Three shots from warehouses at the latter resulted in a double whammy, and all the work Ram had done on the back of the nine – a golf course that seemed to bring out three decades of frustration in one day – was canceled. Rahm now sits with one back and enters Round 4 on Sunday, which is two brains better than it was last year when he won his first major championship at Torrey Pines. Ram sounded controversial after his third round. “I’m very pleased,” Ram said. “I’m not going to lie. It ‘s outrageous in a sense to end this way with how well I played these holes. But as I kept saying to myself, if at 14 [hole] you will tell me that you can post 1 above the par and not play the last five holes, I would have run to the clubhouse because of how difficult it was to play. I would have taken it, without questions. “I think I have to take that into account. I have 18 holes, and I’m only one shot back. That’s the important thing.” It’s important, and who’s in front of Ram also matters. Will Zalatoris and Matt Fitzpatrick not only combined for zero major wins but also zero PGA Tour event trophies. Ram is thunderous and they will surely hear his footsteps as he jumps around the old horse track on which the The Country Club section was built. Despite bundling No. 18 and turning the lead of one shot and the last pair into a deficit of one shot and the penultimate group, Rahm should be considered the favorite. Although the statistic profiles of both Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick are top-ranked champions, Ram is a fascinating champion who has the look of a man who wants to feature Ben Hogan, Curtis Strange and Brooks Koepka as the only consecutive champions in the US Open from World War II. That doesn’t mean he will win – and he’s not the 4-1 favorite, per Caesars Sportsbook, behind Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick – but if you told me earlier this week that Rahm would be one behind on Sunday, I would say he is the guy who has to win no matter who is in front of him. The fact that he is going to chase two players with great talent, but without much success, just confirms this fact. However, Rahm’s 3-6 chaotic finish proved one thing. The 122nd US Open is a long way off and we will not be able to crown a champion early. I thought Rahm’s bird at No. 17 to reach 5 down in Round 3 was the beginning of the end of this tournament. That’s how he felt. As it turns out, the way it closed was a reminder that it is just beginning. Here are the other golfers who can take home the US Open on Sunday .. 2. Will Zalatoris (-4, co-leader): I’m not sure it happened on TV, but Brookline felt like an Open Championship on Saturday. It was colder than it should have been in June and windier than expected. And Zalatoris shot himself 67. Sixty-seven! “I mean, 67 from Will out there today is unbelievable,” said Rory McIlroy, who scored 73. “Such a good score.” Zalatoris has as many top 10s in big companies since the beginning of 2021 as the current top 10 players in the world Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland, Sam Burns and Cameron Smith together, so he is no stranger to this stratosphere. Being as close as he was to the 2021 Masters (lost to Hideki Matsuyama by stroke) and the PGA 2022 Championship (lost to Thomas in the playoffs) should serve him well on Sunday. 3. Scottie Scheffler (-2, two back): The Masters champion had a wild Saturday. He left for the Eagle in eighth place in par-5 to lead by two points, but ended the day by two points. He tries to compete with Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth as the only golfers to win the Masters and the US Open that year, and the best thing he has done for him is that he is going crazy. this incident. “I think the US Open is very fiscal, mentally and physically,” Scheffler said. “I think this is part of what makes this tournament so much fun. You will be tested in different ways, whether physically, mentally, whatever it is. This golf tournament will test you. That ‘s why I’m here. “I think this is a bit of fun. If every golf tournament was like that, it would be a great season for all of us. Sometimes a year, I think it’s a lot of fun.” 4. Matt Fitzpatrick (-4, co-leader): The 2013 US Amateur Champion in this course does not have the great success that Zalatoris (or certainly Scheffler) has shown, but his game has greatly improved in the last time, and quietly has not done any putts so far this week. Fitzpatrick leads the pitch to strokes that turn green and he was essentially an average player. If they start falling on Sunday for one of the best players in the world, he will repeat what he did in 2013 on an even bigger stage and become the first non-American to win both the US Am and the US Open. 5. Rory McIlroy (-1, three backs): McIlroy played his last 12 holes in the even when 3 over or 4 over seemed more likely. He called Saturday “one of the toughest days on a golf course I’ve had in a long time,” and it felt like I was out there. He pulled some Houdini level magic at No. 13 from the forest, going up and down from 170 yards for par. He did a 9-leg at No. 15 and an 11-leg at No. 17, both for the par. Avoid the bogs and then literally avoid a turkey walking into one of the holes near the end of his lap. McIlroy’s grand final was a decision at No. 18 that gave him relief under a tree. Somehow he took a look at the bird in that hole, but he compromised with the same level and is somehow (somewhat!) Just three back going on Sunday. “Although it was such a difficult day and I feel I fought well,” McIlroy said. “To be only three more returning [Sunday] I feel it is good for me. … I just kept myself in the tournament. That’s all I was trying to do. Just keep going. “I felt I did well to get it below the level for the tournament at the end of the day.” Who wins at Brookline? Rick Gehman and Greg DuCharme summarize a wild Saturday at The Country Club. Follow and listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 6. Sam Burns (-1, three behind): Burns has done something secret this week and is one of only nine golfers below par. However, he is the only one in this team who misses hits from the shirt. If this does not improve on Sunday, he will probably not have a chance. However, Burns is an absolute threat and has just returned from the top seven to win the Charles Schwab Challenge. He will float down and you will have to watch him in the final. 7. Keegan Bradley (-2, two back): The New England native will be among the fans’ favorites on Sunday, and he certainly hits well enough to win. Only Scheffler and Matsuyama gain more strokes. Bradley is technically a big winner, but it’s been a while. He won the first big one he ever played and was unbeaten in his last 34. It would not be shocking if he won on Sunday, but it would be a bit of a surprise. “[The reception I got on No. 18 today] “It was one of the most amazing moments of my whole life,” said Bradley. “I have felt what it is like to play at Fenway, to play at [Boston] Garden, to play at Gillette Stadium. I felt like a Boston player there. This was a moment I will never forget for the rest of my life, and I appreciate the fans who gave it to me, and I hope to ask them again. [Sunday]. ” 8. Joel Dahmen (-1, three points behind): The good news for Dahmen is that he beat player and two-time winner Collin Morikawa on Saturday. The bad news is that Morricawa shot in 77. Damen did well to hit 74 because he went backwards in a hurry, and he’s still in it, even if it takes a little miracle round on Sunday to jump McIlroy, Ram, Scheffler , Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick. “If you told me on Thursday morning that I would be back just three on Sunday at a US Open … I like where my game is,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. Maybe I can go behind them secretly [Sunday]. “ 9. Adam Hadwin (-2, two backs): For the second year in a row, a Canadian is in the mix at the end of the US Open. Although Hadwin is third on the field from jersey to green so far this week, he would be the most astonishing winner of the top nine.
