Golf-Fowler and Clark dueling midway through U.S. Open third round (updated)

Travel + Leisure

18/06/2023 24:22

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    By Rory Carroll
       LOS ANGELES, June 17 (Reuters) - Rickie Fowler and
Wyndham Clark were locked in a fight atop the leaderboard as
they made the turn at the third round of the U.S. Open on
Saturday, with Harris English and Rory McIlroy threatening as
well. 
        Overnight leader Fowler is on track for another
rollercoaster round at the Los Angeles Country Club after mixing
two birdies with two bogeys through his first nine holes.
    The resurgent Southern Californian is looking to win a
breakthrough first major title in LA this weekend.
    The confident Clark went bogey free with two birdies through
his first nine to leapfrog overnight leader Fowler for the
outright lead at 11-under par.  
    English was three-under through his first 10 holes to pull
into a tie for second with Fowler, while McIlroy was one shot
further adrift. 
        
  
    FOWLER MAKING HISTORY
    Despite setting U.S. Open records in his two rounds, Fowler
entered the day with just a one-shot lead over playing partner
Clark with McIlroy and Xander Schauffele a further stroke back
at the Los Angeles Country Club.
    Fowler, playing in his first U.S. Open since 2020, has been
stuck on five PGA Tour victories since 2019 and despite his
on-course struggles over the years, the 34-year-old has remained
one of the most popular players on the U.S.-based circuit.
    Fowler has already made a mark this week as his two-day 130
total tied the lowest 36-hole U.S. Open scoring record set by
Martin Kaymer in 2014. He also set a tournament record with 18
birdies through 36 holes.
    Fowler, who also held a share of the first-round lead with
Schauffele, will have his work cut out this weekend with a
leaderboard that features plenty of top-tier talent.
    Clark, who beat a stacked field at Quail Hollow for his
first PGA Tour victory last month, made the cut for the first
time in three U.S. Open starts.
    The day started with Fowler and Clark drilling birdies on
the par-five first hole under sunny skies and a light breeze in
Southern California. 
    World number three McIlroy, who has gone nearly nine years
since winning his fourth major title, crushed a 388-yard drive
that led to a birdie of his own on the first. 
    Schauffele meanwhile ran into immediate trouble on one,
needing three shots to get out of a fairway bunker and having to
settle for a bogey. 
    He followed that up with bogeys on three and five but erased
those missteps with three birdies to make the turn at even par. 
    Schauffele, who is ranked sixth in the world, is seeking his
first major triumph and boasts top-15 finishes in all six U.S.
Open starts, the longest streak at the event since Lanny Wadkins
had six straight from 1981-86.
    World number one Scottie Scheffler, trailing Fowler by five
at the start of the day, was one-over through his first 13
holes. 
    Masters champion Jon Rahm, who extended the longest active
streak of made cuts in majors to 16, shot an even par 70 in his
third round. 

 (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond,
Franklin Paul and Lincoln Feast.)
 ((frank.pingue@thomsonreuters.com; +1-647-480-7636; Reuters
Messaging: frank.pingue.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))