Fowler back in the thick of it at US Open

Justin Thomas (-11): Thomas is a dude.

“Obviously, an awesome day, ” said Thomas, a Louisville native who played his college golf at Alabama.

But after three birdies in six holes, he eagled the 667-yard par-five 18th, hitting his second shot to eight feet from 300 yards and rolling in the downhill putt.

He made the eagle to get his name in the record book Saturday.

The left-hander shot 67 to reach 12-under and take a one-shot lead. It’s a different version of a U.S. Open. So far, there have been 49 rounds in the 60s. The world’s fourth-ranked player birdied six of his first eight holes, shooting 6-under 30 going out.

“Winning would change my life, I know that, but I’ve pictured winning the US Open a lot of times before”.

Fowler will have to play better than he did Saturday to win, and that’s saying something.

Casey remained at the top of the leaderboard despite temporarily falling off Friday morning when he struggled through a stretch that included two bogeys and a triple bogey. A day after Rickie Fowler’s 7-under opening round, that same score is still leading but it’s shared by four players – not including Fowler, who shot a 1-over 73 to sit one back.

“I’m not sure when it’s going to sink in or when I’m going to realize what I did”, Thomas said. I’ve been putting it pretty good.

“I’m going to enjoy my time tonight with my little girl and my wife. Sometimes I need to get mad”.

Thomas finished in style, and it had nothing to do with his hot pink trousers.

“The greens were still receptive to good shots, but they were firmer and faster”, said Fowler. His score of 63 is also the equal-lowest score in any major championship.

“There’s definitely some opportunity”, said Koepka, who has one PGA Tour victory. Rain-softened conditions at Erin Hills made greens more receptive and a lack of brisk winds left the course virtually defenceless.

Thomas broke the U.S. Open record for low round in relation to par.

“All Jimmy (caddie Jimmy Johnson) and I were trying to do is give ourselves a best chance to make a four”.

“I felt like I’ve been playing pretty well all week and didn’t have quite the numbers to show for it”, Thomas continued.

Late last year, the 24-year-old from Louisville embarked on the best stretch of golf in his young career.

But he under-hit a pitch into the final green and then got too heavy-handed with the putter and watched his ball race past the flag, off the green and down the run-off area to leave a tricky up and down. It took a hard turn to the right and rolled in. Then he picked up a birdie on 12 with a 9-footer. What’s more, this course had seemed a ideal match for the considerable skills of No. 1 Dustin Johnson, No. 2 Rory McIlroy and No. 3 Jason Day. “We’re in a good spot. I took advantage of it the last few days”.

But the work is not done. The top 18 players on the leaderboard going into the weekend have combined for zero majors.

“The big thing is going to be just driving it well tomorrow”, Fowler said. But he missed a pair of 10-foot birdie chances in that stretch, and one of the birdies he made was a two-putt from 20 feet on the par-5 seventh.

Noren came into the U.S. Open in solid form.

With Johnson, McIlroy and Day all missing from the weekend action, all eyes will be on a clustered leaderboard which is dominated by players who have never won a major. The cut for the top 60 and ties was at 1-over 145, tying a U.S. Open record set in 1990 at Medinah.