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2019 U.S. Open live blog: Gary Woodland leads by one over Justin Rose after action-packed Moving Day at Pebble Beach
Harry How
Moving Day is upon us at the U.S. Open, and if the early play is any indication, there is going to be some serious moving atop the leaderboard. Though there weren't too many low scores in the earlier rounds on Saturday, the final pairings are making birdies in bunches.
(U.S. Open 2019: Scroll down for the latest updates from Round 3.)
(All times eastern)
9:46 p.m.: Justin Rose ends Saturday with the momentum, as he gets up and down from the bunker for a birdie to trim Gary Woodland's lead to one. Woodland missed the nine-footer for his birdie—so these two will tee it up together again on Sunday, but the deficit will now be one.
We have some prime-time golf on Sunday for Father's Day at the U.S. Open. Here are the final pairings with times:
5:30 p.m (eastern): Woodland, Rose 5:19 p.m. (eastern): Koepka, Reavie 5:08 p.m. (eastern): Rory, Louis 4:57 p.m. (eastern): Kuchar, Hadley
Here's what the leaderboard looks like heading into Sunday:
Woodland -11 Rose -10 Koepka -7 Reavie -7 Oosthuizen -7 McIlroy -6 Kuchar -5 Hadley -5
How about this stat, putting Woodland's (and Rose's) scoring in perspective:
Golf Digest contributor Dr. Lou Riccio, who uses predictive analysis and modeling to forecast winners in golf, calls this a two-horse race: He says Rose and Woodland have basically even odds, according to the stats. The odds of anyone else winning? Koepka and Oosthuizen have a 5-percent chance of winning, and Rory has just under 5 percent. Chez Reavie has just above a 4 percent chance of winning, Riccio says.
9:42 p.m.: Gary Woodland makes one more impressive swing at Pebble Beach on Saturday. His third shot, from 106 yards at the par-5 18th spins back to about 8 feet for a chance to extend his lead even further. Justin Rose follows with a great bunker shot from the greenside sand, leaving him with a birdie putt of an equal length.
9:31 p.m.: Justin Rose with a disappointing effort on his 10-footer for birdie at the 17th hole, so he'll remain two back of Gary Woodland, who made par, as the last group heads to the iconic par-5 18th hole at Pebble Beach.
9:27 p.m.: Two good shots from our leaders at 17. Gary Woodland's just off the front edge of the green with his front hole location. And Justin Rose (-9) is on there with about 15 feet for a chance to trim Woodland's lead to one.
9:22 p.m.: Rory McIlroy hit two sensational shots at 18—his first hit fairway of the week at 18, then a tremendous fairway wood onto the green. He missed the eagle putt, but it's a ho-hum birdie to make up for the dropped shot at 17. Rory finishes with a one-under 70, putting him at 6-under and five back of Gary Woodland. He'll need something special on Sunday—but we know he's capable of something special.
9:15 p.m.: Louis Oosthuizen is surging up the leader board! After struggling a bit on Saturday, he's making his move late at Pebble Beach, now carding his third birdie in a row at the 17th hole:
9:09 p.m.: Pars at 15 for Woodland and Rose, and a par at 18 for Koepka to get into the clubhouse at seven under. Going to go out on a limb here and say we like Koepka's chances tomorrow, even with Woodland looking unflappable.
Also at seven under? Chez Reavie, who saves par at 17. His playing partner, Rory McIlroy, makes bogey, which drops him back to five under.
9 p.m.: Oh my GOODNESS. If you thought Woodland's par save at 12 was incredible, he just outdid himself at the 15th. His fourth shot was short, and somehow hung up on the slope that has literally sent everyone's ball tumbling back down the green this week. But not Woodland's, and he took advantage, draining a BOMB from 42 feet for par. Might just be this guy's week.
