What a lovely day for a kick to the groin.
The bright blue sky over Shinnecock Hills on Saturday was painted in delicate wisps of white. The breeze fresh and cool. A virtual Long Island Iced Tea for the soul.
Ah, but the assembled U.S. Open golfers were in no mood for reverie. They were too busy trying to stop the bleeding all over their scorecards.
Dustin Johnson would be the first to testify to the deceptive nature of a gorgeous day at this classic old course. Over the first two rounds of this Open, he faced the worst of the wind and the cold rain and come out unfazed, the lone player under par who took a four-shot lead into the weekend. As Saturday broke clear, talk of a runaway was gaining volume.
But then came the unseen hand that always seems to brush away such talk in golf. Whatever can happen in a tournament of this magnitude to tighten both the leaderboard and the esophagus will happen. It’s practically a law of nature.
Accordingly, Johnson quickly tumbled back into the tar pit of the over par Saturday. In his first two Open rounds, Johnson had totaled four bogeys. By his front nine Saturday, he had four more, plus a double atop those. No one could have foreseen that front-side 41, or the 7-over 77 he shot Saturday. But isn’t that the way of most wrecks?
By shooting the day’s best round (66), by being the most rare kind of accomplished on a day of great struggle (scoring average more than 5 over par, 75.328), both Daniel Berger and Tony Finau were amply rewarded. At 7 over at the start of the day, they were tied for 45th place. Now at 3 over, they, along with defending U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, were tied with Johnson for the lead.
Berger and Finau teed off more than four hours before Johnson on Saturday and took the lead while they were showered and powdered and in their slippers.
That’s why they call it moving day.
It’s not – attention, Phil Mickelson – because Saturday is the day its OK to hit a moving golf ball.
Starting off one stroke better than Berger and Finau, Mickelson produced Saturday’s most talked-about moment. It wasn’t by closing the gap on a first U.S. Open title, but rather by going rogue on the 13th green.
The scene of a five-time major champion jogging after a runaway putt and slapping it back toward the hole while it was still rolling down a slope will be the most replayed of the day. There were just so few other good shots on this set-up to compete with it.
All it cost Mickelson was a two-stroke penalty on the way to a 10 on that hole and an 81 for the day – and whatever aches that remained from his various contortions while trying to explain his action.
More pertinent to the tournament at hand was the proof Saturday that Johnson is not immune to the same rash as anyone else while playing Shinnecock. The symbol of this tournament may well be the carefully struck golf ball passing by the hole like a thief driving by a police precinct. That goes for Johnson, too.
Take for instance his second putt on his final hole, a seven-footer that sailed by completely unconcerned about falling. That final bogey dropped the once seemingly insurmountable Johnson into the four-way tie for the lead.
He wasted no time making this tournament a competitive venture again. Taking a double bogey on the par-3 second – missing the green and trotting out the first of his three 3-putts – turned out to be a sign.
It’s not that anyone other than Berger and Finau really catapulted to the top Saturday. The combined third-round score of the four other players closest to them on the leaderboard: 16 over.
“I’m in good position. I’m tied for the lead,” Johnson said coming off the course, still outwardly unfazed.
“I didn’t feel like I played badly at all. Seven over is usually a bad score, but with the greens being very difficult ...” he practically shrugged.
The key to taking back the tournament for Johnson: “Just go out play like I did the first couple of days – and putt better.”
If the final round is anything like Saturday, they may have to replace the sports writers with traffic reporters, someone more adept at describing the massive pile-up on the Shinnecock Thruway.
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