The Latest: Woods gets early work on his putting at US Open
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open (all times local):
Gary Woodland will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the U.S. Open.
Woodland narrowly missed a birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole to finish the third round at Pebble Beach with a score of 2-under 69 to get to 11 under for the tournament. Justin Rose made his birdie putt at 18 to get to 3 under for the day and 10 under for the tournament.
Woodland took the lead in the tournament by shooting a 65 in the second round to tie the record for the lowest score for a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and didn’t wilt a bit in the third round as he seeks his first major championship.
Two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka is in third place four shots back at 7 under along with Chez Reavie and Louis Oosthuizen. The 2011 champion Rory McIlroy is alone in sixth place at 6 under after shooting a 70.
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6:05 p.m.
Brooks Koepka looks like he will have to come from behind if he wants to win his third straight U.S. Open.
Koepka shot a 3-under 68 in the third round at Pebble Beach to move 7 under for the tournament. He trails leader Gary Woodland by four shots in his quest to become the first golfer since Willie Anderson in 1903-05 to win three straight Opens.
Koepka made par on the 18th after his tee shot was left behind a tree on the right side of the fairway. He got his second shot close to the green and two putted for his 5.
The two leaders made big putts on the par-5 14th. Woodland saved par with a 40-footer that kept him 11 under, while Justin Rose made a birdie putt from the fringe to move to 9 under.
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5:30 p.m.
A flurry of big shots has injected some life into Pebble Beach at the U.S. Open, even if nothing has changed atop the leaderboard.
Gary Woodland had a three-shot lead and was in trouble on the par-3 12th when his tee shot came up short into clumpy grass, and he shanked his chip across the green. Justin Rose was just inside 10 feet for birdie, and it looked like a certain two-shot swing, maybe more.
Woodland holed his chip for par. Rose made his putt for birdie, and the lead was two.
Three holes ahead of them, two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka blasted a chip out of high grass over the 15th green, and then he knocked his par putt 35 feet across the green and into the cup for an unlikely par. Koepka was four behind.
If that wasn’t enough, Graeme McDowell made eagle on the 18th hole. He was still well off the pace, but moved into a tie for eighth.
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4:30 p.m.
Jordan Spieth made his first birdie of the day. And then he removed his cap and shook hands with Nate Lashley.
It was the end of his round at the U.S. Open.
Spieth was the latest multiple major champion who needed a good round to get back in the mix and went the other direction. Tiger Woods had to birdie two of the last three holes for a 71. Phil Mickelson put one in the ocean for triple bogey on the 18th for a 75. Spieth made nothing but pars until a double bogey at No. 11. His birdie at the 18th gave him a 73.
Gary Woodland stretched his lead to four shots at one point with a great par save on No. 5 and a birdie on the par-5 sixth. But he had his first bogey in 35 holes with a long three-putt from fringe on No. 8, dropping him to 10 under. Justin Rose made birdie, a two-shot swing that allowed him to close within two shots again.
Two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka was three shots behind as he chases the ghost of Willie Anderson, the only player to win the U.S. Open three straight times.
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4:10 p.m.
Phil Mickelson saw his hopes of a career Grand Slam washed out to sea at Pebble Beach.
Mickelson’s problems began with a bogey on the par-5 14th and a bogey from the bunker on the par-3 17th. And then it really came undone on the par-5 18th, when he drove left into the Pacific. He hit a wedge into a bunker and when he finally walked off the green, Mickelson had a triple bogey and signed for a 75.
The U.S. Open is the only major Mickelson hasn’t won. This was his fifth try at completing the slam since he picked up the third leg at Muirfield in the 2013 British Open. Adding to the anticipation this year was that Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am in February for the fifth time in his career.
Next year the U.S. Open returns to Winged Foot, where Mickelson had a one-shot lead going into the final hole of the 2006 U.S. Open and made double bogey to finish one shot behind.
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3:35 p.m.