That said, Rose poured in a birdie on top of him to get back to nine under, two back. Still a ball game! Up at 18, Brooks Koepka's drive ended up behind the tree in the fairway, and he attempted to channel Tiger Woods, who pulled off a cut shot with a 3-wood from that same spot in 2010. Koepka couldn't quite replicate it, coming up well short and right of the green. Going to be a tough up and down to make birdie.
8:46 p.m.: Woodland's tee shot actually didn't end up in a bunker, and he probably wishes it did. From thick rough he took a hack and went into the left rough, leaving himself with an even worse lie. From there all he could do was lay up and he'll try to make another all-world par from the fairway.
Ahead at 17, Brooks Koepka lips out a 24-footer for birdie. The guy has had more chances today than anybody. He's still at seven under, and will look to pick up one more at 18.
8:38 p.m.: Stunning moment at the 13th, where Justin Rose failed to get up and down, missing a short par putt for what feels like the first time all week. All that momentum after his birdie at 12 just took a big hit. Meanwhile, Woodland gets up and down from a gnarly lie and keeps it moving. He's back up by 3, though he did just hit an ugly drive at 14 into a fairway bunker.
8:22 p.m.: Oh MY! We have another unbelievable par save from off the green—this one from Brooks Koepka, holing a putt from off the green at 15, after missing his second shot badly at the green. Koepka remains four back of Gary Woodland with that bomb of a putt. Those are two of the best pars you'll see, and they just happened three minutes apart from each other.
8:19 p.m.: WOW. That's the shot of the day—and one of the best pars of the year—for Gary Woodland at the par-3 12th. Woodland chips in from off the green after that terrible lie for his second shot. Amazing stuff for Woodland.
And that was HUGE because Justin Rose rolls in a birdie putt there at 12. Instead of a two-shot swing, Rose's birdie trims Woodland's lead to just two.
8:18 p.m.: Woodland chops it out, but it goes dead right and he's off the green. He'll have his work cut out now to save bogey.
8:15 p.m.: Potential trouble now for Gary Woodland at the par-3 12th hole. His ball came to rest in the fescue above the bunker in front of the green. He'll be standing in the bunker and chopping it out way above his feet. Stay tuned.
8:10 p.m.: Three-shot lead for Gary Woodland with the close-range birdie at the 11th hole. The eighth hole is the only blip on the radar for Woodland, but he's recovered with that birdie at 11 to extend his lead to three shots.
8:07 p.m.: Two great shots from our final group here at the 11th hole. First, Justin Rose hits a great approach to about 11 feet. And then Gary Woodland one-ups him—as he spins his shot back to about three feet. That's a great opportunity to extend his lead here.
Surprisingly, Brooks Koepka just missed a makable birdie putt at the par-5 14th hole, which would've got him within two of Gary Woodland's lead.
7:57 p.m.: There's no rattling Justin Rose. Off the 10th tee, he found the fairway bunker and hit it into the sand with his approach shot. But it's another up-and-down from the 2013 U.S. Open champion, and the result is his 30th one-putt green of the week over 46 holes. Amazing scramble from J-Rose to remain two back of Gary Woodland after 10.
7:48 p.m.: Brooks Koepka faced a really slick 39-footer at the par-4 13th hole, but cozied that up perfectly to about a foot. That'll be a tap-in par to remain three back of Gary Woodland.
7:42 p.m.: Rose and Woodland are both in for pars at nine, so they make the turn with the margin at two shots between Woodland and Rose, the same as it was to start the day. Each player is 1-under through their first nine holes as they head to the difficult 10th hole.
7:39 p.m.: Justin Rose continues to scramble like a boss. In some really thick rough short of the ninth green, Rose plays a soft little chip that takes the slope perfectly and rolls to about 7 feet. Rose's scrambling continues to keep him firmly in the mix.
At the par-3 12th hole, Koepka scrambles for a par to stay three back of Gary Woodland. Koepka is 9 of 12 scrambling this week at Pebble, whereas entering the week, he was ranked 61st in the field in strokes gained/short game. Koepka is up to the task short-game wise here at Pebble Beach so far.
