US Open golf 2023: final round – live

Is this the day when Rory McIlroy ends his nine-year wait for a major? It’s been a week of relatively few dramas for the Northern Irishman after a turbulent build-up but McIlroy is a thinker. He knows what’s at stake. He knows it’s not just the bookmakers who expect him to win from here – a shot back from two players yet to taste major victory. That duo, Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark, have their own narratives. Fowler MkI had plenty of chances to join the majors club but couldn’t take them. After a couple of years in the wilderness, will the fresh perspective that comes with being a father plus his successful reunion with coach Butch Harmon combine to make Fowler MkII a different animal? And Clark? This is all new; he’s never been anywhere near a leaderboard in the majors until this week. Ignorance is bliss and all that so maybe he’s the one. Certainly a recent win at the Wells Fargo Championship means we write him off at our peril. Scottie Scheffler, who surged late in round three, isn’t done yet and Harris English, Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele will all feel they’re just about high enough up the leaderboard to have a say. Here we go then. Buckle up, it’s going to be a late one.

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Leaderboard heading into the final round

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-10: W Clark, R Fowler
-9: R McIlroy
-7: S Scheffler
-6: H English
-5: D Johnson, X Schauffele
-4: R Nagano
-3: T Kim, B DeChambeau, C Smith

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McIlroy takes aim for the perfect start on the 1st. It’s a beautiful effort but just brushes past the edge of the hole. A tap in birdie, though, and he’s joined the Fowler and Clark at the top of the leaderboard. Scheffler secured his par.

McIlroy plays a fine approach to the 1st green. He has 32-feet for eagle. Scheffler needs three shots to find the putting surface and it’s still his honour.

Back on the tee, Rickie Fowler’s opening blow hangs out to the right, finds the rough and pops down deep into the roots. Wyndham Clark looks anxiously after his effort but he’s in the fairway.

Tommy Fleetwood’s momentum is disrupted by a bogey at the 16th. Elsewhere, Sergio Garcia is baffled when he holes out from greenside rough and Padraig Harrington delighted to find the hole from a greenside bunker. They’re out of the bigger picture but finding the hole from all angles.

We’ve had an update regarding Sargent’s remarkable lip out. The USGA report the group ahead of him had damaged the hole and it has been fixed. Dave is delighted that there is a conspiracy surrounding him because we rather like the idea that he and PGA Tour player William McGirt sound like CIA operatives suspected to be murkily involved with events at Dealey Plaza in 1963.

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy hit the 1st tee. Scheffler tugs his drive left and into the thick grass atop a fairway bunker. McIlroy takes a deep breath then steps forward and clatters his ball down the fairway. It briefly flirts with the rough but takes a straight kick.

The chaos of English’s opening shot here:

Folk like to visit the tented village during a major. Not many, as Harris English has just done, do so with their opening tee shot when playing in the pre-penultimate group of the championship! A huge block and it came to rest among the punters milling about. One of them even picked it up, but was quickly told to put it back. A nervy start for the man who started solo fifth.

Gordon Sargent finished his round a short while ago like this. An absolutely extraordinary lip out. TV’s Rich Beem even suggested the USGA would go out and investigate. It did look odd. The good news is that he has still won low amateur honours.

Here comes Tommy! A sensational approach to the par-five 14th from Fleetwood with his five-wood from the rough, threaded through the greenside bunkers and he’s drained the eagle putt. A second eagle of the round, he’s -8 for the day, -6 for the week, tied 5th on the leaderboard and he’s found the putting surface at the par-three 15th.

Thanks Dave. Between 1926 and 2009 just one European – Tony Jacklin at Hazeltine in 1970 – won the US Open. I remember that in the 1980s and 90s its difficulty was almost mythical, a mountain Europeans couldn’t conquer. The slopes too steep, the load too heavy, the air too thin. But between 2010 and last year? Six European wins in 13 events. Can Rory McIlroy make it seven in 14?

