What a Day, what a story
Courageous Aussie fights off vertigo to share the third-round lead at U.S. Open
It was his day at the U.S. Open and he wasn’t going to miss it.
Jason Day shot a 2-under 68 and enters the final round of the season’s second major in a four-way tie for the lead with Masters champ Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and South African Branden Grace.
Looking for a happy ending to the most unusual story at a most unusual major championship, Day played well Saturday after being overcome with dizziness and collapsing on the course Friday.
“I felt pretty groggy on the front nine just from the drugs that I had in my system, then kind of flushed that out on the back nine,” Day said. “But then it kind of came back — the vertigo came back a little bit on the 13th tee box and then I felt nauseous all day. I started shaking on 16 tee box and then just tried to get it in, really.”
Day closed with three birdies in his final four holes including one at the par-5 18th to be the first player in the clubhouse at 4-under.
The 27-year-old Aussie has been described as the best player without a major and with his length off the tee, creativity, and putting stroke he is proving he can handle the wild Chambers Bay course. Earlier in the week, most players were comparing the links-style course to British Open venues but Englishman Justin Rose said it was more akin to a course in Australia’s Sun Belt and suggested players from Down Under could be worth watching.
Masters champion Jordan Spieth had a chance to take the outright lead at the par-4 16th hole but three-putted for par after driving the green. He had another chance at the 18th hole but missed a 12-foot birdie putt. Spieth made five bogeys and four birdies during Saturday’s 1-over round of 71 and was visibly frustrated several times on the course.
“Four three-putts today, two of them I could not do much about them,” Spieth said. “The other two were unforced. All in all, it was just a little bit off. But plenty of birdies. Just need to limit the mistakes tomorrow.”
Spieth hopes to become just the sixth player to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year. The 21-year-old star said he feels more relaxed than he did at the Masters.
“Just each time you’re in contention, no matter what tournament it is or where it is, the more you get in contention the more relaxed you feel sleeping on a lead or even waiting on a lead,” he said. “And so maybe that just adds to it, but I’m just speaking for right now. I may feel the same as I did then tomorrow morning.”
Grace is looking for his first win in America after six on the European Tour. His even-par 70 has him tied for the lead and excited about Sunday.
“I’m stoked, I can’t wait,” Grace said. “Tomorrow is going to be a good one. Like I said, this is what we play golf for. ... To go into a tournament like the U.S. Open, having a chance to win my first major is something special.”
First round leader Dustin Johnson is back atop the leaderboard after his even-par 70.
“I’ve been in the situation a few times, so I know how to handle myself,” Johnson said. “I know what it takes to get it done. Tomorrow I just need to go out there and focus one shot at a time and we’ll see what happens.”
With most of the field moving backwards on the sun-baked course, Day and Louis Oosthuizen were two of the only players to make a big move in the right direction. Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open Champion at St. Andrews, shot his second straight 66 after an opening round 77 alongside the disastrous duo of Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler.
“I think we just pulled each other down quite a bit,” Oosthuizen said of his first-round group. “It’s tough when all three players like that, you don’t really get into it.”
But nobody has played better over the past two days and the 32-year-old South African heads into Sunday with his eye on picking up his second major.
“If I hit it the way I did today, I think I’ve got a pretty good chance of putting a good number out there again,” he said. “I gave myself loads of birdie opportunities, which is what you want to try to do around here.”
Oosthuizen has been able to turn it around in the face of a toughening Chambers Bay. After Thursday’s first round, there were 25 players under par and the lead was at 5-under. Heading into the final round the lead is 4-under and there are just eight players under par.
Rory McIlroy probably had as many good birdie opportunities as Oosthuizen, but could not for the life of him make a putt until finally dropping one at his final hole for par.
Phil Mickelson’s dream of achieving the career grand slam this week is over. The six-time runner up shot a 77 and heads into Sunday at 10-over par.
Canada’s Brad Fritsch is tied for 39th at 6-over and tees off with Keegan Bradley at 11:02 a.m.