2012 U.S. Open: Jim Furyk, Graeme McDowell Lead After Third Round

From the moment Tiger Woods struck his first shot on Saturday, it was clear something was off. Not way off, mind you, but a slight tick the wrong way. And at The Olympic Club, being even just a little bit off can quickly cause an otherwise superb tournament to spiral downhill.

Watching Tiger on the range, there was no sign that we might be seeing him stumble on Saturday. He went through his bag like normal, striking solid shots and intently watching the ball flight, taking mental notes. There was no frustration or dissatisfaction. Just a normal warmup before the round, free of meticulous mechanical tweaks or obvious swing thoughts.

Tiger Woods’ third round at the U.S. Open wasn’t pretty. Off from the first tee, he squandered a share of the lead heading into the weekend by shooting a 5-over 75 on Saturday. But to add injury to, uh, injury, Woods appeared to hurt his hand after making inadvertent contact with a cameraman after his round.

In the video, you can see Tiger make some sort of contact with a cameraman on his walk to a set of stairs, and you can barely see him shaking that hand after the contact.

Heading into the fourth round of the 2012 U.S. Open, it’s still anyone’s championship to win. Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell are tied for the three round lead at 1-under, but 11 players are within four strokes of the leaders.

McDowell earned a share of the lead with a 2-under 68 on Saturday. Furyk, who began the day tied for the lead at 1-under, finished the day in the same position after he shot an even par 70 in the third round. Lee Westwood, who’s third round 67 was tied for the best round of the day, sits three strokes behind the leaders at 2-over.

As I left the media tent at The Olympic Club about an hour before Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk stepped to the first tee, the two were alone at the top. It’s a large leaderboard that tracks the scores and quickly updates. When I returned from following Woods and Furyk around the final course, the latter was still at the top, but the former was nowhere to be found.

Tiger Woods managed to fall all the way off the leaderboard after two strong days at The Olympic Club. He was off from the first tee, then stayed off as he found what seemed like every nook, cranny and bunker of the course. His distances were wrong; his tee shots, which had been solid all week, were straying left and right; and he couldn’t make a putt to save his life.

Jim Furyk has played some of the best golf in the 2012 U.S. Open. With his birdie on the 17th in Saturday’s third round, he gave another example of how good he can be.

Furyk hit two fine shots after a decent drive and then got another birdie putt from the midrange distance that has always been a forte of his. He sank it, carding his third birdie on the day and sixth of the week, to move back to 1-under for the tournament and even on the tie, and to tie Graeme McDowell, who birdied his final hole of the day to finish off a 68.

With Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk falling out of the red numbers in the third round, it opened the door for the rest of the field to move into contention. Graeme McDowell was one of the players to take advantage and he is the current leader in the clubhouse at 1-under for the tournament.

McDowell shot a 2-under 68 in the third round to surge into the red. He started his round with eight straight pars before he bogeyed the No. 9 hole to move to 3-over. It was then, on the back nine, that McDowell made his run. He birdied three holes on the back nine including the 18th hole to give him the clubhouse lead.

The 16th hole at The Olympic Club is a true par-5 that goes 670 yards. Believe it or not, both Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods dropped shots on it on Saturday in the third round.

Furyk found himself in the rough after his first shot, and was forced to play a short shot to get back to the fairway. From there, he managed to find the fringe on his third shot, and a long birdie putt rolled fast and left him 10 feet for par. His flat stick failed him for one of the first times on Saturday at that juncture, as Furyk missed and made bogey, dropping back to even par for the tournament.

One of the best stories of the 2012 U.S. Open has been the play of 17-year-old amateur Beau Hossler, who briefly claimed the lead on Friday. After a stellar third round, he might yet be near that lead at some point on Sunday, too.

Hossler played tenaciously in Saturday’s third round, carding an even-par 70 that belied how resilient his golf was. He made four bogeys on the day, but he followed each of them up with an immediate birdie to cancel them out. Hossler never moved higher than 4-over for the tournament.

The first six holes didn’t go any better for Jim Furyk as they did for the rest of the field. He got through that tough stretch at two-over, but he turned his day around quickly once he got to the less challenging holes at The Olympic Club. Through 12 holes on Saturday, he leads the U.S. Open at one-under par.

Furyk birdied the 7th hole to get his post-6th hole day going with an excellent start. He then drained another birdie on the 11th to get back to even par for the day. None of the other guys who were around him at the start of the day on Saturday have been able to accomplish the same feat, and he’s alone on top of the leaderboard. Both Graeme McDowell and Nicolas Colsaerts trail him by one stroke, at even par.

