The leader's faultless putting

New York Times

12 hours ago

Follow live coverage of the final round at Oakmont with Sam Burns, Adam Scott and J.J. Spaun leading the U.S. Open field Getty Images
The third golf major of the year concludes today, with the final round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.
Sam Burns will start Sunday at 4-under and with a 1-shot lead from both 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott (-3) and J.J. Spaun who, like Burns, is bidding for his first major.
Leaderboard (all times ET): -4 — BURNS (2:15 p.m.)
(2:15 p.m.) -3 — Scott (2:15 p.m.), Spaun (2:04 p.m.)
(2:15 p.m.), Spaun (2:04 p.m.) -1 — Hovland (2:04 p.m.)
(2:04 p.m.) E — Ortiz (1:53 p.m.) Connections: Sports Edition Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Getty Images
By managing to two-putt from 59 feet on the 18th for par yesterday, U.S. Open leader Sam Burns remained one of just two players in the field without a three-putt all week.
The other is Ryan Fox (T39, +8).
Burns is statistically considered the best putter on the PGA Tour this year, but we are less than a week removed from him missing in the RBC Canadian Open playoff.
Will his nerves stand up to the pressure putts on a U.S. Open Sunday? We are going to find out. Getty Images
You can recap an exciting Saturday at Oakmont and look ahead to today's final round right here, with top work from Justin Ray , including: Approach play buoying Sam Burns
An ageless Aussie's stripe show in Adam Scott
J.J. Spaun's short game
Plus Hovland, Hatton, Ortiz, trends and more — it's all in Justin's takeaways below. And if you're really lucky, I might share some of them in here for you ahead of today's action too.
GO FURTHER
U.S. Open 2025 Round 3: What to know about Burns, Scott and Hovland before the final round X/usopengolf
The pin positions are out for today's final round, with the second remaining painfully difficult and then the sixth, ninth and 13th leaving little room for error.
The ninth remains the hardest hole on the course this week, averaging closer to a bogey-5 than par-4 over the opening three rounds.
The par-4 17th is the only hole playing under-par for this week. Getty Images
We are in for a fascinating climax to the third major of the year and while you will hear plenty from our correspondents and analysts here, we very much want to hear from you too.
Whether it's a question you've always wanted answering, who you are backing for a Sunday charge, or something you simply have to get off your chest…
Get in touch! The inbox is always open. Just send your thoughts to: [e-mail]
We cannot wait to read and share your thoughts.
And here who is off and when come the afternoon in Pennsylvania. Again, all times are ET. 12:09 p.m. — Keegan Bradley, Sam Stevens
12:20 p.m. — Matt Wallace, Ryan Gerard
12:31 p.m. — Ben Griffin, Victor Perez
12:42 p.m. — Russell Henley, Emiliano Grillo
12:53 p.m. — Max Greyserman, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
1:04 p.m. — Nick Taylor, Scottie Scheffler
1:20 p.m. — Chris Gotterup, Marc Leishman
1:31 p.m. — Cameron Young, Robert MacIntyre
1:42 p.m. — Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Thriston Lawrence
1:53 p.m. — Tyrrell Hatton, Carlos Ortiz
2:04 p.m. — Viktor Hovland, J.J. Spaun
2:15 p.m. — Adam Scott, Sam Burns Getty Images
Here is your schedule for the final day at Oakmont, starting with the morning pairs and tee times. All times ET. 7:52 a.m. — Cam Davis
8:03 a.m. — Matthieu Pavon, Jordan Smith
8:14 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Harris English
8:25 a.m. — Ryan McCormick, Taylor Pendrith
8:36 a.m. — Johnny Keefer, Michael Kim
8:47 a.m. — James Nicholas, Brian Harman
8:58 a.m. — Philip Barbaree Jr, Sungjae Im
9:14 a.m. — Niklas Norgaard, Denny McCarthy
9:25 a.m. — Daniel Berger, Tony Finau
9:36 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Andrew Novak
9:47 a.m. — Adam Schenk, Mackenzie Hughes
9:58 a.m. — Justin Hastings (a), Matt Fitzpatrick
10:09 a.m. — Collin Morikawa, Rasmus Højgaard
10:20 a.m. — Ryan Fox, Corey Conners
10:36 a.m. — Patrick Reed, Laurie Canter
10:47 a.m. — Jon Rahm, Tom Kim
10:58 a.m. — Maverick McNealy, Xander Schauffele
