Tony Finau and Lexi Thompson got off to a good start in the scramble format of the 54-hole event, but they have some work to do to catch the leaders.
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SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Seamus Power knows the wind and Port Royal well enough to realize he’d better do his scoring early. He did just that Saturday, added a few birdies late and had another 6-under 65 to share the lead with Ben Griffin in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Power holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the daunting par-3 16th and made a 12-foot birdie on the par-5 17th to atone for his lone mistake, a double bogey on the par-3 13th. Griffin followed the same script in a strong wind with three birdies to open his round. He kept his approach under the wind on the 18th to 5 feet for birdie and a 66. They were at 18-under 195, two shots clear of Kevin Yu (67) and Aaron Baddeley (68). Power is the highest-ranked player at Port Royal. The 35-year-old Irishman is no stranger to windy conditions and has played the Bermuda Championship the last few years. “I knew I had to get birdies before 11,” Power said. He made four in a row early and was 6 under for the day until a missed green and bad chips led to a double bogey on the 13th. “One mistake. The wind drifted it a crazy amount,” Power said. “But I was able to hang in there and it puts me in a good spot going to tomorrow.” The 16th is the toughest tee because the green is just right of the ocean and the wind was ripping from left to right. “I don’t know how comfortable you get when you get to 16 and you’re having to aim your ball in the ocean,” Power said with a laugh. The shot finished pin-high on the right side of the green to a left flag, and the putt crept in the low side of the hole. Power has one PGA TOUR victory, the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky last year. He would love nothing more than a win for a strong early start to the FedExCup and to assure his spot in the Masters. For Griffin, even more as at stake. He gave up on the game a few years ago and was working as a loan mortgage officer when he was inspired playing in a member-guest, and the members put up money for him to Monday qualify into a Korn Ferry Tour event. That was the start of baby steps — making it through Korn Ferry Tour qualifying, and then last year earning his full card onto the PGA TOUR. A victory Sunday comes with a two-year exemption. “It’s been surreal really the last year and two months of just being comfortable on the golf course and just going out and trying to win,” Griffin said. “When you’re playing mini-tour events and you’re trying to grind for top 10 just to break even, just have enough money to maybe do a Monday qualifier, it’s not necessarily the easiest in terms. “Now that I have this little bit of freedom, I can go out there and just try to win golf tournaments.” Ben Crane, whose last win was in 2014, started the third round with a one-shot lead and stumbled down the closing stretch with four bogeys in a five-hole stretch before he birdied the last hole for a 73. He fell six shots behind.
ERIN, Wis. – Erin Hills may have been formed thousands of years ago by glaciers that plowed through the Wisconsin heartland, but the course was deconstructed Saturday by a kinetic wunderkind yielding space-age technology. Justin Thomas, all 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds of him, didn’t even need the longest club in his bag to bludgeon the closing holes of this 7,818-yard course. His 9-under 63, which set the record for lowest score in relation to par at a U.S. Open, will be remembered for three 3-wood shots he hit on the back nine Saturday. He drove the 288-yard, par-4 15th with that fairway wood (but missed the 6-foot eagle putt), then hit that same club twice to carry his ball onto the green of the 667-yard, par-5 18th. He stood in the final fairway, debating between hooking a 2-iron into the green or hitting a high, cut 3-wood. He settled on the 3-wood because a mishit would leave him an easier recovery shot. The fans cheered when he cast aside the iron in favor of the lumber. His ball carried more than 290 yards in the air before landing softly on the putting surface and rolling 8 feet past the hole. He made the putt to cap his record round. “I was hitting a 3-wood to lay-up, and he wasn’t that far ahead of me,� said his playing partner, Jonathan Randolph. “I knew he could get it there. I didn’t know he could hit it that high and that soft.� Thomas made nine birdies, an eagle and two bogeys Saturday, and finished the round with four consecutive 3s. A par at No. 16 and 26-foot birdie putt on the 17th were sandwiched between his impressive showings on 15 and 18. “I was in a great zone out there,� Thomas said. “I was hitting it well, I was putting it well, I had some great up-and-downs. Everything has been flowing. I’m sure once I sit down and relax tonight it will maybe set in a little bit more.� We’ve already seen several scoring records broken at a soft Erin Hills, but Thomas’ brought the most excitement to the tournament as it allowed him to break free from a crowded leaderboard. There were sometimes a half-dozen players tied for the lead Saturday before Thomas pulled away. He was two strokes ahead when he walked off the golf course, but will start Sunday’s final round one shot behind leader Brian Harman. “The finish was awesome,� Thomas said. “I’d love to have another one of those.� If he does, he could walk away with his first major title. There will be lighter traffic on the leaderboard Sunday, as only six players will be within three strokes of Brian Harman’s lead. Erin Hills, with wide fairways that are unprecedented for a U.S. Open, has allowed players to mash drivers like Mike Trout. It’s a perfect fit for Thomas, one of the most violent swingers on the PGA TOUR. His ability to generate so much distance from his small frame has been the topic of several magazine instructional articles, as if an average player could hope to make solid contact by replicating an impact position that sends Thomas onto his tippy-toes. He’d only managed to shoot 2 under par in the first two rounds at Erin Hills, though. His first-round 73 included a triple-bogey on the par-4 eighth hole and left him on the cut line. He shot 69 in the second round, but still started Saturday six shots off the lead. He’s No. 2 in the FedExCup thanks to three victories this season, including a record-setting performance at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He eagled the final hole of his first-round 59 at Waialae Country Club, then set or tied the PGA TOUR’s 36-hole and 54-hole scoring records before breaking the 72-hole record. The U.S. Open would be the 24-year-old’s biggest, of course, and not only because of the significance of winning one of golf’s Grand Slam events. The final round of the U.S. Open traditionally falls on Father’s Day, and Thomas’ dad, Mike, has been integral part of his golf career. He’s the head pro at Harmony Landing in Goshen, Kentucky, and his son’s longtime instructor. Mike’s dedication to his work meant that his Father’s Days weren’t spent watching his national championship from the couch, though. “My Father’s Day tradition was working 10-12 hours at the club, for our big Parent-Child tournament,� Mike said. “This one was going to be good as soon as he made the cut. I get to spend the day with my son. That’s good enough for me.� The Thomases are a family with a long golf lineage. Justin’s grandfather, Paul, also was a club professional. He competed in one of the most memorable U.S. Opens in history, the 1962 affair at Oakmont. Paul missed the cut, bowing out before young Jack Nicklaus defeated Arnold Palmer in a playoff. Now Paul’s grandson has cemented his name in the championship’s record book. The golf ball from Saturday’s round will need to find a home alongside the other memorabilia in Harmony Landing’s pro shop that commemorates Justin’s success The front counter’s display case holds flags and gloves and other memorabilia that highlight the many accomplishments of Thomas’ decorated career. There are also more than 10 dozen golf balls, one from each of Thomas’ victories dating to his earliest days. A major trophy would undoubtedly make a nice addition.
Nate Lashley has led after every round in the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic, and he’ll take a commanding six-shot advantage into the final round.
