Abierto de Estados Unidos 2026: Actualizaciones del Moving Day del tercer round

Wyndham Clark trundles his first putt up from 60 feet to four … then pulls the short par putt. A slightly sour end to an otherwise sweet day for the 2023 champion, who is nevertheless now the hottest of favourites to win his second US Open tomorrow. He's six clear at the top of the leaderboard, and nobody in US Open history has ever failed to convert such a 54-hole advantage into victory. Bogey too for Matt Fitzpatrick, by the way. Thanks for reading, and join us tomorrow!

-7: Clark
-1: Scheffler, Theegala, Kim, Stevens
E: Grillo, Mitchell, Burns, Schauffele
+1: Fleetwood, Morikawa, M Fitzpatrick

Wyndham Clark only just reaches the 18th green in regulation. But he'll have two putts from 60 feet for par and a street-fighting round of 69. Meanwhile Matt Fiztpatrick sends his tee shot into fescue so thick and deep that it's almost a miracle that he's able to muscle a 60-degree wedge back onto the fairway. But he does it. Not much applause for any of this: most of the spectators have gone home. You're still here, though, right? Nope? Well, I'm still here. Go Wyndham! Go Matt!

Par for Xander Schauffele at the last, and he's signing for a disappointing 73. Those two double bogeys in three holes, just after the turn, have done for him. He's level par. And it's a par for Sam Stevens, who signs for a 72. He ends the day in red figures, but it'll be Scottie Scheffler who partners Wyndham Clark in the final pair tomorrow, on account of the world number one getting back to the clubhouse first.

-8: Clark (17)
-1: Scheffler (F), Theegala (F), Kim (F), Stevens (F)
F: Grillo (F), Mitchell (F), Burns (F), Schauffele (F), M Fitzpatrick (17)

… and in goes the putt. Given he'd have been chipping from knee-high fescue had the camera stand not been there, that's some result. But them's the breaks. The only downside is a scratch on his arm, a twig or somesuch that's drawn a little blood. He'll live. He won't be withdrawing this evening, that's for sure. With the lead he's built, there's half a chance he could win tomorrow with one arm.

Clark gets a free drop from the podium. The ball then rolls back towards the same point, so he's allowed to place. The pros get some breaks sometimes. Then he chops out to four feet. He makes those more often than not. That was quite the break. Hey, when it's your week, it's your week.

Up on 18, Tom Kim pars for a round of 72. He's -1, and will go out late tomorrow. A disappointing 73 for his playing partner Collin Morikawa, who missed a few makeable ones with the flat stick today. The erstwhile PGA and Open champion goes into Sunday on +1.

Clark follows up his best shot of the week with his worst. An iron yanked into nonsense front-left of the par-three 17th. It's near a TV camera podium, though, so he may well get a free drop. In which case, lucky boy. He reacted to the shot by yelping “Aw shit!â€, causing Sky commentator Ewen Murray to apologise for the swearing. It's nearly 1am in the morning in the UK. When's the watershed again? Come on, we're all adults here.

Clark rolls in his eagle putt, and this US Open could already be over. That was outrageous. Up there with Ben Hogan's one-iron at Merion in 1950? Well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. But it was good.

-8: Clark (16)
-1: Scheffler (F), Theegala (F), Kim (17), Stevens (17)

_{Footnote: Ben Hogan at Merion, swiped at speed from an old MBM.}

_{Ben Hogan, 16 months after a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus, famously creamed a 1-iron into the heart of Merion's 18th green to force his way into a play-off that he'd eventually win. Given that doctors had initially thought Hogan would never walk again, the achievement was not far short of superhuman. Which isn't to say he didn't struggle. He had considered quitting with five holes of the final day's 36 to play, the pain in his legs too much to bear. “I physically can't make it,†he told his caddy. “Don't worry, I'll pay you.†His caddy responded by telling Hogan: “I don't work for quitters. Meet you on the next tee.†Exhausted and in acute pain, Hogan managed to stumble home, scraping into the play-off. With time to recover overnight, he beat George Fazio and Lloyd Mangrum to register one of the Homeric US Open wins.}

Wyndham Clark's response to that messy bogey at 15 has been out of this world. First he splits the fairway at the par-five 16th with his drive. Then he sends a fairway wood from 275 yards to four feet and four inches! A gentle fade that lands on the narrow entrance of the green, and uses the camber to the right of the hole to bring his ball back to a position where eagle seems more likely than not! That's the shot of the championship so far, and it's one that could have sealed the deal for the 2023 winner, with 20 holes of this year's tournament still to play. If that goes in, he'll have a seven-shot lead!

