U.S. Open 2017: Leaderboard, live coverage, scores and more from Saturday’s round

Xander Schaueffele is back in contention at a major championship. The reigning rookie of the year has come a long way since he got in the mix at last year’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills. That’s when many from the wider golf world encountered the big-hitting X-man, who has since gone on to win twice on the PGA Tour.

Xander won the season-ending Tour Championship, captured that ROY award, and has carried that over this season. He finished runner-up at The Players and then posted another top 10 at the U.S. Open. This Sunday, however, is a little different. He slept on a share of the 54-hole lead and is now playing with Jordan Spieth in the final Sunday pairing of a major championship.

After a low-energy Friday afternoon at the U.S. Open, the primary story was largely laments about all the big names missing the cut at Erin Hills. Well, one day later, things got turned up and some superstar talents looking for their first majors put on a memorable show.

Brian Harman will be your 54-hole leader at the U.S. Open, but it’s clustered at the top and loaded with world-class players. Harman posted a tidy 5-under 67 on Saturday to get to 12-under, one clear of the trio of Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, and Tommy Fleetwood. Harman is a diminutive lefty, cocky and with an unrelenting game. You can find no fault in Harman’s work, and he has as good a chance as anyone on this board to bring it home on Sunday.

The final groups on moving day are just getting onto the back nine on Saturday, and we still have a full round to go on Sunday, but we just got our shot and moment of the 2017 U.S. Open, so far.

Justin Thomas, one of the smaller players on the PGA Tour, is well known for getting every inch of power out of his slight frame. He smashes the ball well over 300 yards with regularity, and almost never takes his foot off the gas. The lay ups are rare and on Saturday, with a potential record round in his sights on the longest hole on the longest course in U.S. Open history, JT went for it.

The biggest story at the start of U.S. Open week centered on the difficult choice that Phil Mickelson had to make between playing his national championship — the white whale of his career resume — and attending his daughter’s graduation. But there were many other difficult choices made by players no one knows about that may have had just as good a chance as Phil to compete at Erin Hills this week.

In a post-Tiger era, there’s a tendency for only five or six guys to get all the media oxygen. There’s a compulsion to cover, broadcast, follow, and write about those names that you know have a higher profile and, consequently, should draw the most attention to your work. Everyone does this. I do this when I’m at an event and when I’m home watching on TV. It’s a cycle that’s hard to break.

Justin Thomas put his faith in geometry and physics to get make this putt at the U.S. Open. At the 5th hole, Thomas’ ball was sitting calmly on a hill right next to the green. Instead of putting the ball straight ahead, Thomas aimed to his left, where the ball eventually rolled onto the green and into the hole. Thomas took a risk, and he was rewarded with a birdie.

The weekend is here, and that means the final two rounds of the U.S. Open at Erin Hills Golf Course just outside Milwaukee. The majority of the weekend weather forecast looks dry, but Saturday into Sunday there are chances of scattered showers and storms.

SATURDAY — Round 3 of U.S. Open:

Saturday still looks like the wettest day of the tournament with the highest chance of seeing areas of showers and storms. Temperatures in the afternoon should reach the low 80s, but chances for showers and thunderstorms increase for the mid-to-late afternoon. While I am not ruling out a passing shower in the morning or midday, the bulk of the rain chances hold off until late afternoon and into early evening. Winds will be SW to west 5 to 15 mph

We’re halfway through the 2017 U.S. Open and with 36 more holes to go, this is as wide open and hard-to-predict national championship in years. The leaderboard is an odd mix of players who hit it a long way, short hitters, and unproven commodities at the majors.

The big names, by and large, have been ejected from the premises. Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, and Rory McIlroy all missed the cut. It’s the first time the top three in the Official World Golf Ranking have missed the weekend at this championship, which was already without standby legends Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.