Phil is now level par for his round through 3. The fast start he’d have been desperate for has instead been made by Daniel Berger. One of the USA’s many major-champions-in-waiting, though with only one top-ten finish at the Masters to his name so far, the 25-year-old from Florida has begun with birdies at 2, 4 and 6. That’s whisked him all the way up the standings to +4 and a tie for 14th.
The galleries are serenading Phil. A lovely touch. His playing partner, one Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston, has already given him a present: an IOU for a Philly cheesesteak, scrawled on the back of a golf towel. “Happy Birthday Phil, a beef and cheddar on me!” The other side of the towel was a picture of an awful lot of cow slathered in copious amounts of dairy product. Mmmhmm. Though it is Bloomsday today, too. Shouldn’t he have got him a gorgonzola sandwich?
♫ ♯ Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Lefty, happy birthday to you! ♭♬ Phil Mickelson turns 48 today. Chasing that elusive US Open to complete his career slam, what he’d give for a low round to close the gap on Dustin Johnson. He starts ten shots adrift. If he can make three up, well, a seven-shot final-round chase has been completed before: all hail King Arnie, who made up seven strokes on Mike Souchak in 1960 (see below). He’s not started particularly quickly today, mind: a par on the opening hole, and he’s just dumped his tee shot at the long par-three 2nd into the bunker front-right. A lovely splash to six feet, and another par. Sixteen holes still to go, mind you. Plenty of time.
Preamble
Shinnecock Hills is a wonderfully tough, old-school US Open test. How tough? Here are just a few of the players who have missed the cut: Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, Jason Day, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer, Si Woo Kim, Ernie Els, Graeme McDowell. It’s been carnage.
Then again, Tommy Fleetwood and Brooks Koepka shot 66s yesterday. Dustin Johnson, the leader, has posted 69-67. Keep it in the fairway, bring your A-game to the greens, show a bit of patience, rein it in when you need to, and the scores are there. It’s a US Open. Nobody said it had to be easy.
And the top of the leader board is still packed with some of the world’s top talent. Look!
-4: D Johnson
E: Piercy, Hoffman
+1: Fleetwood, Stenson, Rose, Koepka, Poulter
+2: Henley, Fowler
+3: Leishman, Fitzpatrick, Howell
+4: Cabrera Bello, Noren, Furyk, Perez, Thomas, Dufner, Duncan, Harman, Rodgers, Knox, DeMorat, Hill
Moving Day could be a blast. Especially if 2010 Dustin turns up, rather than the 2016-2018 variety. Or it could turn into a DJ procession, of course. But only time will tell. It’s on! Here’s when they tee off...
9.07am EDT (2.07pm BST) Tim Wilkinson
9.18am (2.18pm) Bill Haas, Jhonattan Vegas
9.29am (2.29pm) Matthieu Pavon, Cameron Wilson
9.40am (2.40pm) Brandt Snedeker, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
9.51am (2.51pm) Steve Stricker, Gary Woodland
10.02am (3.02pm) Dean Burmester, Luis Gagne (a)
10.13am (3.13pm) Daniel Berger, Kevin Chappell
10.24am (3.24pm) Matt Parziale (a), Byeong Hun An
10.35am (3.35pm) Haotong Li, Ross Fisher
10.46am (3.46pm) Francesco Molinari, Webb Simpson
10.57am (3.57pm) Tony Finau, Peter Uihlein
11.08am (4.08pm) Brian Gay, Sam Burns
11.19am (4.19pm) Chris Naegel, Dylan Meyer
11.30am (4.30pm) Andrew Johnston, Phil Mickelson
11.41am (4.41pm) Zach Johnson, Paul Casey
11.52am (4.52pm) Louis Oosthuizen, Patrick Cantlay
12.03pm (5.03pm) Aaron Baddeley, Xander Schauffele
12.14pm (5.14pm) Bryson DeChambeau, Hideki Matsuyama
12.25pm (5.25pm) Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Reed
12.36pm (5.36pm) Branden Grace, Jimmy Walker
12.47pm (5.47pm) Brendan Steele, Will Grimmer (a)
12.58pm (5.58pm) Ryan Fox, Calum Hill
1.09pm (6.09pm) Mickey DeMorat, Russell Knox
1.20pm (6.20pm) Patrick Rodgers, Brian Harman
1.31pm (6.31pm) Tyler Duncan, Jason Dufner
1.42pm (6.42pm) Justin Thomas, Pat Perez
1.53pm (6.53pm) Jim Furyk, Alex Noren
2.04pm (7.04pm) Rafa Cabrera Bello, Charles Howell
2.15pm (7.15pm) Matthew Fitzpatrick, Marc Leishman
2.26pm (7.26pm) Rickie Fowler, Russell Henley
2.37pm (7.37pm) Ian Poulter, Brooks Koepka
2.48pm (7.48pm) Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson
2.59pm (7.59pm) Tommy Fleetwood, Charley Hoffman
3.10pm (8.10pm) Scott Piercy, Dustin Johnson