11:09 a.m. — Si Woo Kim, Jhonattan Vegas
11:20 a.m. — Aaron Rai, Trevor Cone
11:31 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, J.T. Poston
11:42 a.m. — Brooks Koepka, Thomas Detry
11:58 a.m. — Jason Day, Chris Kirk
And then selected others on the leaderboard include: T11 ( +4 ) — Scottie Scheffler, Ben Griffin
) — Scottie Scheffler, Ben Griffin T21 ( +5 ) — Jason Day (Australia), Thomas Detry (Belgium), Brooks Koepka
) — Jason Day (Australia), Thomas Detry (Belgium), Brooks Koepka T29 ( +6 ) — Jordan Spieth
) — Jordan Spieth T35 ( +7 ) — Xander Schauffele, Tom Kim (Korea), Jon Rahm (Spain),
) — Xander Schauffele, Tom Kim (Korea), Jon Rahm (Spain), T45 ( +9 ) — Justin Hastings (amateur, Cayman Islands)
) — Justin Hastings (amateur, Cayman Islands) T49 (+10) — Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland)
We will let you decide how much each player is capable of doing something special at Oakmont today. Getty Images
Here's a full rundown of how the leaderboard looks after 54 holes of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, as well as some of the bigger names who could possibly achieve something special with a bit of a run. Maybe.
All players are U.S. unless stated. -4 — Sam Burns
-3 — Adam Scott (Australia), J.J. Spaun
— Adam Scott (Australia), J.J. Spaun -1 — Viktor Hovland (Norway)
— Viktor Hovland (Norway) E — Carlos Ortiz (Mexico)
— Carlos Ortiz (Mexico) +1 — Tyrrell Hatton (England), Thriston Lawrence (South Africa)
— Tyrrell Hatton (England), Thriston Lawrence (South Africa) +2 — Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Denmark)
— Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Denmark) +3 — Robert MacIntyre (Scotland), Cameron Young Getty Images
We had a clean run at the third rounds yesterday after the horrendous conditions at the end of Friday, which delayed completion of the opening 36 holes into Saturday.
Thankfully the Pennsylvanian weather held — so today is a free shot at the final 18.
Those will tee off with Australian Cam Davis at 7:52 a.m. ET (12:52 p.m. UK, 4:52 a.m. PT) as a single. It will likely be a lonely day for the man who will start 19-over for his final round.
The final pair of another Australian in Adam Scott (-3), alongside one-shot leader Sam Burns (-4), will get going at 2:15 p.m. ET (7:15 p.m. UK, 11:15 a.m. PT). Getty Images
No other golf course says U.S. Open like Oakmont Country Club, near the Allegheny River in western Pennsylvania.
This is a record 10th time in the history of this championship that Oakmont has played host to the drama.
As for the course itself, it's known for precision-cut greens and treacherously deep rough — and it really has lived up to its reputation during the first 54 holes of this year's major.
For those wondering, 2025 joins 1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983, 1994, 2007, and most recently in 2016, where Dustin Johnson won his first career major here at Oakmont.
Both the country club and golf course were established in 1903. It sits 1,000 feet above sea level and is a par 70 for U.S. Open tournaments. Getty Images
We are here for all your second screen needs, but we love watching sport and imagine you do too.
So here is where you can watch the golf unfold today, alongside our live coverage: U.S.: NBC, Peacock
NBC, Peacock Canada: TSN, TSN+
TSN, TSN+ UK: Sky Sports Golf
Sky Sports Golf Australia: Fox Sports, Kayo
Those of you in the U.S. can also stream today's action on Fubo, which you can try for free here. Getty Images
A very good day to you all and welcome to our coverage of the final round of this year's U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.
It's been quite the championship so far, with 54 holes of golf that have caused all kinds of issues for the game's biggest names.
Which brings us to today: the final rounds, an unlikely leaderboard, and glances at where a possible Sunday charge could come from.
We will steer you through all the drama from first tee to final putt, with our reporters and analysts bringing their insights from the course.
It's a pleasure to have you with us.
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