Saturday was moving day at Pinehurst No. 2, and Bryson DeChambeau moved. A lot.
The scores again remained low at the U.S. Open, but DeChambeau, already in the final group of the day, separated himself from a crowded leaderboard with a dominant back nine in round three.
At one point, there was a four-way tie for first place at 5-under.
After bogeying the fourth hole, DeChambeau birdied two of his next three to shoot a 1-under 34 on the front nine. To start the back nine, he birdied three of the first five and took a four-stroke lead.
A costly double-bogey on 16 shrunk his lead to two, but he promptly answered back with a birdie on the par-3 17th, and a tap-in par on 18 put him at a 3-under 67 for the round and 7-under for the tournament.
Ludvig Aberg was in prime position all weekend, playing with DeChambeau in Saturday’s final grouping. But a triple-bogey on the driveable par-4 13th dropped him five strokes back of DeChambeau, who caught fire.
Aberg is 2-under for the tournament heading into Sunday.
Rory McIlroy (1-under on the round), Patrick Cantlay (even) and Matthieu Pavon (1-under) are each three shots back, and Hideki Matsuyama is 2-under alongside Aberg in a tie for fifth.
The lowest score of the day was Collin Morikawa’s 4-under, bogey-free 66. He is seven shots back at even par, but at least he gave himself a chance at a miracle. Corey Conners and Tom Kim are also even, while Tyrell Hatton and Tony Finau are 1-under.
For DeChambeau, it’s a simple strategy to win his second U.S. Open.
“Fairways, greens, two-putt,” he said after the round.
He would be the second player to win a major since defecting to LIV Golf, joining rival Brooks Koepka, who won last year’s PGA Championship for his fifth major.
DeChambeau won the 2020 U.S. Open, his first and only major, at Winged Foot.
