Denny McCarthy got into an argument by knocking on 68 early gates yesterday and watch as much of the field returned to him. The 29-year-old from Maryland, who finished 42nd at Chambers Bay in 2015 and has no record of speaking in major majors, appears to be in the mood to fill that gap in his autobiography today. He shot 1, 4 and now 5 birds and is now part of this championship in -2!
-4: Scheffler (2), Zalatoris (1), Fitzpatrick
-3: Mercy (1)
-2: McCarthy (5)
-1: Hardy (4), McIlroy (3), Hadwin (2), Bradley (1)
E: Matsuyama (8), Dahmen (4), Burns (3)
Some back movements. Keegan Bradley opens the bogey by visiting the bunker on the green side of No. 1. The local boy slides to -1. Joel Dahmen is on par with the bogey in the 3rd. In the next match, Rory McIlroy roughly pulls the second one and fails to make the ten-foot par he left behind. He returned to where he started at -1.
The earliest club leader is Guido Migliozzi. The 25-year-old Italian, who finished fourth in Torrey Pines last year, scored an excellent 66. This is better than anything published yesterday and shows what is possible. Scottie Scheffler doesn’t need such advice, though, as she rolls in a 15-foot birdie putt 2 and soon joins the leaders. Hadwin, meanwhile, can only move the ball from a thick grass to a lighter roughness, but he is very good at getting up and down to limit bogey injury.
-4: Scheffler (2), Zalatoris, Fitzpatrick
-3: Mercy
-2: McIlroy (2), Bradley
-1: McCarthy (4), Burns (2), Hadwin (2)
Birds in a row for 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama! He is not far from finishing third to sixth. Then at 7 he manages the turn from right to left and suddenly he reaches the same level for the tournament. He could soon be joined by Adam Hadwin, who came the other way, as the 34-year-old Canadian shot two shots into the thickest river on the hill to the left of the greenery. If he runs here with a bull, he will do a good job. His partner, Scottie Scheffler, is on the dance floor looking at another bird.
Burns ball 2 is glued to the face of the bunker. He is very good at reaching a height of ten feet. McIlroy will almost run out of long poultry efforts, the ball will stop to the right of the cup. He stands in the same position in a well-tested pit … Like Burns, who completes his sandy gains with a confident roll. Meanwhile, on the 1st, Scheffler turns the chance of a bird, and now this US Open final is starting to take place!
-4: Zalatoris, Fitzpatrick
-3: Scheffler (1), Rahm
-2: McIlroy (2), Hadwin (1), Bradley
-1: Damen (2), Burns (2)
McIlroy scores 2 goals on the flag. His ball lands 25 feet short. He will look at the bird again. Burns makes an effort to hit the bunker on the left. In Back 1, Scottie Scheffler hits the opening driver off the track, but the ball ends up in a deep diva. It’s a terrible chance, but this guy is not the number one in the world in vain, and he attacks the second with great force and determination and sends the ball six feet away! Another early statement from one of the leading packages.
Well now. McIlroy gently drives from left to right at a distance of 20 feet, and it’s a landing bird! The Boston crowd has a positive attitude towards Rory, so she screams and shouts, but the man himself limits the holiday to a small punch. Seems in a determined mood. Whatever the beginning. Par for burns.
-4: Zalatoris, Fitzpatrick
-3: Mercy
-2: McIlroy (1), Bradley, Hadwin, Scheffler
-1: Damen (2), Burns (1)

Rory McIlroy didn’t go many ways yesterday. He should improve this figure this afternoon. He creams down his opening drive track, and he can settle any nerves, though he rolls into the first cut right down. He finds the heart of the green with the second. He is touring today with Sam Burns, a three-time tour winner this season. Burns nervously pulls the opening driver from the left into the trees, but takes a lucky leap and finds the green with the latter. A few big blows – maybe a round set? – expected!
Then we may have to report pain and heartache for your favorite players, which is the nature of Sunday’s main championship. So let’s feel as good as we can. On Friday, several debutants took turns leading the tournament. MJ Daffue was an inch away from reaching four at a point before Callum Tarren ruled for a while. It could never have happened, but they both spent the weekend and had a great time together today. A bird at 17 for Darlington’s Tarren, a bird at 18 for the South African Daffue, and they are signing for a pair of 69s. They both end the week at +6 with impressive work and now have an invaluable big championship experience in their back pocket.
