Five things to know Sunday at 124th U.S. Open

PINEHURST, N.C. – This U.S. Open marks the 1,000th USGA championship, and it comes on a fitting venue, Pinehurst No. 2, which challenges players in countless ways with unpredictable wiregrass and sloped, slick greens.

Through 54 holes at the U.S. Open, no player has bettered answered Pinehurst’s questions than Bryson DeChambeau, who has carded a three-day total of 7-under in North Carolina to assume a three-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round. DeChambeau made six birdies in a third-round 67 – tying the most birdies made in a single round of a U.S. Open at Pinehurst – to move into pole position for his second major title. He’ll be chased Sunday by a trio of challengers who begin the day at 4-under – Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay and Matthieu Pavon – with others within striking distance including Hideki Matsuyama, Ludvig Åberg, Tony Finau and Collin Morikawa.

It's an intricate test with varied possibilities at every turn. What will happen Sunday is anyone’s guess, but that’s what makes it the U.S. Open.

Here are five things to know for Sunday at Pinehurst No. 2.

1. DeChambeau in control, but Pinehurst might fight back

Bryson DeChambeau has been a consistent presence on major leaderboards this season, finishing sixth at the Masters and solo second (by one stroke) to Xander Schauffele at the PGA Championship. He appeared poised for a second major title, and he has met those expectations through 54 holes at Pinehurst No. 2 – although Sunday’s final exam remains.

On a layout that requires constant patience, DeChambeau took advantage of his driver – his most powerful weapon in recent years – and maintained an even keel that was epitomized after a double bogey at the par-4 16th; he responded with a birdie-par finish to keep the field at arm’s length.

Yet that double bogey also proved a Pinehurst axiom, that no lead is truly safe. DeChambeau appeared to play a safe shot to the green’s front-left portion, but the ball caught the turtleback slope and funneled off the front of the green. He caught his third shot heavy, the ball again landing on the green and rolling back down off the front, and he couldn’t get up and down. All of Pinehurst No. 2’s distinctive green complexes are perilous; despite the minimal water hazards and penalty areas, the greens’ varied slopes can be seen as mini-penalties. Big numbers can come at any moment – case in point, triple bogeys by Åberg and Finau at the short par-4 13th (which played just 368 yards on Saturday). Åberg trails by five into Sunday, Finau by six.

The chasers will be caught in a mental paradox: Play aggressive to earn short birdie chances and try to go deep into red figures, or play a more disciplined brand of golf for pars and hope that DeChambeau falls victim to the Pinehurst intricacies? It will make for fascinating Sunday viewing in the Carolina Sandhills.

2. McIlroy has another shot on a major Sunday

We’re here again: Rory McIlroy has another chance on a major Sunday, looking to snap a 10-year winless drought in majors. McIlroy has spoken all week of his growing appreciation for a U.S. Open-level test, with results to back up those sentiments (he finished top 10 in each of the last five U.S. Opens, the longest active streak).

No player is between DeChambeau and McIlroy heading into Sunday’s final round at Pinehurst, as the Northern Irishman hung tough with a third-round 69 that was good for a share of second place through 54 holes at 4-under total, three shots back. He stood 3-under on the day through 14 and was slowed by bogeys on both back-nine par 3s, but he remained upbeat in meeting with NBC’s Damon Hack afterward.

McIlroy has recorded 10 top-five finishes in majors since 2015, the most of any player without a win. After a runner-up at last year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, he opined that he’d endure 100 similar Sundays to get his hands on one more major title.

Saturday, those sentiments again rose to the forefront.

“Looking forward to another Sunday in the mix at a major,” he told Hack. “Awesome opportunity. Really excited to be in the position that I’m in. This is what we practice for, this is what we dream of; this is what I’ve wanted to do my whole life. So really excited for the opportunity and going to go out there tomorrow and give it my all.”

3. Cantlay looks to join close friend as major champion

Patrick Cantlay is close friends with Xander Schauffele, a fellow TOUR veteran who entered the year on the short list of best players without a major title. Schauffele removed his name from the list with a dramatic victory at last month’s PGA Championship, making birdie on the 72nd hole to clip DeChambeau by a stroke.