7:23 p.m.: We have a two-shot swing at the eighth hole, as Justin Rose hit a majestic iron from 200 yards to 10 feet and holed the birdie putt. And Gary Woodland just three-putted from off the green. That four-shot lead just turned into a two-shot lead real quick. And Brooks Koepka is now just three back. Game on.
7:15 p.m.: Brooks Koepka holes his birdie after the stellar approach at the 10th hole. The two-time defending U.S. Open champion is now in second place, and four back of Gary Woodland.
7:11 p.m.: Justin Rose continues to avoid all the three-putts this week, as he two putts from long range at the famous par-3 seventh hole. Rose stays four back of Gary Woodland with the par at 7.
Brooks Koepka has hit a peach of an approach at the difficult 10th hole. He'll have a great chance to tie Justin Rose for second place with his putt upcoming.
At the ninth, Matt Kuchar just missed a three-footer BADLY for par—dropping him out of a share for second-place. Kuch falls back to 6-under.
7:02 p.m.: Amid all the early birdies on Saturday from those around him, Gary Woodland is proving to be unfazed. He continues to hit great shots and hole putts, as the leader just did at the sixth hole. Woodland gets up and down from the bunker on No. 6 for a birdie to move to 11-under, which is now 4 better than Matt Kuchar and Justin Rose. This is incredible golf thus far from Woodland—who hasn't made a bogey in 33 holes (since the ninth hole on Thursday, according to FOX's Shane Bacon).
6:58 p.m.: Brooks Koepka comes up just shy on another birdie attempt at the ninth hole, so he'll make the turn in 2-under 33, as he's 6-under overall, just four back of Gary Woodland. Rory McIlroy had a chance for a rare birdie at the eighth hole, but his uphill putt comes up just shy. He remains 5-under, and even for the day.
6:48 p.m.: Matt Kuchar is running into trouble now at the par-4 eighth hole. His approach, from the right rough atop the hill, finds the top of the knoll behind the green, which is covered in thick, thick rough. Kuchar just chopped it across the green, so his fourth shot will be a chip shot. Kuch plays his chip shot with deft touch to about tap-in range, but he'll still drop a shot here. All things considered, not too bad given where his second shot ended up.
6:44 p.m.: Oh boy ... we have a third-round SHANK, courtesy of Justin Rose here from the bunker at the par-3 fifth hole. It was a tough shot, but that was a dead shank. We're sure there will be still frames and video of that one ... wow.
6:40 p.m.: Following their birdies at the fourth hole, Gary Woodland and Justin Rose each find the right greenside bunker at the par-3 fifth hole. They'll have their work cut out for them with the right-hand hole location.
6:38 p.m.: It's getting tough to add these updates fast enough—there's too much good golf being played! Justin Rose and Gary Woodland both birdie the short par-4 fourth hole—Woodland to extend the leading number to 10-under, and Rose maintaining pace, now tied with Matt Kuchar at 8-under.
6:35 p.m.: The first seven holes at Pebble Beach are gettable, as they say. Matt Kuchar would agree. Kuch is now 4-under through the first seven holes on Moving Day, now just one back of Gary Woodland, but Woodland has great look at No. 4 for a birdie to get to double digits.
Rory McIlroy just added a birdie at No. 6 to get to 5-under to stay within striking distance.
6:28 p.m.: Matt Kuchar has the hottest round on the course amongst the leaders, and he is firmly in contention—hitting a hybrid at the par-5 sixth hole to about four feet, setting up what looked like a routine eagle. Wow. Matt Kuchar is now 2 back in pursuit of his first major.
Now one back of that mark are Brooks Koepka and Chesson Hadley—Hadley eagled the sixth hole, too, and Koepka just rolled in a nice birdie at the par-3 seventh hole to make it two birdies in a row. A LOT of birdies happening here on Moving Day!