As the hours ticked away before the leaders in the third round of the 2012 U.S. Open — Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and David Toms — teed off, anticipation was building to see what they, and specifically Woods, would do. After one hole, the answer is: not great. Not great at all.

Woods, Furyk and Toms all bogeyed the first hole of the course, just minutes after Michael Thompson chipped in for birdie. Thompson bogeyed his next hole, meaning he’s still one shot back despite the leaders dropping down to even par. No one is in under par anymore, no more red numbers, another reminder that the U.S. Open is the hardest tournament in golf, and it really isn’t close.

Michael Thompson left the clubhouse Saturday two strokes behind the leaders -- Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and David Toms -- at +1. After hitting a subpar tee shot, he found himself several dozen yards away from the pin for his third stroke on the par 4 hole. He was to the right of the fairway but, with the pin placed at the front of the green, he decided to go for it.

He landed the ball softly about 15 feet from the hole, and watched it roll along a ridge to drop in for a birdie. He’s now even for the tournament, -1 for the day and just a stroke behind the leaders. As if a U.S. Open Saturday with Tiger atop the leaderboard wasn’t compelling enough, Thompson just turned up the heat at The Olympic Club.

It appears some players are starting to figure out the tough course at The Olympic Club in the 2012 U.S. Open. Casey Wittenberg and Angel Cabrera are in the clubhouse with rounds of -3 and -1, respectively, and Webb Simpson is two-under through 10 holes.

No one has yet to catch up to the leaders — Jim Furyk, David Toms and noted golf enthusiast Tiger Woods — who sit at -1 for the tournament, but the field is creeping in. Simpson bogeyed the ninth hole, but birdied No. 10 to find himself just four strokes back of the leaders. Woods and Furyk tee off at 6:05 p.m. ET, and those closest to them will be starting soon, so things are starting to get interesting.

The back end of the leaderboard teed off Saturday morning for the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic. A couple of notable names already halfway through their round of play include Stephen Ames, who’s shooting an 8-over through 11 holes for a 15-over overall.

Angel Cabrera, on the other hand, is rebounding after two rough rounds of play early with a 2-under through 15 holes on Saturday. Cabrera has picked up four birdies on the day so far, brining his overall total to 6-over.

Mike Davis took the reigns for all 18 holes on Saturday morning, setting up each by hand with a crew of workers. Over the first two days, Davis split the duties, managing nine holes and the overall feel of the golf course while apparently delegating the rest. But the weekend rounds are all about Davis, and he’s got a few tricks in his bag.

Once again, the par-5 16th hole will play at 671 yards, the longest in U.S. Open history. This means that on Sunday, the hole will likely play from one of the up tees, measuring somewhere around 600 yards from tee to green. The plan before the tournament was to play it from the back twice, then dial it down and play it from the front twice.

Stepping out on a limb to call the U.S. Open winner now: The Olympic Club will emerge as the victor on Sunday. You can go ahead and book it now, it will be the course, not the players, that wins by the time all is said and done. It’s just too good not to take home the title.

The U.S. Open is living up to its “Toughest Test In Golf” billing this year after falling well short in 2011. The Olympic Club is beating up players through two rounds, and is showing no sign of letting up. With only three players at even-par or better, all of whom are 1-under for the tournament, the course is throwing the punches instead of the competitors.

I get it: You want to be funny. You so desperately want to draw a laugh or be heard on television that you’re willing to make a fool of yourself. But please, for the love of everything, stop yelling stupid things at famous people during golf tournaments.

Maybe it’s just the nature of golf tournaments, especially majors. Large crowds, television cameras and a little bit of liquid courage just breeds stupidity.

The supergroup never did live up to its billing, but Tiger Woods emerged from the bloodbath with a share of the tournament lead after two days. By the time Tiger, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson made it through 36 holes, the group was a combined 15-over. And that was with Tiger finishing at 1-under.

The stage belonged to Tiger Woods, and his playing partners were along for the ride. For the second day in a row, I followed the group around the course, curious to see whether Tiger would continue to cruise or if he would run into difficulty. The latter happened, but how he responded says a lot about where his game is at right now.

The 2012 U.S. Open continues Saturday with round three from the Olympic Club in San Francisco. Fans will once again be able to watch the action live on television and streaming online.

NBC will broadcast six hours of round-three coverage Saturday, beginning at 3 p.m. with “Live at the U.S. Open” and with live third-round coverage starting at 4 p.m. ET. In addition to the television broadcast, fans will also be able to watch some of the action online via a stream at USOpen.com. A live stream of the eighth and 18th holes will be available from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET.