SAN DIEGO — And on the third day of the 121st U.S. Open, some of golf’s star power rose up the leaderboard at Torrey Pines.
Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner, and defending-champion Bryson DeChambeau both made big moves Saturday, climbing to 3-under and positioning themselves just two shots off the lead shared by Mackenzie Hughes, Louis Oosthuizen and Russell Henley, all of whom are 5-under.
Oosthuizen capped his day off with an eagle on the par-5 18th hole to get to 5-under.
Hughes, who is 7-under in the past two rounds after shooting 73 in his opening round, highlighted his Saturday with an eagle on the par-5 13th hole.
“The charge throughout your body when the ball goes in and the crowd goes crazy is why we play,’’ Hughes said. “It gives me goose bumps.’’
A Hughes victory is something nobody — other than Hughes or his family — expected. Before this week, he had played in eight career major championships and had missed the cut in six of them. He, too, missed the cut in his previous five starts.
In the two majors in which Hughes did make the cut, he finished in a tie for 58th at the 2020 PGA and a tie for 40th in the 2021 Masters. He had played in three previous U.S. Opens and had missed the cut in all three.
“I’m excited,’’ Hughes said. “I know I’m going to be nervous [Sunday]. I’m going to try and enjoy it lots [and] embrace the moment.’’
Henley, who entered the day with a share of the 36-hole lead, held serve on Saturday, shooting an even 71. The man he shared the lead with, Englishman Richard Bland, had a difficult day, shooting 77 to fall to 1-over.
“Tied for the lead going into the last day of a major, you never know,’’ Henley said. “I’m excited, and you always wonder what it would feel like or be like to be in contention. Things always happen kind of when you least expect them a little bit with golf.’’
Jon Rahm, Matthew Wolff and Scottie Scheffler are all three shots back at 2-under.
McIlroy, who hasn’t won a major championship since 2014, shot a 4-under 67 to put himself in position to end that drought.
“I’m trying to think of the last time where I really felt like I had a chance,’’ McIlroy said. “Carnoustie in ’18 [British Open] felt like I maybe had half a chance, going into the final day at Pebble [Beach] in 2019 [U.S. Open]. But apart from that, there’s been some good finishes, but never felt like I was in the thick of things.
“I’m just excited for the opportunity to have a chance and be in one of the final groups. I thought two 68s over the weekend from where I was after Friday was going to have a good chance. I’ve done the first part of that job. Now it’s up to me [Sunday] to go out and try to play a similar round of golf.’’
DeChambeau’s 3-under 68 in the third round was the first bogey-free round he has posted in the 67 major championships in which he has played.
“I was certainly glad to come away free of any mistakes today,’’ DeChambeau said. “You’ve got to be really patient out here at these majors. It’s something that is not easy to do. My first few goes at majors, I was not successful or anywhere near successful, and I feel like I’m starting to understand major championship golf and how to play it and how to go about managing my game, my attitude and just my patience level. If I can continue to do that [Sunday], I think I’ll have a good chance.’’
Another star, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, a former U.S. Open and Masters winner, is not out of it either, lurking at 1-under after shooting 68 Saturday.
“At the beginning of the week, I said I’d like to sit in the clubhouse with 5-under,’’ Johnson said, referring to the winning score. “It’s still looking like that’s probably going to be a pretty good number. This is a real golf course. It’s tough, it’s long, it’s everything you want. A lot of times when you have that, you’re going to see a lot of really good players up at the top of the leaderboard.’’
And there they are.