Reed, DeChambeau Begin US Open Weekend Drama

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Reed, DeChambeau begin US Open weekend drama

New York, Sept 19 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Sep, 2020 ) :Americans Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau, two of golf's more unusual characters, teed off in Saturday's final US Open third-round pairing chasing major glory on a punishing Winged Foot layout.

Tenth-ranked Reed, the 2018 Masters winner, led 62 players who made the cut on four-under par 136 after 36 holes at the famed Mamaroneck, New York course.

"I feel ready to go out and put myself in position to have a chance late on Sunday," Reed said. "The biggest thing is I feel like the game is where it needs to be. I feel good." Ninth-ranked DeChambeau, whose irons and wedges are all the same length as part of his scientific approach, stood one stroke adrift after rounds of 69 and 68 in quest of his first major victory.

DeChambeau, who bulked up his frame by 20 Pounds over the coronavirus layoff and moved atop US PGA Tour driving distance statistics, has been criticized for slow play, partly from calculating putt angles on greens. But he credits recent success to his longer drives and being patient.

"A lot of deep, long breaths," said DeChambeau. "It's sitting back, realizing the state you're in and being able to take an eight-second breath in and then eight-second breath out. That's just as simple as it gets for me." The tournament was postponed from June due to the coronavirus pandemic, which also prompted a spectator ban as part of area safety precautions.

Aside from Reed, the only other major winner under par was Justin Thomas, the 2017 PGA Championship winner who opened with a bogey to fall behind US compatriot Harris English and Spain's Rafa Cabrera Bello, both on two-under.

Reed has been at the center of rules controversy since his college days, including an infraction for improving his lie in sand at last year's Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Reed has denied wrongdoing and has the same attacking approach to courses as he does accusations.

Enjoying the first solo 36-hole lead since his green jacket win at Augusta National, Reed is 4-0 in converting such positions into victories.

Reed found only 10 fairways in two rounds, the fewest by any US Open leader since 1983. But he has rescued pars and managed birdies by finding mostly light rough and well-placed bunkers offering chances to reach the green.

"I put myself in the right spots to either get it on the green or close to the green or have a good opportunity to get up-and-down for par," Reed said.

"Even if you miss fairways, you've got to miss it in the right spots. I feel like I've done that pretty well and am still able to kind of attack the golf course." - Noren, Casey make moves - Brisk wind and lightning-fast greens combined with dense rough to produce another tough challenge, but Sweden's Alex Noren fired a three-under par 67 after making the cut on the number to finish on three-over 213 for 54 holes.

England's Paul Casey made bogeys on five of the first seven holes but answered with birdies on five of six holes, including four in a row starting at the par-4 11th. A closing birdie gave him a 69 with a back-nine 30, the week's best, to stand on 215.

Fourth-ranked Rory McIlroy made an early charge with a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 seventh and a birdie at the par-5 ninth, but missed the green and made bogey at the par-3 10th, ending a run of 14 holes at par or better, to stand two-over overall.