A PAIR SHARE THE LEAD AT OPEN
Zalatoris, Fitzpatrick vault to top of the board
BROOKLINE » Saturday is typically considered moving day, but at the U.S. Open it was more like a reshuffling of the deck as nobody was able to separate themselves from the field.
With temperatures running about 20 degrees cooler than Friday and the wind flipping around from out of the northwest bringing a taste of fall to The Country Club, the third round became a case of who could show the most mettle. Only seven of the 64 players were under par on the day.
Will Zalatoris had the round of the day with a 3-under-par 67 and Matt Fitzpatrick, the members’ choice after winning the U.S. Amateur here in 2013, fashioned a 68 and have a share of the lead at 4-under 206.
“That was brutal. When I made a mistake, I made sure I was on the fat side of the green or having room where I could maybe at least chip one up there to 8, 10 feet,” said Zalatoris. “I think it took a lot of discipline today. I mean, we didn’t aim at a single flag even with some wedges just because you really only have a foot or two to deal with on these greens in some situations.”
Zalatoris had three birdies on the front side, and then played the treacherous back nine cleanly, making a birdie at the par- 4 15th.
Fitzpatrick was stuck in neutral over the bulk of his round with two birdies and two bogies over the first 13 holes. He made his move beginning with the 619-yard, par-5 14th, reaching the green in two and making a two-putt birdie.
At the 510-yard 15th, Fitzpatrick hit his tee ball 359 yards across the main driveway and leaving himself just 142 yards to the hole. He hit his approach to 5½ feet and made the putt and then added another birdie at the 17th, which played the easiest hole of the day, to get to 5 under.
But in a place where history seems to repeat itself, Fitzpatrick was unable to follow Curtis Strange’s lead from the third round of 1988, when he got up and down from the front bunker to take a 1-shot lead into Sunday.
“I certainly think it gives me an edge over the others, yeah,” Fitzpatrick said of his U.S. Amateur win. “I genuinely do believe that. It’s a real, obviously, positive moment in my career. It kind of kickstarted me. To come back here and play so well again, it kind of just gives me growing confidence round by round.
There are plenty of chasers, including defending champion Jon Rahm, who left a shot in the fairway bunker at the last leading to a double-bogey 6, is one shot back. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, New Englander Keegan Bradley, who turned in a second straight 69, and first