Canadians in hunt heading to Sunday in U.S. Open at Pinehurst

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PINEHURST, N.C. — It will require a magical day and some help, but two Canadians head to the final round at Pinehurst No. 2 with a long-shot chance to win the U.S. Open.

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Corey Conners will begin Sunday tied for ninth place at even-par at the diabolical Donald Ross designed golf course at the famed resort. The Canadian is just four shots behind second place, but everyone is looking up at 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau who shot a 67 Saturday and leads at seven-under par.

“I really felt quite good about my game,” Conners said after his Saturday round of one-over 71. “I’ve got a lot of people to chase down. I feel like I’m going to be comfortable out there tomorrow, I know what I have to do, just going to try to do it.”

Both Canadians will need plenty of help from DeChambeau on Sunday — and a round similar to Collin Morikawa’s stunning bogey-free Saturday 66 — to have any actual shot at victory, but the leaderboard can change quickly at Pinehurst. After 54-holes of the season’s third major, only eight players are in red figures during a sweltering week in the heart of the North Carolina sandhills.

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With the already diabolical greens beginning to further dry out during Saturday’s third round, anything seems possible on Sunday. So far, the USGA has chosen to keep the putting surfaces wildy dangerous but playable, something that isn’t always the case at U.S. Opens.

“The greens still have a little bit of receptiveness to them, I think that will possibly change,” Conners said for the third day in a row. “Maybe if I keep saying it will change it actually won’t.”

This tournament has a way of getting inside players’ heads by taking an already vexing game to the edges of sanity. Legendary USGA president Sandy Tatum famously said 50 years ago, “We’re not trying to humiliate the best players in the world. We’re simply trying to identify who they are.”

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So far, the U.S. Open has performed an admirable balancing act and accomplished exactly that.

The Listowel, Ont. native Conners has birdied his final hole three days in a row, and we asked him if that has helped take the edge off such a demanding week.

“I’ll tell you, I was thinking about that when I was reading my putt on the last hole,” Conners said of his 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th. “I was happy to see that one roll in. Birdieing the last hole I breathed a sigh of relief. It’s very challenging out there. You have to be really focused all throughout the day and it definitely takes a lot out of you.”

One shot back of Conners in a tie for 12th is Richmond Hill’s Taylor Pendrith, who shot an even-par 70 on Saturday and will begin his final round at one-over par.

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“I played super solid, drove it well again,” the big-hitting Pendrith said. “I hit my irons really good. Very pleased with the finish.”

Pendrith and Conners are both PGA Tour winners and were teammates at Kent State University, before being best men at one another’s wedding. On Sunday, the good friends could both be in the hunt if the colourful DeChambeau were to slip up. There is also a potential spot on the Canadian Olympic men’s golf team on the line, but nothing will be easy in the final round here at Pinehurst No. 2.

“I’d love to try to play aggresive and try to go at everything but it’s just not the golf course for that,” Pendrith said. “You are one bad shot away, on literally every hole, from making a double bogey. You need to really stay focused and patient, and pick your chances.

“It will be very challenging.”

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