In the next major, Cantlay could join his friend in the pantheon of major champions. Cantlay stayed steady with a third-round 70, a score bettered by just seven players on Saturday, and he will play in Sunday’s penultimate pairing alongside McIlroy. A three-shot deficit is demanding but doable. This marks Cantlay’s 30th career major start, and he has notched just one top-five finish – a T3 at the 2019 PGA Championship, where he finished six strokes back of Brooks Koepka at Bethpage Black. He’s poised Sunday to improve upon that.

In addition to seeking his first major, Cantlay could also qualify for the Olympics on Sunday. Cantlay entered the week at No. 9 on the Official World Golf Ranking, trailing Collin Morikawa (No. 7) for the United States’ final spot in Olympics men’s golf (qualification is finalized after the U.S. Open). There’s plenty on the line Sunday for the Californian, whose stoic outward demeanor should serve him well amidst Pinehurst’s stern examination.

“I played really smart today and was happy with how I grinded it out,” Cantlay said afterward. “Tomorrow I'm sure will be a grind, as well, and I look forward to the challenge.”

4. France’s Pavon will play in Sunday’s final pairing

Matthieu Pavon has been on the right side of golf’s fine line. Last fall, he made four straight closing birdies on the final day of the DP World Tour season to earn dual membership on the PGA TOUR for the first time. Then he got up-and-down for birdie from thick rough on the final hole of this year’s Farmers Insurance Open, his third TOUR start as a member, to launch into the top 60 on the Official World Golf Ranking – which led him to Pinehurst for his fourth U.S. Open.

Now he has a chance at a first major title, which would be France’s first modern-era major in men’s professional golf. Pavon carded 1-under 69 in Saturday’s increasingly difficult afternoon conditions, moving into a share of second place into Sunday, trailing only DeChambeau. He’s making his hay with iron play, ranking third for the week in Strokes Gained: Approach – a timely uptick from his season-long rank of No. 53 on the PGA TOUR. Pavon missed back-to-back cuts before this week (shooting a combined 19 over across four rounds at the PGA Championship and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday), but his hot-and-cold season has gotten hot at a good time.

With a strong Sunday, he could exorcise French golf’s demons from Jean Van de Velde’s playoff loss at the 1999 Open Championship (where he made triple bogey on the 72nd hole) and inscribe himself as a major champion.

“I just love golf; that’s the thing,” Pavon said Saturday. “I just love so much competing here. … I’m a pretty regular guy, and it’s just awesome to be here and having the chance to share the last round in a major in the last group.”

5. Matsuyama, Åberg among those with puncher’s chance

Aside from the three players tied for second (McIlroy, Pavon and Cantlay), no other player is within four strokes of DeChambeau’s lead into Sunday. If the 2020 U.S. Open winner stumbles, though, a host of others could enter the mix.

Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters winner who's made 17 straight cuts in majors (the longest active streak), shares fifth place with Åberg at 2-under, five back. It’s Åberg’s U.S. Open debut, and a win would make him the first U.S. Open first-timer to win since Francis Ouimet in 1913. Although he ceded ground with a triple bogey at No. 13 on Saturday, his lethal combination of talent and poise means a dramatic rally isn’t out of the question. Åberg finished second at this year’s Masters, his first major start, and believes he belongs on this stage. Nobody would argue that either.

Finau shares seventh place at 1-under, six off the lead, and would’ve been more squarely in the mix if not for that triple at the dastardly 13th, where he spun a wedge off the front of the green, putted through the green into a bunker and then splashed back over the green. He appeared confident and jovial through the majority of Saturday’s round alongside McIlroy, and a similar demeanor Sunday could keep him with a puncher’s chance. Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa also has an outside chance after carding a third-round 66, the day’s low score, to move into a share of ninth place at even par.

“You never know what’s going to happen on a day like tomorrow,” Finau said. “Still very much in it with a good round.”