6:20 p.m.: Jon Rahm is surging to the first page of the leaderboard—he just chipped in from a bad lie at No. 8 to get to 5-under, 2-under for the day. Also at that number now is Brooks Koepka, who ripped 3-iron onto the green at the par-5 sixth hole. Koepka gets to 5-under, now four back.
6:10 p.m.: Justin Rose makes a sporty up-and-down from the bunker at No. 2 after the errant second shot to stay 7-under and two back of Gary Woodland, who two-putted for par at No. 2 after the impressive fairway bunker shot from 180 out.
At 3, Rose finds the fairway bunker, and quickly shot a dirty look into the gallery after he swung. Rose has had issues with the gallery this week—particularly at the fourth tee yesterday when he hit into the hazard. It wasn't clear what was said there.
6:03 p.m.: Brooks Koepka nearly dunked his tee shot at the par-3 fifth hole, but it rolled out to about 20 feet. He misses the birdie chance, so he stays at 4-under. Koepka's had a couple chances to pick up birdies early in his round—but not luck so far.
Matt Kuchar just made a short birdie at the fourth hole to get to 5-under—now just four back of Gary Woodland. Kuchar's been so good at the majors of late. Looks like Kuchar's playing himself into being a factor this weekend.
Another crafty veteran, Jim Furyk, is firmly in the mix. Furyk just rolled in a long birdie at the ninth hole to get to 4-under, which is currently good for T-5. Jon Rahm also added a birdie at the sixth hole to get to 4-under.
5:58 p.m.: Aaron Wise bogeys the second hole, after finding trouble off the tee, to drop to 4-under, five back of Gary Woodland. Woodland and Rose made their pars at No. 1 and are teeing off on 2. J-Rose hit 3-wood in the middle of the fairway, and Woodland finds the left fairway bunker with his drive. He might be laying up here at 2 with his second.
Tiger Woods just made another birdie, this a longgg birdie bomb at the 16th hole, to get back to 1-over. He never made his run on Saturday, but he's made four birdies on the day. Unfortunately, he's also made five bogeys, putting him at 1-over.
5:54 p.m.: Justin Rose plays a great approach putt from off the green to about 2 feet, which should be a nice par after finding the deep rough off the tee here at 1. Gary Woodland's birdie try from 34 feet above the hole to the right also cozies up to about 2 feet. Should be two pars for our leaders to start.
5:51 p.m.: Dustin Johnson gives away a shot at the ninth hole, missing an 8-footer for par to drop to 3-under.
5:46 p.m.: Our final pairing of the day, Gary Woodland (-9) and Justin Rose (-7) are now on the tee. They both find the rough to the right. It looks like Woodland's ball will be the better of the two lies. Rose's ball was thick into the cabbage.
Up ahead, Rory McIlroy had a look for birdie after hitting a 349-yard drive at the par-4 second, but it slides by. He remains -4.
Wise's birdie attempt at the 1st hole from six feet misses on the high side. That's a mis-read and a missed opportunity for the former NCAA champion. Wise stays at 5-under. And Louis Oosthuizen made a huge par save from about 30 feet to remain at -6.
5:42 p.m.: Aaron Wise (-5) and Louis Oosthuizen (-6) are now on the course getting their third rounds underway. Wise hits a great approach from the fairway to about 11 feet below the hole. He'll have a great chance to pick up a shot and get within three of Gary Woodland. Oosthuizen found the bunker.
Phil Mickelson knocked his shot at the par-3 12th hole to tap-in range to get to 2-under, and he has another good look now at the 13th hole.
5:34 p.m.: Rory misses that long par save, so he drops an early shot at the first hole. That's not an ideal start to his Saturday, moving the opposite direction on Moving Day.
5:28 p.m.: Rory's second shot heads straight left, as the thick rough grabbed the hosel of his iron and puts it short and left. His third heads to the back collar of the green, giving him about 35 feet for a par save.
