Brookline bares its teeth

That’s what knocked defending champion Jon Rahm out of the lead on the final hole. The Spaniard thought he had seen it all – including a shot he played backhanded from the base of a tree on the eighth hole – when he took three swipes from sand in two bunkers.

Rahm’s first shot from a fairway bunker hit the lip and nearly rolled into his footprint. His next shot found a plugged lie in a greenside bunker, and two putts later he had a 71 and went from one ahead to one behind.

Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick were at four-under 206, the same score of the 54-hole lead when the US Open was last at The Country Club in 1988.

It’s not like Rahm had full rights to the lead. Yesterday at Brookline was so wild that Rahm was among eight players who had at least a share of the lead at some point. Three of them didn’t even finish among the top 10, including two-time major champion Collin Morikawa.

Morikawa, who shared the 36-hole lead with Joel Dahmen, had double bogeys on the seventh and 13th holes, and might have had a third after a chunked wedge on No 4 except that he made a 25-foot putt for bogey. He finished with a 77.

Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was not immune. The world’s No 1 player looked to be pulling away when he holed a wedge from 80 yards for eagle on the par-five eighth.

He was at six-under and cruising until his wedge to a back pin on the 141-yard 11th hole bounced hard over the green and into deep rough. He took two to the green and two putts later was no longer leading. And it only got worse as three straight bogeys followed and he shot 71.

Seven of the top 12 players going into yesterday made at least one double bogey in strong wind and cool temperatures that made this sweater weather in June.

Rory Mcilroy was not on that list. His was more of a slow bleed, mostly from a putter that wasn’t behaving. He made one birdie in his round of 73.

‘‘It was one of the toughest days on a golf course I’ve had in a long time,’’ Mcilroy said. ‘‘I just needed to grind it out, and I did on the back nine. To play that back nine at even par today was a really good effort, I thought. Just kept myself in the tournament. That’s all I was trying to do. Just keep hanging around.’’

Twenty-three players were under par going into the third round. Only nine remain with 18 holes remaining, all of them separated by three shots.

That includes Keegan Bradley, who shot 69, and was two shots behind with Adam Hadwin (70) and Scheffler. Mcilroy was three back along with Sam Burns (71) and Dahmen (74).

Freddie Burns’ dropped goal with 20 seconds left clinched Leicester the English Premiership from Saracens by 15-12 in a thrilling final at Twickenham yesterday.

Leicester overcame the firsthalf loss of injured talisman George Ford – replaced by Burns – to end a nine-year wait for the title.

Tries by South African backrowers Hanro Liebenberg and Jasper Wiese in an eight-minute spell in the second quarter underpinned the Tigers’ victory.

Saracens halfback Aled Davies was in the sin-bin during both tries following a high shoulder-led challenge on Tigers hooker Julian Montoya. Davies was fortunate to avoid a red card.

Leicester led 12-6 at halftime and dominated the third quarter without scoring. Saracens skipper Owen Farrell kicked his second and third penalties to tie the score by the 76th minute.

But Burns had the final say.

‘‘It was one of those where I was ecstatic to get it over,’’ Burns said. ‘‘I managed to shin it over, it was like a dead duck going over but I don’t care, it went through.’’

Saracens’ hopes of completing a stunning rise from salary cap scandal and relegation humiliation in 2020 to regain domestic silverware were dashed.

‘‘They trapped us in our half for long periods and backed that up with brilliant defensive work,’’ Saracens director of rugby Mark Mccall said. ‘‘We were a bit suffocated. We didn’t get anywhere near our best.’’

Meanwhile, French champions Toulouse won’t be defending their Top 14 title after a 24-18 loss to Castres in the semifinals.

Castres’ grand final opponents will be Montpellier, who beat Bordeaux-begles 16-12.

Toulouse fielded former All Blacks prop Charlie Faumuina and Kiwi midfielder Pita Ahki against Castres on Saturday.