US Open final round: Oosthuizen leads all-star chasing pack – live!

An awful finish to the round for Brooks Koepka, who won’t be winning his third US Open this week. He sends his second at 18 into thick bother to the right of the green, then fluffs his chip into sand. He can’t get up and down, and it’s a closing bogey. He signs for a 69, ending the week at -2, alongside Guido Migliozzi in the clubhouse. Harris English, barely mentioned all day, working away from the white-hot heat of the gallery and the TV cameras, is still the clubhouse leader! Look at this, all of a sudden!

-5: Oosthuizen (11)
-4: Rahm (13)
-3: English (F), DeChambeau (12)
-2: Migliozzi (F), Koepka (F), Schauffele (16), Morikawa (14), Henley (12), Hughes (11)

Bogey for Oosthuizen at the par-three 11th, the result of his sending his tee shot down to DeChambeau Country. He’s -5. McIlroy shanks his almost impossible bunker shot, having to hack down on the ball like a half-cut butcher. He ends up with a double, and suddenly crashes down to -1. DeChambeau slips as he drives at 13 and hoicks his ball into thick rubbish down the right, then slashes his second into similar nonsense not particularly further up the hole. The back nine at Torrey Pines is beginning to bare its teeth.

Harris English is the new clubhouse leader! He’s just signed for a 68, having birdied 14, 17 and 18, doing nearly all of his business out of sight. Suddenly he’s set a mark at -3 … and a lot of players are heading in the wrong direction. This couldn’t be a retread of Ben Curtis’s win at Sandwich at the 2003 Open, could it? Everyone looking the other way at the stars, a mark quietly set, the whole field coming backwards? You wouldn’t totally rule it out.

Hughes identifies his ball, then takes his drop, straight down below, onto the cart path. He’s allowed relief from there. He’ll be hitting three. A huge up-and-down attempt coming up. He’s given some time to thing about it. Eventually he punches a wedge onto the green that’s as average as his tee shot was unfortunate. He’ll have a long bogey putt. And it’s all threatening to unravel for McIlroy, as well, as he drives into a bunker down the left of 12, then sends his second into another, to the right of the green. It’s plugged, on a downhill lie, the lip at the back possibly limiting his backswing.

DeChambeau ships another shot, this time at 12, the result of an overly aggressive first putt. A shame, because having launched his drive into thick filth down the right of the hole, he’d powered to the front of the green with Olympian strength. He slips back to -3. Par for Koepka on 17, meanwhile. Better than nothing, with quite a few players heading in the wrong direction all of a sudden.

A preposterous stroke of luck for poor Mackenzie Hughes on the par-three 11th. He pulls his 5-iron well left. It hits a tree … and stays up there. It’s wedged in between branches, on a nest of leaves. So sad. The punters congregate at its foot to take pictures of this super-rare nonsense. Looks like he’ll be taking an unplayable … providing he can identify it. “Shake that tree! Shake that tree!” chant the gallery, trying their best to help. Not allowed, sadly.

A three-putt bogey for McIlroy at 11. That’s a huge blow at the wrong time. A decent iron into the par-three, too, but he left his first putt well short, and always looked fidgety over the second. He slips to -3. Meanwhile Morikawa nearly escapes 13 with bogey after a fine chip to 12 feet, but the putt lips out. He clatters down to -2.

Real bother for Morikawa at the par-five 13th. Having stumbled through deep rough along the way, he shanks his fourth shot from the bottom of the false front over the green. It settles down in deep rough. He’s down the bottom of a swale, short-sided. He needs some magic here if he’s not going to abruptly take his leave of The Mix.

Koepka can’t make his. He slips back to -3. DeChambeau misses as well, tumbling back to -4. And it’s a bad time to drop a stroke, because Oosthuizen, fresh off his first birdie of the day, makes a second in a row! He rolls a straight-ish 30-footer across 10, and all of a sudden, the 2010 Open champion has a two-shot lead!

-6: Oosthuizen (10)
-4: Morikawa (12), Rahm (12), DeChambeau (11), McIlroy (10), Hughes (10)
-3: Koepka (16)

Sergio Garcia has been abysmal in the majors since winning the Masters in 2017. He’s played in 15 of them, missing the cut on 11 occasions. But he’s shot a final-day 68, and at +2 has a great chance of finishing in the top 20. Baby steps, all that. Meanwhile DeChambeau and Koepka take turns to whip chips up onto their respective par-three greens, at 11 and 16, and face 12-foot putts to save their pars.

McIlroy is always out of position coming up 10. As a result, he’s left with a 12-foot par putt … and he makes it, pumping the air discreetly in celebration. A par save that will feel like a birdie. The sort of thing that you need on the back nine at a US Open. He remains one shot off DeChambeau and Oosthuizen’s lead at -4.

