Lowry extends US Open lead to four shots

The rains are gone, the sun is out and the famously fast greens at Oakmont Country Club are firming up.

The U.S. Open at Oakmont has been unkind to big name golfers, players like Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler missed the cut on Saturday.

Lowry appeared to get another bonus when little-known American Andrew Landry drained a long birdie putt at the 18th which meant he would play in the final group rather than the huge-hitting Dustin Johnson.

Westwood and Garcia have both failed to convert numerous chances to win a major title, but Garcia insisted there was no “monkey on his back” ahead of Sunday’s final day. No one could catch him when the round was completed Saturday.

“I said to my caddie, I said “I’m leading”.

“I’m still feeling good about where I’m at”. “I feel like my game is there, but my scoring hasn’t been what I want the first two days”.

Westwood, 43, has had nine top-three finishes in a major without winning one. Branden Grace is at one-under with Sergio García and Scott Piercy at even par.

“They were only bogeys, and then I finished strongly with two birdies on the last three holes”. He held a share of the lead after chipping in for an eagle from 130 yards on the par-four fifth but finished the day on two-under par with three holes of his third round to play.

The Dallas native stands tied for 29th at 4 over entering Sunday’s final round. But the Texan fell back with a double bogey on No. 2 (his 11th hole) and had to settle for a 70 and was nine shots behind Lowry. But he had said the other day that no excuses would fly during a championship that was thrown off kilter by thunderstorms on Thursday. I feel very comfortable out there. With no rain expected on the weekend the course will dry out more and that will make things more hard for those who still have 54 holes to play. “That kind of kept me going”.

It was, however, a day of dramatic fluctuations, which saw Rory McIlroy miss the cut by two shots after double-bogeying the final hole to card a one-over par 71.

Daniel Summerhays provided a glimpse of that when he shot 65 Friday to move to 1-under-par.

“I know I’m four back, but with this golf course, that can change in a hurry”, he said. “These guys have to get up at 5 o’clock”. Hopefully, I give myself an opportunity.

“I didn’t score the way I would have liked to, but I enjoyed the challenge”, he told reporters after posting a seven-over total of 147. “I just tried to push forward”.

After saving par from the fairway bunker on 18 and then nearly holing his chip on No. 1, Spieth had sand wedge in his hands on No. 2 and skulled it over the green.

Landry, who bogeyed the 14th and 15th holes to drop back to one under, hit back with a tap-in birdie on the short par-four 17th before rolling in a 45-foot putt on the last to get back to three under as he seeks to win on his first appearance in a major.