Tyrrell Hatton cool but Matt Fitzpatrick rages as Sam Burns keeps US Open lead
If a quiz question was to ask which English golfer a) lacerated the setup at the US Open, as another b) fired himself into contention before offering a much calmer assessment, the answers from the vast majority of observers would be obvious: a) Tyrrell Hatton, b) Matt Fitzpatrick. The reality at Oakmont was the complete opposite.
First to Fitzpatrick. The 2022 champion finds himself unimpressed by this golfing brute, as he was happy to declare after a third round of 72 left him nine over par. 'I personally don't think it's fair,' said the Yorkshireman. 'I think there's hard that's fair and there's just straight unfair. And I just think that this falls into that [second] category, really. I just don't think it necessarily rewards good shots and I think it penalises bad shots too harshly. You can be more penalised for hitting a shot one yard off the fairway, six inches off the fairway, than you can 40 yards off the fairway. And obviously, when you've got the greens as extreme as these, it amplifies any miss.
'I get that it's the same for everyone and you have got hit good shots. Obviously, it always sounds like sour graves when a player complains. I am a huge fan of the USGA [the organising US Golf Association], I've played 11 US Opens now, I think, and I feel like I've experienced what is hard and fair and what is hard and unfair over the course of my career now. I just feel like this falls into that category of unfair.'
Xander Schauffele had remarked in the week that television viewers relish the finest golfers in the world shooting eight over par. 'I completely agree with that,' said Fitzpatrick. 'I love that. I think that's what makes it interesting from a normal week shooting 25 under. I just feel like there's a line that could be very dangerous. I'm all for an over-par winning score and I am first to say that I love that, but I think when you do have three guys under par after two rounds, I think that kind of tells you a lot about what the golf course is doing. It is a tough golf course but I think I don't necessarily feel like it needed to be made more extreme than it is.'
This was out-Hattoning Hatton. In previous times, Hatton has lambasted Augusta National and called for an unremarkable hole in Abu Dhabi to be 'blown up'. Ranting, raving and gesticulating are Hatton specialities. All, it has to be said, while producing some exceptional golf.
In Pennsylvania, Hatton finds himself just five from the lead after a fine 68 moved him to one over par. Hatton's only trouble came at the 15th, where he found what is dubious territory in thick rough of the bank of a bunker. 'I don't see the need to have so much rough in the side slopes of the bunkers,' he said later.
Beyond that, Hatton was a picture of contentment as he pursues a potentially life-changing maiden major win. 'That's how they've set it up this year, and it doesn't matter if I don't agree with it or every player in the field doesn't agree with it,' he added. 'Everyone has to deal with it. It's just how it is. Today was great.' A smiling, chipper Hatton headed off for his dinner.
This scrappy, slow-burner of a major is headed by Sam Burns with 18 holes to play. The 28-year-old's 69 edged him one ahead of his American compatriot JJ Spaun, who dropped at shot at the last. Spaun had Adam Scott for company at minus three. The Australian played the back nine in just 32 as he seeks a second major title, at the age of 44. He could become the second oldest US Open winner in history. Scott is the only member of the top 10 to have already won one of golf's big four. That it is a solitary success means Scott is an underachiever, in the nicest possible sense. Like Spaun, the Norwegian Viktor Hovland erred at the 18th to slide back to one under. Mexico's Carlos Ortiz is even par.
The Scot Robert MacIntyre is not without hope at plus three. Scottie Scheffler is a shot further adrift after a 70. The American world No 1 dismissed footage which showed him in excited conversation with his longtime coach, Randy Smith, after round two. 'In terms of a practice session after the round, that was pretty regular,' Scheffler said. 'We're just trying to figure stuff out, out there.'
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