Thomas one shot back of lead after record 63
Rickie Fowler is at 10-under.
“I’m not sure when it’s going to sink in or when I’m going to realize what I did,” Thomas said. “I know one thing, if it happened tomorrow and the result is what I want it to be, than I’d probably have a different feeling. I’m just so excited to give myself a great chance to win this golf tournament.”
Thomas’ dramatics happened on the 18th when he hit his second-shot three-wood more than 300 yards on the par-five 667-yard finishing hole. The ball hit just short of the green and popped forward and rolled 8 feet past the hole.
“I obviously needed to nuke it,” Thomas said of his three-wood, which he later called his best of the round. “But I just felt like I could get it up in the air enough to hold the green as soft as they were. And it came out nicely.”
After waiting while playing partner Jonathan Thomas hit his third, fourth, fifth and sixth shots, Thomas stood over his ball for a couple seconds and rolled it in for an eagle.
“I was excited to take the lead,” Thomas said. “I was excited to shoot 63. I had no idea that 9-under was the best ever in an Open, so that was pretty cool once I saw my card. The guys at the scoring table told me that, so I was pretty pumped.”
Thomas started his record round with birdies on the first two holes. On one, a par five, he was 85 feet short of the hole on his second shot and got the easy up and down. On the 331-yard second hole, his drive was 46 feet short of the hole and, again, he got up and down.
He gave back a stroke on four when his drive went into the right fescue and his second shot was over the green. He got down in three from there. He birdied the fifth with a 19-foot putt.
Then he had a run of three birdies. On seven, he sank a 15-footer. On eight, he put his 154-yard approach shot to about 2 feet and made the putt. And on nine, he made a 21-foot putt.
He bogeyed the 10th hole when he hit a bad second shot right of the green. Then he picked up a birdie on 12 with a 9-footer. He drove the green on the 288-yard, par-four 15th and got down in two. And then he made a 27-footer on No. 17 before making eagle on the history-making 18th hole.
The 24-year-old Louisville native is not new to success. He won the first two tournaments of this year, both in Hawaii. In the Sony Open, he became the seventh player to shoot a sub-60 round with a 59. He won that tournament by seven shots.
There were a lot of low scores. An inch of rain fell overnight, making the course about as menacing as a golden retriever puppy.
Thirty-two players finished with rounds under par Saturday, the most ever for the third round.
“It was definitely conducive for good scores [Saturday],” Thomas said. “When you give us soft greens and not much wind, you know there are going to be some good scores. I was just happy that I was the one to take advantage of it today.”
Harman, who is hoping to become the first left-hander to win the U.S. Open, must have felt overlooked given Thomas’ accomplishment. But, obviously, his 67 with six birdies and one bogey, was a pretty good round.
He had a chance to extend his lead to two but missed a 11-footer for birdie on 18.
“I’m motivated by the fact that I’ve made a plan and I’ve stuck to the plan so far,” Harman said. “Obviously I have no idea what [today] holds, but I’m more motivated by the way I’m striking the ball. It’s the best I’ve struck the ball in a long time. And my short game is pretty good. I’ve been putting it pretty good. So I’m excited about all those things.”
Haman, 30, joined the PGA Tour in 2012 and has won two tournaments, including the Wells Fargo Championship earlier this year.
There are 15 players within seven strokes, so it’s still a wide-open tournament.
“It’s going to be weird,” Thomas said about the time he has to pass before teeing off today. “I don’t know what I’m going to feel tonight or if I’m going to sleep well. … But I know I’m going to be nervous, but it’s a good nervous. That’s why I play to get myself in this position.”
One thing you can count on for certain today is that the streak of six majors being won by a first-time winner will grow to seven.
The highest former major winners are Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen at 4-under, tied for 17th.