By Jada Ross, Sports@CJC

PINEHURST, N.C. —Seeking his second career U.S. Open title, Bryson DeChambeau surged into the lead Saturday at Pinehurst No. 2 after firing a 3-under-par 67. It sets up what should be a sensational final round.

Matthieu Pavon, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay sit three shots behind DeChambeau. And that means the final round also will feature one of the most must-see penultimate pairings in its history. McIlroy and Cantlay will be paired together for the first time since their heated incident at the 2023 Ryder Cup.

McIlroy narrowly missed a star-studded final-round pairing with the solo leader DeChambeau after bogeying No. 15 and 17. He settled for a 1-under 69.

Cantlay, meanwhile, after opening with a 5-under 65 on Thursday, rallied with a birdie on the 18th to shoot an even-par 70 Saturday.

McIlroy and Cantlay are also tied for the fewest bogeys this week (six).

Given their proximity on the leaderboard, their tension at the 2023 Ryder Cup, and the pairing’s high profile, they will most likely garner a lot of attention during the final round. But can they catch DeChambeau?

An Upward Climb to the Top

DeChambeau snatched the lead from Ludvig Åberg after a birdie on hole No. 10 — part of a stretch in which he birdied four out of seven holes — and takes a three-stroke lead into Sunday at 7-under.

“I made a lot of great putts today, I’ll tell you that,” said DeChambeau, who is chasing his second career major title. “[I’m] pleased with how I struck it for the most part. Got to work on that just a little bit, but I feel pretty confident over the tee shots.”

Though it’s not really his style, DeChambeau has embraced the mundane at the challenging Pinehurst No. 2 course.

“Trying to play boring golf,” DeChambeau said. “Middle of the greens never moves, so I am going to try and hit a lot of the greens, give myself some good looks on some holes and two-putt a lot.”

He is also on the hunt for his second U.S. Open win. In 2020, he shot 6-under at the Winged Foot to claim the title. DeChambeau also made history Saturday, becoming the first player of a U.S. Open at Pinehurst to break 70 in the first three rounds. His only major hiccup was a double bogey on No. 16.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, DeChambeau also posted his seventh consecutive round of 69 or lower in major championship play. He will have a chance to tie the record Sunday. Rickie Fowler (2014) and Greg Norman (1993) currently share that record of eight.

DeChambeau will be paired with Pavon, who was able to climb his way up the leaderboard after shooting 1-under-67. His 3-under on the front helped him get there.

“I just try to put my ball in the right spots,” Pavon said. “[I’m] not being too aggressive, trying to drop one or two putts, and then I made a great birdie on my par-5. That’s the type of play that I’m trying to do all around.”

Pavon may fly under the radar steadily and modestly, but sitting where he is now on the leaderboard, he may not be unheralded for much longer.

“I’m a pretty regular guy, and it’s just awesome to be here and having a chance to share maybe the last round in a major in the last group with a guy like probably Bryson tomorrow,” said Pavon, 31, who became the first French golfer to win on the PGA Tour since 1907 earlier this year at the Farmers.

The French native is known for his composure and calmness under pressure, while DeChambeau plays a more “fun” golf style and wears his emotions on his sleeve. The juxtaposition of playing style and personality should create an interesting dynamic in the final round.

“Discipline and patience are really key for me this week,” Pavon said. “This is what I’ve learned the most about the PGA Tour journey so far.”

Åberg’s Tumble

Åberg, the rising 24-year-old Swedish star, led after the second round, but fell back into a tie for fifth after Saturday’s 73.

However, his fall cannot be solely attributed to DeChambeau’s sensational play. Åberg made the same amount of bogeys and birdies (three) but his triple bogey on the par-4 hole No. 13 was a devastating error.

“Obviously what happened to me on 13 is not ideal,” said Åberg, who is making his first career U.S. Open appearance. “It doesn’t necessarily change the way that you try to approach this golf course. I think there’s only a certain way you can play it. If you don’t play that way, you’re going to get punished. That’s what I did.”

Åberg started his U.S. Open debut strong but played his worst tournament round on Saturday (66-69-73). 

“I felt like basically the whole day wasn’t as sharp as it was yesterday,” Åberg explained. “I didn’t feel like I executed the shots the way I wanted to.”

However, at five shots back, Åberg still has the opportunity to become he first player to win their U.S. Open debut since Francis Ouimet did it back in 1913. 

Other Notables

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler continued his lackluster U.S. Open. After barely making the cut on Friday, Scheffler failed to make a charge; he finished 6-over and is tied for 42nd with 12 others.

“How was today? No, another frustrating day,” Scheffler said. “Today was a day where I thought I played a lot better than my score. I’m having a lot of trouble reading these greens. I had a lot of putts today where I felt like I hit it really good. I looked up and they were not going the way I thought they were going to go.”

The third member of Friday’s star-studded group, along with McIlroy and Scheffler, was Xander Schauffele. The PGA Championship winner has also fallen short this weekend. Though he finished 1-over par Saturday and is tied for 12th, he is eight strokes off the lead.

Hideki Matsuyama also worked his way up from eighth place, where he finished after Round 2, to T5. Matsuyama had a rocky front nine with three bogeys and one birdie but recovered well in the back, flipping the score to only one bogey and three birdies. He’s currently 2-under-par and two shots under Pavon, McIlroy, and Cantlay, who sit at T2.

The Last Gator Standing

While former Gator Billy Horschel made a big move on Friday with his second-round 67, he had a challenging start to the weekend. Horschel struggled with consistency Saturday, shooting a 4-over 74 and lose ground on the leaderboard.

He is tied for 25th at among seven other players, two of whom are amateurs Luke Clanton (Florida State) and Neal Shipley (Ohio State).

The Final Tee Times 

The final round will begin Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET at Pinehurst No. 2 with Seonghyeon Kim and University of Kansas amateur Gunnar Broin. 

McIlroy and Cantlay will make their penultimate pairing debut at 2:10 p.m. DeChambeau and Matthieu Pavon will be the final tee-off group of the U.S. Open at 2:21 p.m.

Some other pairings you might not want to miss are Scottie Scheffler and Tom McKibbin at 10:20 a.m., Billy Horschel and Chris Kirk at 11:42 a.m., Xander Schauffele and Davis Thompson at 12:59 p.m., and Ludvig Åberg and Hideki Matsuyama at 1:59 p.m.

Posted: June 16, 2024
Category: Covering the U.S. Open
Tagged as: 2024 U.S. Open, Covering the U.S. Open