Who the hell is Shane Lowry and can he actually hold on to win the U.S. Open?

If Shane Lowry is not exactly a household name among your friends and family, you’re not alone in not knowing much about the guy at the top of the U.S. Open leaderboard after three long days and 54 holes.

Seems even the experts over at Golf Channel needed some boning up on the professional golfer who has three European Tour wins, including one joint PGA Tour win at last year’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Lowry’s Euro Tour compatriot, Chris Wood, took the network to task on Twitter on Saturday for messing up his buddy’s name.

Another sharp-eyed observer noted that Lowry, should he play in the Olympics, would not be teeing it up for Adam Scott’s native land.

Okay, so we know who Shane Lowry is not and from where he does not hail. If you’re still scratching your head about the player who will take a four-shot advantage into Sunday afternoon’s final round of the national championship, perhaps this may jog your memory.

The 29-year-old is the one who dropped the f-bomb back in February at the Honda Classic — though, since he’s from Ireland, you may have heard it sound more like “fooken.”

Though NBC broadcasters felt compelled — as always — to apologize to those who had never heard the word before, the 2007 Irish Amateur champion and the winner of the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur refused to make amends for making some of your tender ears bleed.

Now that you’re up to speed on the 7-under leader of the contest taking place at Oakmont, here’s how he stands as he awaits a 3:30 ET tee time with Andrew Landry, who is tied for second at 3-under with Dustin Johnson: This is the first time Lowry has held such a lofty position, but if anyone can keep his composure in such a pressure-packed situation, he’s a likely candidate.

During Thursday’s on-again, off-again round interrupted by multiple weather delays, Lowry was in “whatever” mode.

“It’s part of golf,” he told Golf Channel analyst John Feinstein. “The guys that are bothered by it don’t have a chance.”

He was similarly blasé about his own chances later in the week.

“I beat a field of this quality already,” Lowry said Saturday night after playing 32 holes at 5-under and heading for a short night before an early-morning finish of his third round, “So there’s no reason I can’t go out and do it again tomorrow.”

He was also realistic about his chances of maintaining the lead over the likes of DJ, Lee Westwood (2-under), and Sergio Garcia (even-par) — each in the chase for his first major title as well.

“We all know that this course can jump up and bite you in a split-second,” Lowry said. “I’m two ahead with 22 holes left. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. These are the best golfers in the world behind me.”

For sure, but only two players in the top 10 have major wins on their resumes, and Zach Johnson and Jason Day enter Sunday’s finale tied for ninth — eight shots back.

Even with such luminaries hoping to surpass Lowry by the end of another long day, the leader planned to maintain his routine.

“I think it’s just the same as I’ve been doing all week. Just try and hit the ball down the fairway, hit it on the green and try and make pars,” he told Golf Channel after finishing his 5-under 65 third round (“probably the best rounds of my career,” he said) with birdies on the 15th and 17th holes. “That’s just the way I’ve been playing all week and I just need to do that this afternoon.”

Lowry was realistic about the slog that awaited him but unafraid to admit he could see himself lifting the trophy.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said. “Let’s be honest — I’ve already visualized myself winning, and even out walking around the course this morning, when you get a few moments to yourself, you do think about that. But when it comes down to it, you just have to hit the shot that’s in front of you. I let myself do that sometimes and sometimes it’s not the worst thing.”

In fact, attempting to block out the place his brain is likely to go could derail his effort to get there.

“Sometimes when you try too hard not to think about something, that’s the only thing you can think about,” said Lowry. “Just let myself think about it and when I need to, just get back to the job at hand.”

Sounds like a plan for the would-be first-time major champ who would join an illustrious group of golfers who chalked up U.S. Open victories after going into the final round with leads of four shots or more (Payne Stewart, in 1998, was the only one to cough up such an advantage and he went on to earn the title in 1999):

There’s also this: Lowry owns the same world ranking spot (No. 41) that Angel Cabrera held before the latter went on to win his first major at the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Other similarities between the two: neither had a win prior to the event and each had just one top-10 finish for the season.

Given his position, Lowry conceded he would keep tabs on his status each step of his final round.

“I’ll know where I am all day,” Shane Lowry (that’s S-H-A-N-E) acknowledged with a huge grin. “Hopefully be right on the top.”