Johnson in 4-way tie at US Open
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — The only thing that spared Dustin Johnson from another U.S. Open implosion is that everyone around him suffered on a Shinnecock Hills course that even the USGA conceded got out of hand Saturday afternoon.
Daniel Berger and Tony Finau were the exceptions, each posting a 4-under 66 before Johnson hit his first shot. The world’s No. 1 player faced greens that felt like putting on glass, so slick that Phil Mickelson swatted a ball while it was still moving on the 13th green.
No one in the final 22 groups broke par.
Johnson, who started the third round with a four-shot lead, barely nudged his 17-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole and watched it roll — and roll — 8 feet by the hole. He missed the par putt and signed for a 77 to fall into a four-way tie for the lead.
“I didn’t feel like I played
DUSTIN JOHNSON
badly at all,” Johnson said. “Seven over usually is a terrible score, but with the greens the way they got this afternoon, I mean they were very, very difficult. I had seven or eight putts that easily could have gone in the hole that didn’t. And that’s the difference between shooting 7 over and even par.”
At least he still has a chance, and he had plenty more company at the top than at the start of the day.
Johnson joined Berger, Finau and defending champion Brooks Koepka (72) at 3-over 213, the highest 54-hole score to lead the U.S. Open since the fabled “Massacre at Winged Foot” in 1974.
It was the first time since Oakmont in 2007 that no one was under par going into the final day. With wind that was stronger than expected, and a few pin positions that turned the U.S. Open into carnival golf, it was easy to see why.
Mickelson brought plenty of attention to the 13th hole, where anything that ran by the cup was headed off the green. Worst yet might have been No. 15, where players hit putts by the hole only to watch them roll all the way off the putting surface. Koepka hit an approach to 15 near the hole, and it moved a few inches to the right, and then a few more feet, and soon it was in a bunker.
“You were seeing shots that were well played and not rewarded,” said Mike Davis, the chief executive of the USGA. “It was a very
MOSCOW — If there is one flaw in Lionel Messi’s genius, it might be his failure to score penalty kicks in big games.
Add Messi’s saved attempt against Iceland on Saturday at the World Cup to misses for Argentina in shootouts for the Copa America title, and for Barcelona in a Champions League semifinal match that was later lost.
At least Messi’s miss in the 64th minute at Spartak Stadium — his fourth in his last seven penalty attempts for his club and his country — was not in a losing cause. A 1-1 draw with impressive World Cup newcomer Iceland is far