Burns and Spaun reach turn in share of US Open lead
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania :Sam Burns and J.J. Spaun reached the turn in a share of the U.S. Open third-round lead at Oakmont Country Club on Saturday while LIV Golf's Carlos Ortiz stormed into contention and was two shots back along with Viktor Hovland.
Burns, who began the day at three under and one shot clear of playing partner Spaun, offset an early bogey with a birdie at the fifth hole and made the turn at even-par 35 after a back-and-forth front-nine duel.
Spaun birdied the opening hole to grab a share of the lead, held the outright lead after Burns bogeyed the second but dropped a shot at the third hole before moving back in front with a birdie at the fourth.
Mexico's Ortiz, one of 14 LIV Golf players in the starting field, began the day six shots off the lead but had four birdies and no bogeys on his card with two holes to play.
Norwegian Hovland, playing in the penultimate pairing with Australian Adam Scott, was two shots behind the leaders after offsetting two early bogeys with a pair of birdies.
Scott, appearing in his 96th consecutive major, was in a share of fifth place with LIV's Tyrell Hatton, who was three under for his round with four holes to play.
Pre-tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler was unable to make a big move as he mixed four bogeys with four birdies for an even-par 70 that left him at four over.
Rory McIlroy, trying to shake off a Masters hangover since completing the career Grand Slam at Augusta in April, started the day nine shots off the lead and carded a four-over-par 74 that left him at 10 over.
"The name of the game this week is staying patient and try to do a good job of it out there, but it's one of those golf courses that you can lose patience on pretty quickly," McIlroy said. "I was hoping to play better but I didn't."
Following a deluge of overnight rain, the early starters were greeted to a course so drenched that splashes of water sprayed into the air when they hit their iron shots from Oakmont's narrow fairways.
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