Koepka pulls his tee shot left of the tricky par-three 16th. He’s in the lap of the golfing gods there. His pal DeChambeau is also playing a par-three … and sends a dreadful tee shot down the bank to the right. No shout of fore either, which is his MO, we shouldn’t be surprised. And is this a belated bid from Schauffele, who started slowly but has birdied 9, 10 and now 13 to move into red figures for his round, and up to -2 overall.

Well that didn’t take long! On 15, Koepka steers a delicate left-to-right downhill 12-footer for another birdie. He moves to -4, just one off his old buddy DeChambeau, who can’t make a 15-foot birdie effort across 10. Back on 9, Hughes joins the group in second with his second birdie in three holes, then Oosthuizen makes his first birdie of the day with a right-to-left tickler from 12 feet. So with the final group having reached the turn … welcome to the start of the 121st US Open!

-5: DeChambeau (10), Oosthuizen (9)
-4: Koepka (15), Morikawa (12), Rahm (11), McIlroy (9), Hughes (9)
-2: Migliozzi (F), Scheffler (10), Henley (9)

There’s a bit of a lull in hot leader board action, as the leading groups make their way through the difficult stretch between 9 and 13. Nobody making any great, or decisive, moves right now. Give it time. A breather’s no bad thing.

Pars for McIlroy and Henley at 9. “Can Rory win a major wearing that outfit?” wonders friend of the hole-by-hole report, David Tindall. “That’s my only concern. Colours are a bit ‘round two’.”

There’s a new clubhouse leader in the exciting 24-year-old Italian Guido Migliozzi! He birdies the last – after nearly slam-dunking his approach into the cup for albatross – and signs for an excellent 68. He’s -2.

It’s been another disappointing day for 48-year-old Richard Bland. A short par putt horseshoes out on 18, and it’s a 78 that follows yesterday’s 77. But he’s still enjoyed one heck of a month. His first victory on the European Tour last month, and a place in the record books as the oldest 36-hole leader in US Open history. He’s been immense, one of the stars of a very entertaining tournament. He ends a special week at +8.

DeChambeau can’t steer his downhill birdie putt at 9 into the cup. Just a par. He remains at -5. His playing partner Scheffler tickles his in from similar range, though, and the birdie means he turns in level-par 35. He’s -2. Meanwhile trouble for Koepka as his second at 14 looks like bounding into bushes to the left of the green. But the ball snags in the rough … and then he clatters his chip onto the base of the flag, the ball somehow refusing to drop! He’d have taken a par when watching his ball disappear towards the junk, but he’s a maelstrom of irritated disbelief right now. He remains at -3.

A triple bogey seven for Dustin Johnson at 10, and that’s any lingering hopes of a second US Open gone. He’s +3. Also suddenly out of it: Paul Casey, who follows bogey at 11 with double at 12. He’s level par. Rahm meanwhile tidies up for his birdie at 9. Coming behind, DeChambeau sends his third to eight feet. He’ll have a chance to extend his lead in a minute.

-5: DeChambeau (8)
-4: Morikawa (10), Rahm (9), McIlroy (8), Oosthuizen (8)
-3: Koepka (13), Hughes (8)
-2: Henley (8)

Russell Henley can’t make his long par saver on 8. It’s all going wrong for the 32-year-old from Georgia, who slips to -2. Daniel Berger meanwhile has signed for a final round of 68, and joins Branden Grace in the clubhouse lead at -1.

Rahm – who will have been fearful of taking six, seven or even eight as he watched his drive disappear towards the boundary fence at 9 – lands his third onto the shoulder of a bunker to the left of the green. The ball takes a big turn right, and nearly trundles in for an absurd eagle! He’ll have a look at birdie from three feet. This might be the hole, and the sequence of events, that makes him think: this is my time!

Great news for Rahm! A steward had signalled that his ball had crept under the fence down the left of 9 and sneaked out of bounds. But some mesh kept it in play! He’s able to advance his second up the hole. That could be a huge break. Meanwhile a momentum-shifter on 7 for Hughes, who sends a tramliner into the cup from next week. A birdie that brings him back to -3. And also returning to -3, Brooks Koepka, who finds greenside rough at the par-five 13th with a massive fairway wood, then gets up and down for birdie.

Like Justin Thomas before him, Jon Rahm snap-hooks a drive out of bounds! Thomas sent his over the fence at 10; Rahm’s done it at 9. Oh Jon. Also threatening to unravel: Russell Henley, who sends his 8-iron straight into the face of the bunker at the front of the par-three 8th. He punches out well, but his ball topples back down a ridge running across the green, leaving him with an awfully long par putt. It may be early days, but with such a packed leader board, he might have to sink this.

