he suspected, they were shaking. With eight feet left to navigate on Erin Hills’ undulating 7,741yard layout, Thomas had U.S. Open history in his sights and food on his mind.
For the last few holes of his third round, Thomas’s hunger to contend for his first major championship had superseded his physical famishment. Caught up in a birdie binge, Thomas forgot to eat. On the 18th hole, he had an eagle putt for a nineunder-par 63, and all Thomas could think about was dinner.
He steadied his hands — and sank the shot to record the lowest score in relation to par in U.S. Open history. Johnny Miller owned the previous best round, eight- under 63 at the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Asked what the 63 meant to him, Thomas replied, “It means I have a lot better chance to win the tournament than I did when the day started.”
Thomas, 24, a three-time PGA Tour winner this season, started the day five strokes off the seven-under lead held jointly by Tommy Fleetwood, Brian Harman, Paul Casey and Brooks Koepka.
ERIN, WIS.— Patrick Reed has always been at his best when he’s been playing for his country. Playing for his country’s championship suited him quite well, too, on Saturday.
One of America’s top Ryder Cup players drenched himself in red, white and blue — including the pants with the “USA” logo that he wore at Hazeltine last year — then plowed his way through Erin Hills over the third round of the U.S. Open.
He shot 7-under 65 to finish at 8 under. It would have been the round of the day had Justin Thomas not shot 63, matching the best number ever posted at a major. Thomas finished at 11 under.
The 26-year-old Reed, who has posted six wins and earned seven points for the United States over the last two Ryder Cups, has not been able to find the same success at the majors. He’s never had a top-10 finish.
He is in the mix now, in large part, he thinks, because he didn’t press too hard.
“My first two years, every time I got to the majors, I worked too hard Monday through Wednesday, and by Saturday, I was tired,” he said. “And then, also, I was living and dying by every golf shot, every putt and everything. Coming into this year, I was just like, ‘It’s another golf tournament. Show up. Do what you do on a normal event and just play golf.’”
But if he was trying to be low-key, it certainly didn’t show — either by how he played or what he wore.
He said his wife, Justine, his mother-in-law and sister-in-law are his wardrobe consultants for the week, and they chose red, white and blue for the national championship.
The lower his score went, the more he got noticed.
Walking down the fairways to shouts of “Captain America” and “USA, USA,” Reed strung together three straight birdies to get to 8 under — hitting delicate chips up the hills on the 14th and 15th greens for putts inside of 12 feet, then making a 20-footer on No. 16. His birdie putt on No. 18 rimmed out or it would have been even better.
Most players readily concede that they’re as nervous as they get when matches are on the line at the Ryder Cup — or when it’s time to strike their very first tee shot of the week.
Now, Reed will get to compare that pressure to the pressure of contending at the U.S. Open on Sunday.
“I really haven’t had much U.S. Open pressure considering I teed off at 10:49,” he said of his early Saturday tee time. “But to me, it’s going to basically all kind of be the same. Just go out there and play my game plan, stick to what I know and just go play some golf.”