Bryson DeChambeau tries to reach the 2024 US Open. The American, already a great protagonist last month in Valhalla, confirms himself in great form, and after the only Major victory that came in 2020 in this tournamentwith eighteen holes to go leads the standings with a three stroke lead. For the American sensational round in 67 shots (-3), on a hot Saturday that flung the rankings: after 36 holes there were 14 players within three shots, and at the end of the moving day there were only four.
It is confirmed as terrible Course #2 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, tamed yesterday by the one who pulls the strongest drive of all. But DeChambeau is no longer just this, with his plan of ‘boring golf’ which is working great, to the detriment of a pure attacker’s nature. Of course, since everyone gets into difficulty, if you do it fifty meters closer to the green than the others you have an advantage in trying to get out of problems. The 2020 US Open champion is one of three players in his last five matches to go under par, resulting in a combined total of -7.
There are six birdies made by DeChambeau, frenzied with the putt (11 times he played only one to close the hole), for a lead that could have been even more ambitious without the double bogey on the sixteenth. However, there is still a lot of golf to be played, and Bryson certainly can’t sleep easy. In fact, a very dangerous trio is at -4: Patrick Cantlay (70), Rory McIlroy (69) and Matthieu Pavon (69). The American wants to try to emulate his great friend great golf on the back ninewhere everyone lost shots and he closed them in -1 with birdie on the 17th and par eight.
The Northern Irishman wants to return to raising one of the four most important trophies of the golf season ten years after the last timeis in perfect hunting position, even if for him too the bogeys on the 15th and 17th have distanced him from DeChambeau, who had suddenly become close with the strokes gained on the par 4s of the 12th and 14th. For Pavon it would be an absolutely unexpected triumphwho has only been playing in the United States this year but has already been able to win on a course like Torrey Pines. The Frenchman occupied the top for the first nine on Saturday afternoon, taken with a super putt holed on the green of the seventh. Then came some mistakes for him too, who lost the lead with two bogeys on the 11th and 16th after the three birdies in the first part.
Day of human difficulty for Ludvig Aberg (73, +3), who suffers for a moment the last start on Saturday in a Major and proves that he is not simply a machine, but ‘just’ a golfer of excellent quality. However, the Swede is rewriting history, and is not completely cut off from the victory conversation. In fact, Aberg occupies fifth position with an overall score of -2, five shots from the lead, in the company of the Japanese Hideki Matsuyama. For the class of 2000, a strong start with the birdie on the 3rd, but some mistakes especially from the tee, led him to lose shots on the 5th and 9th. The disaster for him came on the short par 4 of the 13th, where he went crazy with the approaches and scores a terrifying triple bogey.
Aberg, however, undoubtedly has something more than the others, and on a very difficult course he reacts great with the birdie at the 14th. For him another missed shot at the 15th, but then three very important pars which allow him to still have hope for Sunday. Seventh place at -1 for Tyrrell Hatton (70) and Tony Finau (72)the last players under par (from 16 yesterday to 8 today). The top 10 closes Pinehurst, in ninth place tied with par, a group of players formed by the Canadian Corey Conners (71)from Korean Tom Kim (71) and from the American Collin Morikawathe best of the day with his 66 recorded among the first starts. Scottie Scheffler will not fight for victoryundisputed n.1 in the world who for the first time in his career he scored four consecutive rounds over par. For him 71 for a total +6 which means tied for 42nd place.
Ride to forget for Francesco Molinari, which after the miracle and the adrenaline rush of the ‘hole in one’ to overcome the cut fails to be incisive. Extreme difficulties for the Turin player especially with the drive, with the Italian often finding himself in the very treacherous sand mixed with bushes which almost always gave him back a badly placed ball that only had to be put back into play. Many times the Italian found himself in a bunker having to make approaches and putts to save par, something he did very little with. All this translates into a partial of +7 (77 shots) and a total of +12, for a 68th place and a Sunday from which he will have very little to ask.
