US Open 2023: Rickie Fowler & Wyndham Clark lead with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler firmly in contention

Rory McIlroy & Xander Schauffele — Rory McIlroy has gone on to win three of the previous four majors in which he has opened with three rounds in the 60s

-10 R Fowler, W Clark (US); -9 R McIlroy (NI); -7 S Scheffler (US); -6 H English (US); -5 D Johnson (US), X Schauffele (US)
Selected: -3 B DeChambeau, C Smith (Aus); -2 V Hovland (Nor); -1 P Harrington (Ire), M Fitzpatrick (Eng), C Morikawa (US); Level S Lowry (Ire), B Koepka (US), T Hatton; +2 J Rahm (Spa), T Fleetwood (Eng)
Full leaderboard

Rory McIlroy heads into Sunday’s final round of the US Open one shot behind joint leaders Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark at the Los Angeles Country Club.

The Northern Irishman, who won the last of his four major titles in 2014, shot a one-under 69 to move to nine under.

Fowler, who is chasing his first major, bogeyed the last to shoot a 70 and join fellow American Clark on 10 under.

World number one Scottie Scheffler is three shots back after holing from 196 yards for an eagle on the 17th.

Scheffler also birdied the last to send out an ominous warning as he attempts to become only the second player after Tiger Woods to win the US Open while sitting at the top of the world rankings, which were introduced in 1986.

His two-under 68 also came despite another relatively mediocre round on the greens, with Scheffler only 27th out of the 65-man field on strokes gained putting.

‘I played smart solid golf’

McIlroy was also lukewarm on the greens but once again showed himself capable of routinely serving up outstanding golf shots and he also displayed great resolve as he recorded a third consecutive round in the 60s.

He came through the statistically tougher back nine unscathed at level par and if his putting improves on Sunday a nine-year wait for a fifth major championship could well be at an end.

He was 49th on strokes gained on the green and while that undermined his razor sharp short game, he goes into the final round in confident mood.

“I feel pretty good,” McIlroy said. “The golf course definitely got a little trickier than the first couple of days.

“I felt like I played smart solid golf. It felt somewhat stress-free, if you can ever call golf at a US Open stress-free, but overall I’m pretty pleased. I feel like I’m in a good spot.

“I’m going out there to try to execute a game plan. I feel like the past three days I’ve done that really well. I just need to do that for one more day.”

‘I’m not scared to fail’

Earlier on Saturday Tom Kim’s birdie blitz to surge up the leaderboard gave an indication of what could be possible, particularly on the more favourable front nine holes of the north course.

The South Korean equalled the lowest nine-hole score in US Open history, taking 29 strokes to the turn and a birdie on the 10th saw him move to seven under for the round before he eventually signed for a 66 after dropping shots at the 13th, 15th and 16th.

And that was a precursor to a day of fluctuating fortunes at the top of the leaderboard, with a late twist ensuring that Fowler and Clark would again be paired together in the final group out on Sunday at 22:30 BST.

While Fowler, who had led by two heading up the 18th went close with a long birdie putt, he saw the return lip out as Clark made amends for a wild approach that cost him a shot on the 17th, by hitting a pin-seeker on the last and rolling in the birdie putt to sign for a one-under 69.

Along with McIlroy, both Fowler and Clark made birdies on the first hole but Fowler’s bogey on the second and a birdie from the Northern Irishman on the third briefly ensured a three-way tie for the lead.

Clark, who missed the cut in his two previous US Open appearances and has never finished better than in a tie for 75th in six previous majors, also hit the front before stumbling with successive bogeys on the 11th and 12th.

And until the late drama, Fowler’s sensational 70-foot birdie putt on the 13th looked as though it would ensure he had the upper hand heading into Sunday.

“I hit a good putt on 18 so really can’t go back on it,” said Fowler, who failed to qualify for the last two editions of the US Open after tumbling to 173rd in the world rankings.

“It would be nice for that one to go in but it really doesn’t matter, having the lead, being one back, two back. You’re going to have to play good golf.

“After going through the last few years, I’m not scared to fail. I’ve dealt with that. We’re just going to go have fun, continue to try to execute, leave it all out there, see where we stand on 18.”

Harris English is four shots back while his fellow American Dustin Johnson, who won the title at Oakmont in 2016, is on five under alongside Xander Schauffele.

Olympic champion Schauffele, who started two shots adrift of the lead, endured a dreadful start to his round, needing three attempts to get out of a fairway bunker as he bogeyed the first and then went on to drop shots on the third and fifth holes.

He wiped those out with three birdies in four holes from the sixth, but three more bogeys on the back nine saw him drop away.

England’s defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick carded a two-under 68 to improve to one under, the same score as Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, who shot a 67.

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