Tiger Woods made more birdies Saturday than his previous two rounds combined in the U.S. Open.
He didn’t have a choice after his poor start.
Woods made a 30-foot birdie putt on the 16th and two-putted for birdied on the par-5 18th for an even-par 71. His five birdies Saturday were offset by five bogeys — three on the opening seven holes. Woods was at even-par 213 for the tournament.
Former Masters champion Danny Willett has posted the low round of the day at Pebble Beach with a 67.
Gary Woodland hit out of another deep divot in the fairway to 2 feet for his first birdie of the round on No. 4. Most of the late starters are picking up a birdie or two — even an eagle or two — on the opening seven holes. That’s how to score at Pebble Beach.
That’s what Woods didn’t do.
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2:30 p.m.
Patrick Cantlay has shown what kind of scoring day Saturday might be at the U.S. Open. He shot a 68 long before the leaders teed off, and that’s the low score of the third round so far.
The greens are firmer than the opening two rounds, which is keeping players from making a run. Dustin Johnson opened with three birdies in seven holes, along with a bogey on the par-3 fifth. He was at 4 under for the tournament.
Gary Woodland, at 9 under, still has not teed off.
Tiger Woods can’t seem to make a putt from above or below the hole. He was 1 over for the day through 14 holes, still 10 shots back. Phil Mickelson was 1 under for the day and seven shots behind. Jordan Spieth played the front nine with all pars.
12:30 p.m.
Tiger Woods has finally ended his birdie drought at the U.S. Open.
Woods had gone 19 straight holes without a birdie at Pebble Beach before recording them back-to-back on the fourth and fifth holes in the third round.
Woods had 15 pars and four bogeys in his previous 19 holes, and the birdies moved him to even par, nine strokes behind Gary Woodland. The leader had yet to begin his third round.
The two best scores early in the third round are by Danny Willett and Hideki Matsuyama, both of whom started at even par but moved into contention. Willet is 4 under through seven holes, and Matsuyama is 3 under on the day.
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11:40 a.m.
Tiger Woods got off to a shaky start as he tried to make up ground on the leaders in the U.S. Open.
Woods pulled an iron off the first tee into the deep rough, couldn’t reach the green with his second shot and missed a 15-foot putt for par.
That left him 10 shots off the lead held by Gary Woodland, who wasn’t going to tee off Saturday for another three hours.
Woods began his round in chilly weather, with the temperature in the mid-50s and overcast skies. He’s playing in a twosome with South Korea’s Byeong Hun An.
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10 a.m.
Tiger Woods was on the putting green in tennis shoes a few hours before his third round at the U.S. Open, and for good reason.
Woods took 32 putts in the second round and made only one putt longer than 5 feet. That was on his second hole (No. 11), and it was his only birdie in a round of 72.
Woods has made just three bogeys or worse through 36 holes at Pebble Beach. That’s the fewest he has ever recorded going into the weekend in the 21 U.S. Opens he has played, including even his dominant win at Pebble Beach in 2000.
Missing are the birdies, which is why Woods is nine shots behind in his bid to join Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Willie Anderson as the only four-time winners of the U.S. Open. History is not on his side. In the last 23 U.S. Opens, only one player won from outside the top six on the leaderboard going into the weekend.
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9 a.m.
Gary Woodland has the 36-hole lead in the U.S. Open, the second time in his last four majors he’s been ahead at the halfway point.
It’s really no lead at all. This U.S. Open is just getting started.
Woodland was two shots ahead of Justin Rose going into the third round, with the leaders not teeing off until 5:45 p.m. EDT so the broadcast can be in prime time in the eastern United States.
Woodland was at 9-under 133, the lowest 36-hole score for a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He had a one-shot lead last summer at Bellerive in the PGA Championship, which Brooks Koepka won.
Koepka was five shots behind in his bid for a record-tying third straight U.S. Open, and his fifth major in his last nine tries. Tiger Woods was nine back.
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