DeChambeau dinks his birdie putt into the cup at 8. He’s now the sole leader. McIlroy has the chance to join him, having landed his approach at 7 to eight feet, but leaves his birdie putt on the high side. Bogey for Henley. Meanwhile up on 9, Morikawa gets up and down from sand for birdie. He’s one off the lead, and that’s a good response to that missed tiddler at 8.

-5: DeChambeau (8)
-4: Morikawa (9), McIlroy (7), Oosthuizen (6)
-3: Rahm (8), Henley (7)

A bad break for Henley at 7. His drive heads into sand down the left … and plugs in the face. He has to take his medicine and hack back out onto the fairway. He finds the green with his third, but will have to sink a 25-footer to save his par. Meanwhile another of the overnight leaders continues to struggle, as Hughes makes his third bogey of the day at 6. He slips to -2.

DeChambeau is the width of one dimple away from acing the par-three 8th! Three bounces, straight at the flag. The ball then rolls out and looks like dropping, before putting the breaks on. Such a shame! If there was a roof on Torrey Pines, it’d be coptering towards Texas right now. He’ll tap in to take the lead by himself at -5, and that’s a cast-iron Guardian guarantee! You can take it to the bank!

Rahm’s birdie putt is always missing on the left. A shame, but it wasn’t the gimme of Morikawa a few minutes ago. He’ll dust himself down and move onto the par-five 9th having made his par to remain one off at -3.

Rahm flushes a 9-iron straight over the flag at 8. He’ll have an eight-footer coming back for birdie. Back on 7, DeChambeau sends his second down a swale at the back of the green. He opts to putt up the hill and onto the dancefloor. He judges a huge left-to-right swinger almost perfectly, and will tidy up to save his par. Meanwhile on 12, a heavy-handed long birdie effort by Koepka leads to a three-putt bogey. He tumbles back to -2, a painful and needless momentum-checker.

Two putts for par for McIlroy at 6. Henley can’t wedge close, though, and bogey is the price for that wayward drive. All of a sudden, it’s a four-way tie at the top!

-4: DeChambeau (6), McIlroy (6), Henley (6), Oosthuizen (5)
-3: Koepka (3), Casey (10), Morikawa (8), Wolff (7), Rahm (7), Hughes (5)
-2: Migliozzi (15)

Morikawa makes his bird… aw no. He pulls his two-foot putt at 8 to the left. That’s such a shame, because the tee shot was a beauty. Par. Back on 5, Hughes also misses a tiddler, prodding with great uncertainty at a downhill four-footer. Bogey.

Morikawa will surely be joining the group tied for second in a minute. At the par-three 8th, he swishes his 8-iron to a couple of feet. So sweet by the 2020 PGA champion. Back on 6, McIlroy finds the green in regulation, but his partner Henley is in a spot of bother having driven into thick rough. He can only thrash back out onto the fairway, 50 yards from the green. Unless he gets up and down from there, there could soon be a six-way tie at the top! Play-off between Brooks and Bryson, anyone?

Casey finds the par-five 9th in two big booms. He’s pin high, and his eagle effort from 20 feet stops a couple of dimples short. It was never enough. He taps in for birdie, though, his third in a row. He turns in 32, at -3 for the tournament. Meanwhile on the par-three 11th, Koepka sends a gentle fade to 15 feet, only to leave the birdie putt high on the left. He remains -3.

Oosthuizen can’t get up and down from 50 yards at 4. He breaks his early run of pars in a most unwelcome way. Bogey. He slips to -4. Meanwhile on 5, McIlroy lands his second onto the fringe, then comes within a dimple of guiding a long downhill left-to-right swinger into the cup! He sighs in frustration as he taps in for par. But on 6, Wolff rakes in a 30-footer for his second birdie in three holes, and he joins the group at -3, while Migliozzi, who had bogeyed 13, chips in from the back of 14 for birdie and performs his fist-pumping routine again. Good luck picking a winner from this lot!

-5: Henley (5)
-4: DeChambeau (5), McIlroy (5), Oosthuizen (4), Hughes (4)
-3: Koepka (10), Morikawa (6), Wolff (6), Rahm (6)
-2: Migliozzi (14), Casey (8)

Bryson tidies up at 5 for his first birdie of the day. He’s just one off the lead at -4. He was +5 at one point on Friday, before battling back into contention. If he retains his title, this will be one of the great comebacks. Back on the tee, McIlroy sends his drive into sand down the left. He should be OK from there. But on 4, Oosthuizen’s not good coming out of a bunker, catching one heavy and leaving his ball miles short of the green.

We have a new clubhouse leader. Branden Grace, who came so close at Chambers Bay in 2015, birdies 17 and 18 to sign for a blemish-free 67. He’s -1. And it’s back-to-back birdies at 7 and 8 for Paul Casey, who at -2 isn’t finished quite yet. This is great fun, with putts dropping and flags being peppered everywhere … DeChambeau wedging his second at 5 from 100 yards to four feet.