US Open: Four men locked at 4-under

Edited by Anand Datla

June 21, 2015: There is a silent huddle at the top of the US Open leaderboard with just the final 18 holes left to be played. Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Branden Grace and Jordan Spieth assembled at the top of the heap after surviving a difficult day at Chambers Bay. All four men are tied at 4-under 206 as the course continued to hold sway over the players, keeping them from running away with big scores. The best effort for a second straight day came from Louis Oosthuizen, who shot 66 again to climb 30 spots into T5. The South African may still be wondering what may have been but for that 77 in the first round – lying at 1-under 209 in a group behind the leaders.

Day’s effort was split into two halves – the first half saw him make three bogeys through the first eleven holes, before he sank four birdies in the last seven holes, including two at 17 and 18 to force his way into the final pairings for Sunday. But more importantly Day braved physical distress to not just survive the day, but soar to the top.

Colin Swatton said that 68 his boss, Jason Day, shot on Saturday during the third round of the U.S. Open was the greatest round of golf he’d ever seen. Hands down. No question about it. “That was superhuman effort,” Swatton said.

He even compared Day’s performance at Chambers Bay to Tiger Woods winning the 2008 U.S. Open on what was essentially a broken leg with a torn ACL. And as fate would have it, Day, who is fighting through a case of vertigo so severe he collapsed beside the ninth green during the second round, has a chance to win the same major championship on Sunday.

“I told him they might make a movie about it someday,” the affable Swatton reported with a smile.

Swatton, who is Day’s swing coach and surrogate father as well as his caddy, could afford to relax a little Saturday evening after the young Aussie was safely tucked away in the family’s RV parked near the player’s locker room at Chambers Bay. After all, Day is tied for the lead at the U.S. Open, a tournament in which he has three top-four finishes in the last three years.

“Hopefully, Iíll get some rest and feel better for the final round,” the 27-year-old said in a statement released Saturday night. “The U.S. Open is really important to me and I look forward to tomorrow.

But over the previous 24 hours there had been real concern over whether Day would even be able to tee it up in the third round. He was barely able to finish his final hole on Friday after falling to the ground beside the greenside bunker at No. 9, his last of the afternoon.

Day managed to steady himself and get up-and-down for bogey, then walked off the green with Swatton and an EMT on either side, providing assistance. Doctors later diagnosed Day with Benign Positional Vertigo, which causes a spinning sensation in the head and can bring on mild to intense dizziness.

“I was concerned when I saw him go down,” Swatton said. “We had just been talking about getting up and down out of the bunker. … And then, boom, he’s down. That initial shock was the hardest for me.”

Swatton said it’s particularly hard for Day to turn his head. “Every time he turns to look at the target it takes a second for his eyes to steady up a little bit,” he explained. Bending over is an effort, as well, and Swatton even asked Day whether he wanted him to mark the ball for him.

“He gave me a look like as if to say what did you even ask me that for?” Swatton recalled. “He played golf.”

There were several moments during the round, though, when Swatton wondered if Day would be able make it through 18 holes on an extremely challenging course that features an elevation change that roughly corresponds with the height of a 20-story building.

When Day waivered at the fourth hole, in particular, Swatton was there to encourage his long-time friend. He told Day that he had the heart of a lion. He told him to show the world how great he could be.

“He put his head down and kept walking, one foot in front of the other,” Swatton said. “It was pretty impressive.”

But it wasn’t easy. Day walked deliberately and seemed almost frail, at times. He later told a volunteer that that vertigo came back a little on the 13th tee. “Then (I) felt nauseous all day,” he said. “I started shaking on 16 tee box and then just tried to get it in, really. Just wanted to get it in.”

Swatton actually thought Day drove the ball better on Saturday than he had any day this week. But even when the putts started falling on the back nine, the leaderboard was the farthest thing from either of their minds. “It was just next hole, next shot, hit it as good as you can,” Swatton said.

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Source: PGA TOUR Website