U.S. Open: 5 things we learned Saturday, from Will Zalatoris charging to Jon Rahm slipping
BROOKLINE, Mass — Saturday at The Country Club wasn’t the complete carnage that some golf fans wait all year to see during the U.S. Open. The kind of brutal golf that inspires books like Dick Shaap’s “Massacre at Winged Foot,” which documented the grueling 1974 U.S. Open won by Hale Irwin at 7 over par.
Saturday was, however, the most challenging day we have seen so far at the 2022 U.S. Open, and it frustrated many of the game’s best players, including Rory McIlroy, who shot 73 and Collin Morikawa, who shot 77.
After a front passed through the area overnight, the wind switched from south to north and the temperature hovered in the mid-60s. Twenty-three players started the day below par, but when the final scorecards were signed, only nine remained in red figures heading into Sunday.
With just 18 holes left to be played, two young players who are becoming consistent contenders in major championships, Will Zalatoris and Matthew Fitzpatrick, find themselves tied at the top at 4 under par. One shot behind them is defending champion Jon Rahm, who is currently ranked No. 2 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Two shots off the lead at 2 under are 2022 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, New Englander Keegan Bradley and Adam Hadwin.
Here are five things we learned Saturday at the 2022 U.S. Open.
For Zalatoris, it's all about the putter
Will Zalatoris plays his shot from the 18th tee during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. (Photo: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)
Only 27 days ago, Zalatoris lost in a playoff to Justin Thomas at the PGA Championship. He was also the runner-up to Hideki Matsuyama at the 2021 Masters. On Saturday, his 67 moved him from 1 under to 4 under, giving him a chance to finally break through and win.
Zalatoris came to the U.S. Open ranked 160th in strokes gained putting, a weakness that has kept him out of the winner’s circle because he is one of the best iron players in the world. Zalatoris putted well at the PGA Championship and nearly won, and on Saturday he rolled in birdie putts from 39 feet, 15 feet and 20 feet away from the hole. He also made par-saving putts from 10 feet on the 10th and 12th holes.
“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 said. “Normally guys out here, when they have wedges in their hand, they’re firing at pins no matter what the situation was, but it’s just a lot of patience and giving myself as many 15- to 25-footers as I could, and obviously, a couple happened to go in today, and it felt pretty good.”
If Zalatoris wins this week at The Country Club, he will be the 12th player to make his first PGA Tour win the U.S. Open. The most recent addition to the list, which includes Jack Nicklaus (1962), Lee Trevino (1968), and Ernie Els (1994) is Graeme McDowell, who won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
Fitzpatrick finding belief from 2013 win
Matthew Fitzpatrick plays his shot from the 17th tee during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. (Photo: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)
“I said it yesterday, I think you’ve got to plot your way around,” Fitzpatrick said. “You really have to think about where you want to hit it, where you don’t want to hit it. Compared to other golf courses we play on tour, it certainly gives that to me, and that’s why I like it.”
On a day when the greens at The Country Club got former and faster, Fitzpatrick certainly plotted his way effectively, hitting 10 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in regulation, and he putted well too, making a 10-footer for birdie on the fifth hole and an 8-footer for birdie on 17.
Asked if winning here in the 2013 U.S. Amateur is helping him believe he can win this week, Fitzpatrick said, “I certainly think it gives me an edge over the others, yeah. I genuinely do believe that. It’s a real, obviously, positive moment in my career. It kind of kickstarted me.”
Rahm positioned to go back-to-back
Jon Rahm of Spain plays a shot from a fairway bunker on the 18th hole during the third round of the 122nd U.S. Open Championship at The Country Club on June 18, 2022 in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Rahm won the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, and he made birdies on 14, 15, and 17 to reach 5 under Saturday evening. He walked to the 18th tee with a determined look on his face., but his tee shot went into a fairway bunker on the left and he appeared to have a clean lie, but his second shot drove into the fescue-topped upper portion of the bunker and then rolled to within inches of where he’d been standing.
Rahm’s third shot landed in the massive bunker that guards the front of the green. From there, he escaped to 20 feet past the hole, but his bogey-saving putt hung on the left side and he was forced to tap-in for a double bogey. Rahm ended the day at 3 under, one shot behind Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick.
“I’m very content. I’m not going to lie,” Rahm said. “It’s infuriating, in a sense, to finish that way with how good I played those holes, but like I kept telling myself, if on the 14th today you told me you can post 1-over par and not play the last five holes, I would have ran to the clubhouse because of how difficult it was playing. I would have taken it, no questions asked. I think I have to consider that. I have 18 holes, and I’m only one shot back. That’s the important thing.”
Sunday will be a new day and Rahm still has a great chance to become the eighth golfer to win the U.S. Open in back-to-back years.
Brooks Koepka is the most-recent winner of consecutive U.S. Opens, winning in 2017 at Erin hills and at Shinnecock Hills in 2018. Curtis Strange won the first two U.S. Opens here at The Country Club in 1988, then won at Oak Hill.
Other two-time winners include Ben Hogan (1950-51), Ralph Guldahl (1937-38), Bobby Jones (1929-30), John McDermott (1911-12) and Willie Anderson (1903-1905).
Scheffler got knocked down, but not knocked out
Scottie Scheffler chips onto the 11th green during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. (Photo: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)
The par-5 eighth hole gave several golfers fits and approach shots that hit the false front rolled back down the hill, but Scottie Scheffler’s shot bounced three times, grabbed the putting surface and rolled back into the cup.
That eagle vaulted the 2022 Masters champion from 4 under to 6 under and into the lead Saturday afternoon, but a double bogey on the par-3 11th and bogeys at 12, 13 and 14 dropped him back to 1 under for the tournament in less than 90 minutes.
A birdie at the 17th hole got the Texan back to 2 under.
“I think the U.S. Open is very taxing, mentally and physically,” Scheffler said. “I think that’s all part of what makes this tournament so fun. You’re going to get tested all different kinds of ways, whether it be physically, mentally, whatever it is. This golf tournament is going to test you.”
Sunday will be wild
Tournament flags are seen during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)
As well as Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick played Saturday, neither has ever won a PGA Tour event or a major, so they might shoot a great score, but they could succumb to the pressure. You get the feeling that Rahm is going to make a move on Sunday and Bradley will have a ton of support, too. And with Scheffler only two shots off the lead, and McIlroy, the 2011 U.S. Open winner just three shots back, it should be a great finish Sunday at The Country Club.
1
1
