Oakmont, Pa. — The closest Sam Burns came to a massive championship by sharing a home with his best friend who already has three. He has been inspired by Scotty Schaeffler for the past few years. The next step is to join him as a major champion.
Burns was steady after missing a short par putt at the US Open late Saturday, responding with beautiful pitches with two horrifying putts from the inside of 60 feet down the hill, saving a par on Oakmont’s 18th hole soaked in 1 under 69 rain.
That gave him a one-shot lead over the massively tested Adam Scott and JJ Spawn.
Burns was 4 under 206. He won his last one PGA Tour title more than two years ago, and suffered a playoff loss at the Canada Open last week.
Attacking in crisis for Burns is the 28-year-old Louisiana native, who is the sixth American under 30 since 2020. Schaeffler has won 19 times over three years, 19 times over the past three years.
“Scotty is clearly an incredible player, and I don’t think there’s any need to say that,” Burns said with a laugh. “We obviously spent a lot of time together, talking to him, learning from him, asking him questions, and that was really cool.”
Schaeffler won three majors that turned out to be a punk. Sundays at Oakmont were becoming more than anything else.
Scott returned to the world’s top 50 a year ago and hadn’t been seriously challenging the majors in nearly seven years, but became the third player in par in the opening three rounds at Oakmont’s US Open.
He birded three of the last six holes of the 67 and entered the final group when he made a bogey from the bunker on the 18th hole and shot a 69. Scott is the only player in the top 10 to win a major. It was the Masters 12 years ago. No one has gone between the first and second major titles for over 11 years.
“Just putting yourself in these positions doesn’t just happen with flukes,” Scott said. “I’ve never really been in this kind of position for five or six years. Or I feel like that player. But that’s something I’m always working on. It’s not that easy to understand all of that.
“But if I leave it tomorrow, it would be a hell of golf and exclamation points of my career.”
Spaun, who lost the playoffs in the Players Championship in March, continued to catch up with burns through the back nine until the end. He looked comfortable under pressure, making only two bogeys, matching the burns and PAR with seven straight holes.
“We seemed like an exchange,” Spawn said. “He takes the lead, I’ll lead, I’ll retreat anything. But it was fun. You can’t really play your opponent. You could play this course.
The other survivor was Hofland. Hofland smiles like anyone on the course who has been making so many angry all week. Hofland retrieved a bogey from the opening tee shot by the bushes and shot an exquisite shot from a muddy kart pass.
However, he hit a pin on the ninth hole on the uphill for a birdie, hitting an astonishing wedge from the cabbage on the left of No. 17 Green, then hit a tap-in birdie. He bogie closed on the 18th with rough roughness that was raining for the 70, and three people were late
“I know well that tomorrow we have a chance. If we shoot a low round of golf tomorrow, something could happen,” Hofland said. “But I have a lot of great players around me. Adam Scott had a great round today and he didn’t miss a shot.
Carlos Ortiz submitted one of his most notable performances by going bogey-free in 30 consecutive holes. The streak ended on the 18th, but Mexican players were still 67, and were very ranged with even numbers 210.
What was missing from the mix was Schaeffler, the world’s No. 1 player, winning three out of three of the past four tournaments. Schaeffler didn’t find momentum and got caught up in the 70s, moving him from 23rd to just outside the top 10. But he was eight shots behind Barnes.
The best news about this US opening was that the weather didn’t get in the way and finished the third round. It’s been raining for Oakmont since the end of play on Friday evening. The USGA offered to refund tickets to spectators who didn’t want to go through the Mac.
The divot, photographed from the fairway, looked furry, and the green was noticeably soft and more receptive. As the umbrella came out and the sun was shining, there was one spell midway through the round.
Burns picked up a birdie with a wedge from the fairway to No. 5 backpin and took a tee shot up to seven feet in accessible par 3 13th place. Equally important was the three times I saved a par from the fairway after leaving my position from the tee.
“I didn’t drive the ball the way I wanted, but when I got out of that position I feel like I did a good job going back to the fairway and holding a wedge or a short iron in my hand and giving me a chance to par,” he said. “I was able to convert some of them and I was still going strong.”
Now it’s the night I went home with Schaeffler. There, conversation is more about children than golf.
“Morning conversation, we just hang out,” Schaeffler said. “Two little kids will run around. There’s nothing crazy. There’s not much to say. Sam has been preparing for this moment for so long, and he’s putting himself in order to win a golf tournament.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.