Johnson feels right at home at Erin Hills

ERIN, Wis. — The beauty of is that he never forgets where he came from.

Talking about his stellar play Saturday at Erin Hills, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native cracked: “My motivation was the Cedar Rapids Gazette because they came up here when I was teeing it up Saturday.”

That has to be fake news, right?

This is not: Until he shot 68 Saturday, Johnson never had bettered 69 in a U.S. Open round.

That seems impossible, given he has played in every Open since 2004 — and given that his playing style is not like slinging shots yard.

Johnson is as dependable as a John Deere mower: Fairway. Green. Fairway. Green. all over the

So did this like your best round, Zach?

“I try to forget about this tournament when I get done with it,” he replied. “I’d really have to ponder.”

Johnson is 3-under through 54 holes, his lowest U.S. Open score in relation to par after Saturday but still a country mile from the top of the leaderboard.

“This is probably the best my game has been all year,” he said. “This is the best I’ve felt with my golf bag all the way through. I have made some changes to my putter, my irons, my driver.”

Johnson used Titleist equipment for his first 12 years on tour, switching to Parson Xtreme Golf at the start of 2016.

“It wasn’t a financial decision,” he said. “A 40-year-old — I’m just being factual here — with what I’ve done, I’m not making decisions based on dollars. That’s foolish.”

So Johnson likes what’s in his hands — and the Midwestern man digs the vibe at Erin Hills.

“Yeah, there are a lot of folks here,” he said. “I have relatives and a lot of friends in this state alone. I have some Drake alumni friends that live up in this vicinity. I have some relatives that came from Chicago. This is [like] northern Iowa, as far as I’m concerned.”

got off to a rough start in the third round of the U.S. Open.

was sailing along until he ran into trouble on No. 18. The last two amateurs at Erin Hills had quite a day. Champ used a strong back nine to escape with a 1-over 73 on Saturday, and Scheffler closed with a triple bogey for a 71. While

had a recordbreaking 63, and

surged to the top of the leaderboard, Champ and Scheffler spent much of the afternoon learning more about playing in one of golf’s most challenging tournaments.

“For the most part, I was pretty happy with the way I played today,” Scheffler said. “You know I had the hiccup on 18, but that’s what happens on a U.S. Open golf course. You put yourself out of position and lose focus and that’s what it gets you.”

Scheffler and Champ are friends, having played together during some youth events. Scheffler plays for the University of Texas, and Champ at Texas A&M, but the competition for low amateur is a friendly one for the rising seniors. Champ was 4 under, two shots ahead of Scheffler.

“Obviously I want to be low am,” Champ said.