Disappointing pars at the par-five 16th for both Xander Schauffele and Sam Stevens. The pair remain at level par and -1 respectively. Tom Kim meanwhile pars 17, and he's -1 as well. Hope of nipping in ahead of Scottie Scheffler to join Wyndham Clark in the final group tomorrow not gone. Justin Thomas meanwhile ends the day with a 75.

Clark chips. Clark putts. Clark par… er… oh! Having crisply knocked his wedge from the collar at 15 to three feet, he pulls the short par putt wide left. He makes no mistake with the one coming back, but that's an unforced error and, given what's gone before, a slightly shocking bogey. He's still got a five-stroke lead, mind. Par meanwhile for Matt Fitzpatrick, and birdie for Tom Kim on 16.

-6: Clark (15)
-1: Scheffler (F), Theegala (F), Kim (16), Stevens (15)

From the centre of 15, Clark aims his wedge straight at the flag. He lands a little short, and the ball threatens to spin back into the bunker guarding the front left. It stops in the thick fringe instead. That shouldn't be the hardest up and down, not when compared to some of his earlier escapes, but nevertheless he might have preferred that to have made it all the way back into the bunker. Still, no great drama. Matt Fitzpatrick is on in regulation, albeit nowhere close to the cup.

We haven't seen much of Sahith Theegala today. That's probably because he's parred every hole except 6, which he bogeyed. But he's made his presence felt right at the last moment possible. From 117 yards on 18, he lands a gentle wedge a few feet in front of the flag, the ball nearly rolling in for eagle. Birdie will still please him, though, and that's a 70 which leaves him where he started the day, at -1. Par for his playing partner Sam Burns, who signs for a 71. He's level par. Meanwhile another birdie for Xander Schauffele, this time at 15, and he's back to level par.

-7: Clark (14)
-1: Scheffler (F), Theegala (F), Stevens (15)

Tom Kim bogeys 15, the cost of sending his tee shot into waist-high nonsense down the right. There are now just three players under par, and the chances of Scottie Scheffler playing in the final pairing tomorrow are growing apace. But Scheffler will have some ground to make up, because Wyndham Clark makes yet another five-footer, this time for birdie instead of par, and the lead is now six. Par for Matt Fitzpatrick meanwhile, and the 2022 champ remains at level par.

-7: Clark (14)
-1: Scheffler (F), Stevens (14)
E: Grillo (F), Mitchell (F), Theegala (17), Burns (17), Kim (15), M Fitzpatrick (14)

Wyndham Clark has been scrapping hard since the turn. But now he goes on the attack. From the centre of 14, he sends a high draw into the green with his eight-iron, the ball resting five feet behind the flag. Huge chance for birdie that'd lengthen his lead even further. Meanwhile to illustrate the small margins between success and failure at a US Open, his playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick looks to have replicated his approach, but the ball lands a couple of paces further on, and so topples off the back, from where par will be a great score.

… and that's how it stays, because Clark makes yet another par putt. He could easily have shipped three shots since the turn, and the overall picture could be very different. But he's got every chip close enough, tickled in every trickly putt, and this is a street-fighting US Open performance for the ages. It's not particularly pretty, but it's mighty effective.

-6: Clark (13)
-1: Scheffler (F), Kim (14), Stevens (13)
E: Grillo (F), Mitchell (F), Theegala (16), Burns (16), M Fitzpatrick (13)
+1: Fleetwood (F), Morikawa (14), Schauffele (13)

Clark is used to wriggling out of tight spots. So despite being knee-high in fescue, his ball tangled up at the bottom of it, he tries to land his vicious whip inches over the bunker, hoping to roll it out close. But the ball lands on the shoulder, and topples back into the sand. He gets a decent lie, and splashes out to six feet, but here's another big par putt coming up. Meanwhile on 14, Tom Kim can't get up and down from a greenside bunker, and for now, Clark's lead is back to five strokes.

Wyndham Clark sets himself another big test. It's almost as though he's enjoying the misery. At the drivable par-four 13th, he carves a wild tee shot miles right into the native area. He's only 60 yards from the flag, but in deep fescue, and there's a big bunker in between should anything go badly wrong. More escapology ahoy?

Xander Schauffele is another player whose dream has been falling apart like cake left out in the rain. Oh no no! He followed up that double bogey at 10 with another double at 12. But he's bounced back on 13 by whipping a lob wedge from thick fescue 50 yards out to kick-in distance. Nearly a hole-out for eagle. A birdie that takes him back to +1.

