Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau attacked as Richard Bland’s challenge faded, with a closely-fought US Open third round setting the scene for a thrilling final day at Torrey Pines.
Louis Oosthuizen holed an incredible 50ft eagle putt on the 18th to take a share of the lead with Russell Henley and Mackenzie Hughes on five under.
McIlroy, champion in 2011, hit a four-under 67 and is two back, along with defending champion DeChambeau (68).
Bland carded a 77 to end on one over.
The 48-year-old Englishman – who won his first European Tour title in his 478th event in May – had shared an unlikely overnight lead with Henley going into round three at just his second US Open.
Few would want to predict a winner before the final round, with 20 players sitting within five shots of the leaders after Saturday.
McIlroy celebrates anniversary of first US Open title in style
Exactly 10 years to the day after McIlroy’s first major win at the 2011 US Open, aged just 22, the Northern Irishman rolled back the years as he gathered momentum.
He pulled back a shot on the 10th, before back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th propelled him further up the leaderboard.
McIlroy fell back slightly after a wayward drive into a hazard led to a bogey on the 15th, but he rallied to birdie the par-five 18th and put himself firmly in the mix.
“It’s the best I’ve played all week,” he told Sky Sports. “I stayed really patient and I feel like that patience was rewarded on the back nine.”
McIlroy, who won the last of his four major titles at the 2014 US PGA Championship, added that another US Open title would “mean an awful lot” to him, saying he was “just so happy” to have given himself another chance.
“It’s felt like a while since I’ve had a chance to win a major championship going into the Sunday,” he continued.
“It’s not going to be quite as easy as it was 10 years ago but my game feels good and I’ll try to do the same again.”
Earlier, Ian Poulter sent a reminder to European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington that he is still around with a three-under 68 to end the day on level par.
England’s Paul Casey is also level after a birdie on the 18th finished off an excellent 67.
DeChambeau thrives as Koepka falters.
Bland, 48, said he wanted to take on the “gym-goers” over the weekend, but it was those athletic, younger players who made moves as Saturday unravelled.
DeChambeau made the most impressive move, posting his first bogey-free round in a major as his “bomb and gouge” approach helped him to three birdies.
It is the first time the 27-year-old has had a bogey-free round in a major and birdies on the first, sixth and 13th left him looming dangerously in joint fourth.
DeChambeau has been having an ongoing spat with two-times US Open winner Brooks Koepka on social media and said he is “looking forward” to the two of them playing together.
“You’ve got guys going back and forth on both sides saying ‘Team Bryson’, ‘No, no, no, Team Brooks’. It’s really cool, I think it’s fun,” DeChambeau said of the supposed feud between the two.
“I would love for us to be paired,” he added. “Give the fans what they want. I think it would be awesome. We’ve both got to play well at the same time and I certainly look forward to that day.”
Koepka struggled to make anything happen on Saturday and he mixed three birdies with three bogeys to finish the day as he started on level par.
Henley at one point held a two-shot lead but bogeys on the second, sixth and 10th kept him within sight of the field.
The American’s day went much better than Bland’s as the Englishman struggled with his approach shots in a bogey-ridden showing which culminated in an unfortunate trip into the water on the 18th.
But Henley managed to stay in the lead, where he had been all day, as he salvaged par after visiting two bunkers on his way down the final hole.
He was joined in the lead late on by 2010 Open champion Oosthuizenm who suddenly and unexpectedly shot to the top of the leaderboard after his impressive eagle putt ended an otherwise mixed round of three birdies and four bogeys.
Canada’s Hughes – who failed to make the cut in his three previous US Open appearances – also had an eagle in his three-under 68.
The 30-year-old’s effort on the 13th put him tied for second before he moved up to top spot with a birdie on the 18th.
In a chasing pack stacked with potential winners, world number one Dustin Johnson sits four back after a 68, while Spain’s Jon Rahm recovered from a double bogey on the 14th to post a 72 and end on two under.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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