Adam Scott rolled again the years to maneuver inside a shot of Sam Burns heading into the ultimate spherical of the US Open, as Ryder Cup stars Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton remained in main rivalry.
Scott carded three birdies in a five-hole stretch on his again 9 to submit a three-under 67 at Oakmont Nation Membership, matching the bottom spherical of the day and bolstering his hopes of a primary main title in 12 years.
The previous world No 1 heads into the ultimate day on three underneath and in tied-second with JJ Spaun, as Burns retained his in a single day one-shot benefit after mixing three birdies with two bogeys in a third-round 69.
Viktor Hovland is three strokes behind Burns and considered one of 4 gamers nonetheless under-par for the match heading into the ultimate day, with Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz in fifth on stage par after matching Scott’s 67 and Hatton inside 4 of the lead after a second-round 68.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre is in a share of ninth at three over and world No 1 Scottie Scheffler is eight strokes again as he chases a second successive main, whereas Masters champion Rory McIlroy tumbled additional down the leaderboard to 10 over after a four-over 74.
How Burns stayed forward at Oakmont
Spaun rolled in a 15-foot birdie on the first and moved forward when Burns’ wayward tee shot on the subsequent led to a bogey, solely to lose his outright benefit with a dropped shot on the third.
Burns did not benefit from the par-five fourth, the place Spaun transformed from 5 toes to reclaim his benefit, however made a kick-in birdie after an excellent method into the fifth to hitch his enjoying companion on three underneath.
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Iona Stephen took a take a look at the ultimate pairing and the way their latest good kind has carried them in to the lead at Oakmont Nation Membership
Final week’s RBC Canadian Open runner-up scrambled a par on the seventh after struggling to get out of a fairway bunker to remain stage with Spaun, with nothing separating the pair as they continued to trade pars across the flip.
Neither participant took benefit of the par-five twelfth, the place Burns obtained up and down from the golf green to salvage a par, earlier than he edged again forward with an eight-foot birdie on the par-three subsequent.
Burns holed from seven toes to save lots of par on the subsequent and produced a shocking up and down from a greenside bunker to match Spaun’s par on the 14th, solely to overlook from six toes and bogey the par-three sixteenth.
Scott – enjoying within the group forward – had began the day three behind and misplaced additional floor with an opening-hole bogey, solely to quickly make it a three-way tie, following back-to-back birdies from the thirteenth by holing from 15 toes so as to add one other on the seventeenth.
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Wealthy Beem and Nick Dougherty focus on Adam Scott’s probabilities of successful the US Open at Oakmont, with the 44-year-old only one off the 54-hole lead
Spaun ended a run of pars with a 12-foot birdie on the identical gap, the place Burns chipped to tap-in vary to additionally get to 4 underneath, however misplaced his share of the lead when he did not rise up and down from the sand to save lots of par on the final.
Burns’ two-putt par was sufficient to safe the primary 54-hole lead of his main profession and arrange a final-round pairing with Scott, who additionally closed with a par, whereas Hovland stayed inside three of the lead regardless of cancelling out a penultimate-hole birdie with a dropped shot on the final.
Extra to comply with…
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