Tiger just made a birdie at 13 to get one back. He moves to 1-over for the tournament, and he's 1-over for his round.
5:24 p.m.: Rory McIlroy's third round is underway, but he's going to have his work cut out from the right-hand rough. That missed the fairway by a lot—not a look at birdie at the easier opening hole.
And at the second hole, Brooks Koepka makes a big downhill, left-to-right breaker for a big-time par save. He stays at 4-under.
5:20 p.m.: Jon Rahm gets back to even for the day with a great birdie at the third hole, after he went flag-hunting to this left-hand hole location. Rahm is back to 3-under for the tournament, where he's joined at that mark by Danny Willett ( through 15); Francesco Molinari (through 5); Jim Furyk (through 6); Graeme McDowell (through 3) and Scott Piercy (through 3)
5:14 p.m.: The putting struggles continue for Brooks Koepka, who actually hit a great putt at the first but it came up inches short. His playing partner, England's Matt Wallace, also made par to begin his round.
5:07 p.m.: Dustin Johnson settles for birdie at the sixth and is back at four under, tied with Fitzpatrick and Brooks Koepka, who just got his round under way and found the fairway at No. 1. We're less than 40 minutes from Gary Woodland and Justin Rose getting their third rounds going, and we're less than 20 minutes from Rory McIlroy's tee time. It's about to get LIT.
4:58 p.m.: Phil Mickelson hits one of the longest drives of the week at No. 9, a 375-yard "hellacious seed" that leaves him with just 150 in. He put his approach to 20 feet and hit a good putt but it was too firm. Another par to stay at two under.
Back at the fifth, Matthew Fitzpatrick makes his second birdie of the day to reach four under. Strong start from the young Englishman, who was 125/1 at the beginning of the week and is now just five off the lead.
Up ahead at six, Dustin Johnson finds the green in two and has a great look at eagle, which could pull him within four if he converts.
Tiger Woods' ugly day continues, as he makes another bogey at the 12th, his fourth of the round, to fall to two over.
4:46 p.m.: Oh myyyy goodness what a putt from Phil at the eighth, but it comes up one revolution short and he remains at two under. Lefty is locked in at the moment. If he can just gets some putts to fall he may get in this thing.
Back at the fifth, Dustin makes a momentum-killing bogey to fall back to three under.
4:43 p.m.: Lefty makes his par at the 7th, then finds the green in regulation at No. 8 and has a good look at birdie. Speaking of birdies, Dustin Johnson just made another at the fourth and is now four under. Don't let DJ get hot!
4:30 p.m.: Phil Mickelson makes his first birdie of the day at the par-5 sixth, which gets him to two under. At the seventh, he throws one right of the flag and spins it back to about 15 feet. Big moment for Lefty coming up.
4:26 p.m.: The difficult ninth and 10th holes claim their latest victim in Danny Willett, who goes bogey-bogey to drop to two under overall. That means his fellow countryman, Matthew Fitzpatrick, is the closest to the leaders thanks to his birdie at the par-4 second that gets him to three under. Just as we typed that, Dustin Johnson joined Fitzpatrick with a birdie conversion (at long last!) at the third hole. Can DJ finally get it rolling?
4:20 p.m.: Great second shot from Tiger at the ninth and wouldn't you know it, he missed another putt, and this one wasn't particularly close. One-over 36 for Woods on the front.
4:13 p.m.: Fairway and green for Tiger Woods at the eighth, and he walks off with a two-putt par. At the ninth, he smokes a drive that rolls down the hill, which still leaves him with 200 yards to the pin.
Phil Mickelson has started his round with five consecutive pars, and he just hit another fairway at the par-5 sixth. Would have liked a birdie or two on those first few holes, pars are always good for Lefty at a U.S. Open. That said, he needs at least a birdie at the sixth to start moving up the board.
3:55 p.m.: After going way long, Tiger three-putts the seventh hole and falls back to one over. Yikes.
