PINEHURST, N.C. — Collin Morikawa entered the third round of the U.S. Open tied for 51st on the No. 2 hole at Pinehurst on Saturday.
He was four over par.
Morikawa shot a 4-under 66, the lowest score of the day, to climb the leaderboard and sit tied for ninth going into Sunday’s final round, seven strokes behind leader Bryson DeChambeau.
Morikawa had disappointing results of 70 and 74 in his first two rounds, but showed the leaders could produce low scores on the morning tee times.
“Everything went well,” the two-time major winner, who fought to the end to win last month’s PGA Championship, said when asked what went well in Saturday’s match.
“It was up and down and I made a lot of putts from the off side. [and] “I just made the putts I needed to make,” he said. “I think yesterday I missed all the putts I should have made, and the first day was a bit of both, so it was good to see those putts go in.” [and] We just have to build it for tomorrow.”
Morikawa started the day nine strokes behind the leader but said his goal was to finish at even par — and he achieved that goal.
Asked what his realistic goals were for Sunday’s final round, he replied: “If I play like I did today, who knows what’s going to happen.”
Morikawa predicted the situation would become even tougher on Sunday.
“In such a tough round, you can’t cheat,” he said. “Everything is laid bare. Sure, good shots don’t always pay off as you’d expect. It’s a true test of who can remain as patient as possible.”
Many players who have later tee times like to watch live TV to get a sense of the holes’ trends. Rory McIlroy is not one of those players.
“I don’t like watching where other guys are putting,” said McIlroy, who is tied for second place, three strokes behind DeChambeau, after shooting a third-round 69. “I don’t like watching other guys putt, especially on the green, because then when I make that same putt on the golf course, I’m just going by what I remember from watching it on TV, not by what I see with my own eyes.”
“In fact, I’d rather not have that option. I’ve learned from bitter experience that you don’t need to watch it on TV.”
Conversely, DeChambeau said he “loves” watching other players’ rounds on TV to get information before playing.
“It’s good insight, great information, letting you know how things are unfolding, where you should be, where you should be,” he said.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton was asked after the second round on Friday when he’d been “happiest” this week.
His answer was rather interesting.
“Probably after the dessert that the chef is making in house this week,” he said. “I’m sharing with Fitzy. [Matt Fitzpatrick]and he always hires chefs to be majors. Yeah, [chef] Sean is pretty good at making desserts, which makes me very happy.
“[Thursday] I had peanut butter brownies for dinner, and the night before she made me chocolate mousse and shortbread for breakfast. It was ridiculously good.”
Hatton, known for his short temper on the course, reacted hysterically when asked if he knew how many fines he had received as a result of his temper.
“I think you guys are actually going to be shocked because you think that’s a crazy amount of money,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a lot of money, but by no means… I want you to guess as accurately as possible.”
The guess was “100,000.”
“Hey, you’re not even close,” he said.
“Higher?” he was asked.
“Even with the DP World Tour, I don’t think it’s even reaching double figures,” he said. “It’s still a lot of money, but nowhere near what you were talking about.”
