Gary Woodland and Justin Rose have played better than anyone else at the 119th U.S. Open and they’ll write the final chapter on Sunday afternoon at Pebble Beach.
Woodland has a nervous one-shot lead over Rose thanks to a pair of miraculous par saves on the back nine Saturday.
The par three 12th left Woodland with an awful looking lie just short of the green in the high grass above the bunker. He had to stand in the sand with the ball at waist-high. His shot was a basic shank and went straight right to the fringe, leaving him 35 feet from the hole. Sure bogey coming. But no, Woodland chipped in for a sensational three.
He topped that effort at the par five 14th. His back foot slipped on his tee shot, sending his drive way right and into the thick stuff. His second went way left, into more thick stuff. His third left him about 90 yards and he miss-hit that as well, leaving himself 42 feet from the hole, lucky to be on the green with the false front inches away. Woodland then stepped in and holed that one for par.
Two miracle saves that preserved a 69 and at 11-under, he’s a shot in front of Rose, who was near perfect with 68.
“I feel very comfortable on this golf course,” Woodland said after his round. “I’ve played well on Pebble during the AT&T the last couple of times I’ve been here. It’s one of those, too, where my game is coming to — I have a lot more shots. I’ve been a cutter of the golf ball a long time. Pete Cowen has got me comfortable working the ball both ways if I need to. And that just frees me up a little bit.
“I have a short game now I can rely on. I don’t have to focus on the ball-striking. This is a golf course I don’t have to pound a lot of drivers, I can play a little more conservatively, stick to my game plan. And like I said, it’s nice to be where I’m at right now. But looking forward to going out and doing it one more day.”
Rose has been surgical with his ball-striking and hadn’t missed any significant putts until the par four 13th. His approach came up short and he putted four feet past the hole, left himself a downhill four-footer and missed for his only back-nine bogey. Still, his round got him to 10-under and a shot behind Woodland.
“I’m in a great position going into tomorrow. Had a great day with Gary,” Rose said. “He’s awesome to play with. For both of us, we are good friends, we have the same stable of management.
“From that point of view, it’s going to be a fun day. One back gives me the freedom to feel like I’ve got everything to gain, nothing to lose. It’s always a position that — it doesn’t mean I have to approach the day any differently, if I was one ahead. I’m close enough that I have to build my plan, build my round of golf, be disciplined. I’m not chasing, really, I’m so close to Gary that I have to go out and play my game tomorrow. And I think it’s going to be dictated by the pin placements and the weather tomorrow as to how aggressive you can be and what it will take to win. I make no predictions tonight on what tomorrow is going to feel like tomorrow.”