Speaking of poor putting, Dustin Johnson finds the first green from the thick rough and rolls it to just six feet and.... misses another one. Scary to thing how many under he could be if he was rolling it well.
3:47 p.m.: Tiger's second at the sixth was short left, and he took putter from off the green and came up about five feet short and then missed the birdie putt. Big dagger after that drive.
3:41 p.m.: After coming up 10 feet short with his birdie putt, Phil Mickelson holes a big par save at the third hole. Could be the momentum he needs, especially headed to the fourth, a hole you need birdie on to have a chance to make a move today.
3:31 p.m.: Another birdie for Danny Willett at the par-3 seventh, getting him to four under for the tournament and just five back. Quite the story developing for the former Masters winner, who completely lost his game the last few years but has slowly crawled back. Posting a number on Saturday at the U.S. Open would be his biggest "I'm back" statement yet.
Back at the sixth tee, Tiger splits the fairway with his tee shot. Is it too soon to start dreaming of an eagle (yes) ?
3:27 p.m.: Wow! Just as we wrote Tiger off, he buries another birdie at the par-3 fifth, this one from 25 feet, to get back to level par for the tournament. Ok Tiger, Ok.
3:25 p.m.: Phil Mickelson absolutely laced a drive at No. 2 and hit another spinny approach shot that left him with a long birdie try. Two putts and another par for Lefty to keep him at one under.
3:24 p.m.: Surprise, surprise, Danny Willett also joins Hideki Matsuyama at three under with his third birdie in his first six holes.
3:20 p.m.: Tiger is on the board with a birdie at the fourth, where he smartly played an iron off the tee and flipped a wedge to a few feet. He's back to one over for the tournament.
The biggest mover of the day is Hideki Matsuyama, who has made four birdies on his first six holes and one bogey to reach three under four the championship. Always baffling to remember he still has yet to win his first major.
3:10 p.m.: Rickie Fowler drops a shot at the ninth and falls back to one under, putting him one back of Danny Willett and Hideki Matsuyama, who are each two under through five holes and two under for the tournament. Back at No. 1, Phil Mickelson starts his third round with a par.
3:06 p.m.: Woods goes pin-hunting at the third and comes up well short in a bunker, where he took his medicine and played it safely to the left part of the green rather than go for the back right pin again. His long par try misses, and he'll drop to two over. That should just about do it for Tiger this week.
3 p.m.: Tiger found the fairway at the second, then hit an excellent approach in, but the putter remains cold. He misses a makable birdie putt and it never even had a chance. At the third, he finds another fairway. Could use a birdie ASAP.
Rickie Fowler almost kept his birdie train rolling at the eighth, where he hit the flag stick from a green side bunker on his third. He settled for par and remains at three under for the round, two under overall.
2:38 p.m.: Tiger's 14-foot par putt didn't catch the left edge. He's now made three straight bogeys including his final two yesterday, dropping him to one over for the tournament. At the seventh, Rickie Fowler drains a long one for his second birdie in a row, getting him to two under. His three under round is tied for the best on the course, and he's now the closest to the leaders.
2:32 p.m.: Rickie Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau each make birdie at No. 6, which gets Fowler to one under and Bryson to one over overall. Back at the first, Tiger Woods gets his third round underway by missing the fairway with an iron, then chopping out his second shot short of the green and then hitting one of his weakest chip shots of the week. Not a great start.
2:17 p.m.: No one is going crazy low in the morning at Pebble Beach, but England's Tyrell Hatton has made a somewhat significant move. He just made his fourth birdie of the round at the par-4 15th after nearly holing his approach shot for eagle. Hatton is three under on the round, one under for the tournament. Way back at the par-5 sixth, Jason Day rolls in an eagle putt to join Hatton at one under overall. They are the closest two players to the lead, and they're still eight back.
Rickie Fowler just found the green in two at the sixth, giving him a chance to get into red figures for the championship.