Tommy Fleetwood’s 63 among low scores Sunday

The fireworks started early on Sunday at The Los Angeles Country Club.

Just as the 54-hole leaders tied off for their final round, Tommy Fleetwood was completing one of the best rounds in major championship history.

The Englishman fired a final-round 63 to become the first player to shoot 63 or lower twice in U.S. Open history. Fleetwood shot 63 in the final round of the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

And he wasn’t the only one to go low.

Austin Eckroat shot a front-nine 29 that matched the lowest nine-hole score in U.S. Open history en route to a round of 65. FedExCup leader Jon Rahm matched with a 65 of his own.

In a week where conditions have ping-ponged back and forth with low scores dominating Thursday before LACC began to show its teeth on Friday and Saturday, the early onslaught of scores indicates there are plenty of opportunities for a Sunday charge. The course was receptive in the morning, particularly on the front nine, which has played around a shot-and-a-half easier than the back nine all week.

Fleetwood’s round provides the blueprint. The 32-year-old carded four birdies, two eagles and a bogey to shoot his second 63 in a major championship. Fleetwood birdied the par-4 second hole, striking his approach to 10 feet and draining the putt. A 13-footer for par on No. 5 kept him under par for the round before the Englishman made just the third eagle of the week on the drivable par-4 sixth, dropping his tee shot just 6 feet from the front-right hole location and sinking the putt. He showed off his exquisite ball-striking on the par-3 ninth and 11th, first sticking his approach on the ninth to 11 feet. On the 295-yard 11th, Fleetwood roped a fairway wood that landed on the front of the green and rolled to within 4 feet of the back hole location. He made birdie on both occasions. A little later he became the first to eagle the par-5 14th all week, holing a 20-footer to move to 8-under for his round.

Still, the round could’ve been better. Fleetwood bogeyed No. 16 then missed a 7-footer for birdie on the 18th, drumming up memories of his historic round at Shinnecock when he also missed a short birdie putt on the 18th for 62.

“It’s a stupid game when you leave two rounds of 63 at the U.S. Open a bit disappointed,” Fleetwood said.

He won’t be the only one left disappointed come Sunday evening, but the low scores early show there are plenty of players with the chance to make a run. Odds are, whoever lifts the U.S. Open trophy on Sunday night will have needed a handful of birdies to get there.

"I think overall it's been gettable,” Fleetwood said. “Of course it has, because there's been scores out there, but we'll see. Coming in late on a Sunday in a major is always difficult."