An early calculation will no doubt indicate that the birds will arrive at a high price this afternoon. Of the 52 players who came out, only eight are level for their rounds. Bryson DeChambeau fought up to 75; Grayson Murray could not break the 80’s. But there are a few exceptions that either prove the rule, or if someone takes the day, it shows that there are points, which way you want to cut. Marc Leishman is currently less than three in the 11th round, while Guido Migliozzi, who finished fourth in Torrey Pines last year, is the same until 15. They are +1 and +3 total, respectively.
Here we go to another rehearsal day at Brookline! Although not as good as yesterday, it is still windy. But quite windy. The temperature is low and it used to rain, so the course will take longer. Despite the rains, the greens are still strong and will get stronger as the days go by. So don’t expect a bird uprising. Everything that happens can be a lot.
Preamble
The day of action has moved, baby. Like pulp, baby! Now Matt Fitzpatrick has a chance to add the 2022 US Open to the 2013 US Amateur title he won at Brookline at the age of 18. Neat story, huh?
But there are other wonderful stories. Could Will Zalatoris be better after finishing second in the PGA last month? Could John Rahm be the eighth man to hold the U.S. Open after Willie Anderson, John McDermott, Bobby Jones, Ralph Guldahl, Ben Hogan, Curtis Strange and Brooks Koepka?
What if Keegan Bradley raised silverware in front of a crowd in his home country? Or if Adam Hadwin wins the first Canadian? Imagine Scottie Scheffler winning the second base of the year and the fifth Tour event in four months? What if Sam Burns makes the main leap? What if Joel Dahmen took the prize and drank beer and took the kids out? And then there’s Rory McIlroy’s eight-year itch.
So, you know, there are a lot of fairy tales to tell. And if today’s final round sounds like yesterday’s nonsense, we will talk about this US Open for many years. Here’s what the top of the leaders’ board looked like after 54 holes …
-4: Zalatoris, Fitzpatrick
-3: Mercy
-2: Bradley, Hadwin, Scheffler
-1: Burns, McIlroy, Dahmen
E: Hardy
+1: McCarthy, Woodland, Power, NeSmith, Wise, Buckley
+2: Muñoz, Li, Conson, Matsuyama, Riley, Harman, Rodgers, Morikawa
+3: Cantlay, Spieth, Tringale, Thomas, Schenk, Kim, Pieters, Lingmerth
… and here is the fourth round sheet (BST at all times). It is the final stage of the 122nd US Open Championship! It is active!
13.49: Stewart Hagestad, Harris English
14:00: Brandon Matthews, Sebastian Soderberg
14.11 pm: Wil Besseling, Chris Naegel
14.22 pm: Tyrrell Hatton, Austin Greaser
14.33 pm: Bryson DeChambeau, Grayson Murray
14.44: MJ Daffue, Callum Tarren
14.55: Joaquin Niemann, Max Homa
15.06: Chris Gotterup, Sam Bennett
15.17: Patrick Reed, Todd Sinnott
15.28: Guido Migliozzi, KH Lee
15.44: Travis Vick, Brooks Koepka
15.55: Justin Rose, Sam Stevens
16.06: Joseph Bramlett, Beau Hossler
16.17: Xander Schauffele, Andrew Putnam
16.28: Marc Leishman, Mackenzie Hughes
16.39: Richard Bland, Adam Scott
16.50: David Lingmerth, Thomas Pieters
17.01: Tom Kim, Adam Schenk
17.17: Castin Thomas, Cameron Tringale
17.28: Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay
17.39: Collin Morikawa, Patrick Rodgers
17.50: Brian Harman, Davis Riley
18.01: Hideki Matsuyama, Dustin Conson
18.12: Min Woo Lee, Sebastian Munoz
18.23: Hayden Bakley, Aaron Wise
18.34: Matthew NeSmit, Seamus Power
18.50: Gary Woodland, Denny McCarthy
19.01: Nick Hardy, Joel Dahmen
7.12 pm: Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns
7.23 pm: Scottie Scheffler, Adam Hadwin
7.34 pm: Keegan Bradley, Jon Rahm
19.45: Matt Fitzpatrick, Will Zalatoris