Gary D’Amato: This is not your father’s U.S. Open.
Thomas’ 63 ties mark; Harman holds lead
TOWN OF ERIN – Here’s how you know this is not your father’s U.S. Open: Justin Thomas blistered Erin Hills with a 9-under-par 63 in the third round — the lowest score in relation to par in the 117-year history of the championship — and didn’t even hold the lead at the end of the day.
“Moving day” at the U.S. Open is supposed to be a series of car wrecks, not a drag race. Golfers are supposed to hold their breath, tiptoe, speak in hushed tones. They’re supposed to be anxious, intimidated, in awe of their
“I’m not sure when it’s going to sink in or when I’m going to realize what I did.”
JUSTIN THOMAS WHO FIRED A 63 IN THE THIRD ROUND
surroundings.
Instead, they wear bright pink pants and play like they own the place.
Convention, it seems, has gone the way of the rotary phone.
The scoring average for the top 16 on the leader board Saturday was 68.25 and overall it was barely above par (72.016). The field actually made more birdies (253) than bogeys (196).
Ben Hogan is rolling over in his grave.
The leader after the divots stopped flying was 5-foot-7 Brian Harman, who is disproving the theory that Erin Hills is a bomber’s paradise.
The left-hander ranks 58th in the field in driving distance but has shot 67-70-67 and is at 12-under-par 204 going into the final round, one shot ahead of Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Tommy Fleetwood of England.
“Everything I read says I hit it super short,” Harman said. “I don’t think I do. Maybe I do. I don’t know. Ends up where it ends up.”
Only one player has been deeper
into red figures at the U.S. Open than Harman: Rory McIlroy, who got to 17-under, and won at 16-under, in 2011.
Harman, 30, of St. Simons Island, Ga., was a decorated amateur and is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, but plays with a chip on his shoulder. He wouldn’t say why, but did reveal in his post-round news conference how long it’s been there.
“I think since my dad dropped me off at football practice and told me not to be disappointed if I didn’t play at all,” he said.
When the reporters’ laughter died down, Harmon said, “I played. A lot.”
Thomas, 24, made nine birdies, an eagle and two bogeys en route the fifth 63 in U.S. Open history and the 29th in major championship history. None of the five players who shot third-round 63s in previous majors went on to win.
Thomas, however, is one of the most explosive players on the PGA Tour and is a threetime winner already this year. In the Sony Open in Hawaii in January, he shot 59-64-65-65 for a 27-under 253 total, setting tour scoring records for 36 and 72 holes and tying the 54-hole record.
He made an incredible eagle on the par-5 18th hole, blasting a 331-yard drive and then hitting a 302-yard 3wood onto the green, his ball rolling to a stop 8 feet from the hole. He made the putt and was still numb 45 minutes later.
“I’m not sure when it’s going to sink in or when I’m going to realize what I did,” he said.
Johnny Miller, whose finalround 63 at Oakmont in 1973 generally is considered to be the greatest major championship round ever played, praised Thomas while getting in a subtle dig at Erin Hills.
“Taking nothing away from 9-under par — 9 under is incredible with U.S. Open pressure,” Miller told Ryan Lavner of golfchannel.com. “But it isn’t a U.S. Open course that I’m familiar with, the way it was set up.”
There’s long been a debate about scoring at the U.S. Open. If 42 players are under par, as is the case at Erin Hills, is it a bad thing?
“I feel like the U.S. Open is supposed to be very uncomfortable,” said Thomas, who clearly isn’t. “I think it’s kind of what the USGA and the U.S. Open is known for, is making you kind of hate yourself and hate golf and just really struggle out there.
“But, yeah, it’s different being like this. Just being in a U.S. Open and seeing and hearing so many birdies … usually those roars are for pars and stuff like that.”
It’s not the course’s fault. Erin Hills looks great and by and large the players love it. But when it rains nearly every day for a week — the course absorbed another nine-tenths of an inch Friday night — and the wind doesn’t blow, the best players in the world are going to shoot low numbers.
Harman noted that at 12under he’d have “about a 10-shot lead in most Opens.”
“Yeah, being this soft, birdies are going to happen,” Thomas said. “It was definitely conducive to good scores today. You could get after it a little bit. It just doesn’t matter how long, how whatever the course is. When you give us soft greens, good greens and not much wind, you know there are going to be some good scores.”
Fleetwood and Koepka both shot 68s and joined Thomas at 205. Rickie Fowler also shot a 68 and was alone in sixth, two shots back.
“It’s going to be a really cool day for someone tomorrow,” Fowler said. “I’m looking forward to my shot at it. It’s not going to be an easy day, for sure. I’ve been there a handful of times and had some good finishes. But I’m looking forward to getting the job done.”
As night fell at Erin Hills, there was one red flag among all the red numbers: the forecast for Sunday called for winds out of the west-northwest at 15 mph and gusting to 25. That’s a different direction, and much stiffer, than the golfers have seen.
Throw in some final-round U.S. Open pressure and maybe, just maybe, we’ll see the contenders fighting for pars. Wouldn’t that be a switch?