An ice cool Gary Woodland held his nerve under mounting pressure to secure a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the U.S. Open after seeing off challenges from Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka on Saturday.
Woodland, who could not manage a top-10 finish in his first 27 Majors, looked as if he played for the biggest prizes in the game every week as he carded a third round two-under 69.
“We just got to play golf shots and hopefully come up with one less than anyone else,” said Woodland.
Both Woodland and Rose were pursued by Koepka, who had a tidy bogey-free 68 that left him four off the pace with his hopes of becoming the first player in over a century to sweep three straight U.S. Opens very much alive.
Also lurking four back were South African Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion who carding a one-under 70, and Chez Reavie, who fired a 68 to move into contention.
Woods and Mickelson disappoint
Two of the Pebble Beach headliners Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson had disappointing third rounds that saw them drop out of contention. Woods even-par 71 left him at even par for the tournament and 10 behind the pacesetter Woodland.
The leaderboard: 202: Gary Woodland (68-65-69); 203: Justin Rose (65-70-68); 206: Louis Oosthuizen (66-70-70), Chez Reavie (68-70-68), Brooks Koepka (69-69-68); 207: Rory McIlroy (68-69-70); 208:Chesson Hadley (68-70-70), Matt Kuchar (69-69-70).