Rory McIlroy bogeys the last. What a miserable back nine: five bogeys, 40 strokes. In the space of couple of hours, the 2011 champion has fallen out of contention and into the pack. A 73 that puts paid to his dream of major number seven. He's +3.

… and so having said that, the lead is now back down to four. Tom Kim birdies 13 to get himself back to -2, just one shy of where he started the round. This is a good response by the extremely likeable young Korean to starting the day with bogeys at 2, 3 and 6 … and to a couple of quiet years after bursting onto the major scene with a top-ten finish at the 2023 US Open and a tie for second at the Open a month later. What a popular winner he could be!

-6: Clark (12)
-2: Kim (13)
-1: Scheffler (F), Stevens (12)

Sam Stevens three-putts 12, and that's three bogeys in a row. Wyndham Clark's lead is now five strokes, so it's worth pointing out that only one player has ever held such a large lead after 54 holes and failed to go on and win: Mike Brady, who was reeled in by Walter Hagen at Brae Burn, Massachusetts in 1919. Hagen won after a play-off, the pair having ended the week at +17. Now that's a winning US Open score.

… and then on 18, Scottie Scheffler lets his short birdie putt dribble off to the right. Par. What a dispiriting, diminuendo conclusion to his round. He's still back in 32, having inserted himself into the tournament picture front and centre, but it could have been so much better. And much will now depend on what Wyndham Clark does over the closing stretch. It's the US Open, so it could go either way. But the way Clark has been scrambling, you wouldn't expect him to give up too much ground, if any. Should he make a couple of birdies, tomorrow could be in danger of turning into a procession. A long way to go yet, but there are all the options, laid out.

-6: Clark (11)
-2: Stevens (11)
-1: Scheffler (F), Kim (12)

This is no longer news, not really, but we report it anyway: Wyndham Clark gets up and down to save his par. Yet again. This is a masterclass in scrambling. How to win the US Open by numbers. He splashes out over the high-faced trap to five feet, then tickles in a missable putt. He remains -6.

Scottie Scheffler bangs a drive down the middle of 18. Then from 112 yards, he sends a lob wedge straight at the pin. One bounce, then a gentle brush of the flagstick, and his ball screeches to a halt, four feet from the pin. Huge birdie chance coming up. Meanwhile back on the par-three 11th, Wyndham Clark looks to be in some trouble as his tee shot lands on the green but catches the slope towards the big bunker to the right. In it goes.

Wyndham Clark's lead is now four. Sam Stevens doesn't find the dancefloor at the par-three 11th, and pays the price. He's -2.

It's all about clinging on, though. And Scottie Scheffler, having just carded three birdies in a row, hands one of the shots back, dunking his tee shot at the par-three 17th into a bunker at the front, and failing to get up and down. Back to -1. And then on 10, Wyndham Clark uses the big bank he faces on 10 to take the sting out of his wedge and bump his ball up to four feet. That's pretty much as close as anyone has got from down there. In goes the putt, and it's another illustration of how Clark is currently dominating this tournament. He's simply scrambling better than everyone else, again and again.

-6: Clark (10)
-3: Stevens (10)
-1: Scheffler (17), Kim (11)
E: Grillo (F), Theegala (13), Burns (13), Morikawa (11), Schauffele (10), Fitzpatrick (10)

“That's hot!†Wyndham Clark becomes the latest of very many players to send his wedge into 10 up and over the back of the green. He's scrambled so well, so often this week – especially yesterday and in the last hour or so – that you'd not be surprised if he gets out of Dodge unscathed here as well. But there's heat now in more ways than one, and the leader is only halfway through the third round. Wait until this time tomorrow!

Xander Schauffele sends his second at 10 into a bunker front right. His splash out looks well-judged … but it's a smidgen too firm, and rolls slowly, dramatically past the flag and down the bank at the back. He can't get up and down from there, and that's a painful double bogey, despite not doing too much wrong. That's the US Open for you. Bogey for his playing partner Sam Stevens, and they're level par and -3 respectively.

Scottie Scheffler's eagle putt looks bang straight. But his effort shaves the right-hand side of the cup. Just (!) a birdie. But that's three in a row, and it represents his best sequence in any of his 31 career rounds at the US Open so far. He's -2. Meanwhile back on 9, Wyndham Clark thrashes his second onto the front of the green, and though he leaves his first long putt six feet short, makes no mistake with the second. A wonderful par save, but one met with a couple of audible groans from the gallery, who you can be sure are four-square behind Scottie and his career-slam quest. Tough crowd, but that's showbiz.

-6: Clark (9)
-4: Stevens (9)
-2: Scheffler (16), Kim (10), Schauffele (9)

Scottie Scheffler meanwhile is on an absolute heater. From the centre of the par-five 15th, he creams a fairway wood towards the green. It only just gets over the bunker guarding front left, but the distance has been judged to perfection, and it lands on the front-left corner of the green before breaking right, the camber gathering his ball, sent from 272 yards, to 13 feet. Huge eagle chance coming up, and if this goes in, the celebrations will reverberate all around Long Island!

Rory McIlroy has bogeyed three of his previous five holes. Now, from the bottom of a steep slope at the back of 15, he chunks a chip which barely makes the top of the hill, and rolls back down to the fringe. He putts up to kick-in distance, but that's now four dropped shots in six, and his slumped shoulders suggest a man who knows the jig is up this week. In each of his three rounds, he's got himself into a good position only to strangely hit a wall and start shipping shots. It's not US Open winning behaviour. He's +2.

Wyndham Clark compounds his mistake on 8 by sending a hot chip out of the bunker, past the flag, and down the slope on the other side of the green. He does exceptionally well to nearly hole a long putt from the fringe, but that's a shot gone from the centre of the fairway, wedge in hand, 110 yards out. All of a sudden, Scottie Scheffler is just five shots off the lead … and with Clark finding thick rough down the right of 9 with his drive, there is movement aplenty on this titular day.

-6: Clark (8)
-4: Stevens (9)
-2: Schauffele (9)
-1: Scheffler (15), Kim (8), Burns (10)
E: Grillo (F), Theegala (11), Morikawa (9)

Xander Schauffele's second into 8 takes a hot bounce through the green and nestles in thick oomska at the back. He's forced to whip a lob wedge high into the air, and does very well to land it six feet from the pin. Then he rolls in the par saver. He's -2. That could be big.

So could the birdie Scottie Scheffler makes at 15 that moves him to -1 with a birdie chance at 16 coming up: a 15-foot birdie putt absolutely rammed into the cup! He's -1.

So could the mistake Rory McIlroy makes on 14, racing a three-foot par putt four feet past. He makes the one coming back, but that's a bogey and he's +1.

So could the wedge Wyndham Clark carves into a greenside bunker from 110 yards on 8! It's all happening, and there, in short order, are four reminders that the picture at the US Open can change at the drop of a hat. Moving Day, ladies and gentlemen!

Wyndham Clark pulls his tee shot at the par-three 7th down the big bank to the left of the green. But he chips up to four feet, and teases in the missable right-to-left turner. That's his second big up and down in as many holes, and he's clinging on to his three-shot lead with great determination. The sort of behaviour that wins US Opens. He's already got one, to be fair.

-7: Clark (7)
-4: Stevens (8)
-2: Burns (9), Schauffele (7)
-1: Kim (8)
E: Scheffler (14), McIlroy (13), Theegala (9), Thomas (9), Morikawa (8), M Fitzpatrick (7)

Tommy Fleetwood sends his tee shot into deep fescue down the right of 18. He thinks his ball is plugged, but he doesn't get the ruling, and he's forced to take his medicine, hacking out. Always out of position, he ends the day with a bogey, and signs for a level-par 70. He's +1 overall, and isn't out of this by any means. Not yet, with the leader still 12 holes from home.

Scottie Scheffler might have just kick-started his campaign! He bumps a chip up from the bottom of a swale at 14. He lands his ball on the flat ridge at the top, rolling it out, straight into the cup. The crowd roar and so does he, pumping his fist a couple of times, showing some rare emotion. The career slam not a pipe dream yet! He's level par again.

Rory McIlroy drives the short par-four 13th green … but the ball breaks off to the left and into a bunker. He splashes out to ten feet, but his birdie effort always looks like missing to the left … until, that is, it suddenly turns right and stops one dimple's width away from dropping. McIlroy drops to his haunches in irritation. He remains at level par.

“So many rocks, dude.†Xander Schauffele drawls in irritation as his splash out of sand on 6 takes a screeching right-hand turn upon landing. His subsequent putt from 15 feet bobbles erratically, too, and the two-time major winner might want a word or two with the greenkeeper later. He's -2, and after a shaky first hour or so, this third round is trundling along most acceptably for the leader Wyndham Clark.

-7: Clark (5)
-4: Stevens (6)
-2: Burns (8), Schauffele (6)
-1: Kim (7)
E: Grillo (F), Fleetwood (17), McIlroy (12), Woodland (10), Cowan -a- (9), Theegala (9), Thomas (8), Morikawa (7), M Fitzpatrick (5)
+1: A Fitzpatrick (14), Scheffler (13), Mitchell (11), Hisatsune (10)