Rory looking very relaxed when the cameras focus on him doing various things on the range. Do we read significance into that? I’ll hand to Matt for the next hour. Rory teeing off at 22.19 UK time.

Jordan Smith is hanging tough and is nearly safely back in the hutch with a 5-under lap to show his family and friends. He’s made par at 16 and 17 although the 18th could prove a sting in the tail. He’s struggling for par there.

Matt Fitzpatrick, who leaves the pin in when he putts, misses a par effort from two feet at 3! If I believed in the supernatural and golfing gods and magic fairies, I’d say that was Los Angeles Country Club getting revenge for the defending champion rather dissing it yesterday. Dissing it in a very English way at least. “It’s not my cup of tea,” fumed Fitzpatrick, who is now tied 24th.

A reminder of those tee-times for the final groups. It’s getting close!

21:46 Bryson DeChambeau (US), Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor)
21:57 Ryutaro Nagano (Jpn), Xander Schauffele (US)
22:08 Harris English (US), Dustin Johnson (US)
22:19 Rory McIlroy (NI), Scottie Scheffler (US)
22:30 Wyndham Clark (US), Rickie Fowler (US)

Here’s the prediction of two-time major winner Justin Thomas. Agree?

Rahm gets to 5-under for the day with a birdie conversion from 14 feet at 11. All those red numbers have hauled him up to tied 10th and in line for some more Wikipedia yellow on his majors record.

Sky Sports’ on-course man, Wayne Riley, does a weather forecast to camera. He’s not sure when the sun will break through and burn off the marine layer. A camera pans out to reveal a limp flag. For now, the course is still gettable.

Like Rahm, Patrick Cantlay is on Team Too Little Too Late. He scraped into the weekend on the number, moved up with a 67 in round three and has now just curled in a 30-foot birdie putt which drops into the cup on the very last roll to move up to tied 14th on 2-under.

Another fantastic three wood by Fleetwood, this one at the long par-3 11th that leaves him inside four feet. He brushes that in to hit 6-under for the day and 4-under overall. A flick of the eyes over to the leaderboard and last week’s Canadian Open runner-up is up to tied eighth.

Fellow Englishman Jordan Smith is now battling to hold on to all the gains he made on the front nine. He pars 14 and 15 and remains -5 on his round and even par overall. That’s currently tied 26th. Rahm’s attempt to join Smith on 5-under for the day fails at 11. He lets out some sort of primal scream as his putt misses right.

Jon Rahm’s story this week could be one of too little, too late. He’s reached the turn in 4-under 31 after a burst of birdies at 6, 7 and 9. That puts the Masters champion in tied 14th on 2-under for the championship but it’s come far too late to put him in the shake up. Rahm is in positive figures for all the Strokes Gained categories this week but not in the top 20 for any of them. Basically, he’s been lacking just a little in all areas. Nothing wrong with his wedge at 10 though and he’ll have about five feet for another birdie.

Thanks Matt. Rory said earlier in the week that Los Angeles Country Club had elements of famed Florida course, Seminole. Interesting to note then that the surging Austin Eckroat was a member of the victorious 2021 USA Walker Cup team at Seminole. That doesn’t quite tell the whole story. He won both singles matches, the latter by 7&6! In not ideal timing Eckroat has just bogeyed 12 but he remains inside the top 10 (tied ninth on 3-under).

Cameron Young is in new territory this weekend because prior to this week, his major championship experience was pure boom or bust. He’d missed five cuts, but his only other finishes? Tied third, second and tied seventh. He’s currently -1 through the 1st, tied 17th for the week. Can he hunt down another top 10?! I’m off for a break now so will hand you back to Dave who will keep note of any charge from him.

It’s been a hoodie morning in LA. Rory McIlroy arrived wearing one.

And so did Rickie Fowler.

Fleetwood’s round is getting better. Another birdie at the par-three 9th and he turns in just 30 blows. He’s now -5 for the round, -3 for the week and tied for 10th. He has form going low on Sunday at the US Open – he carded a 63 to grab second place in 2018. Here’s how he made that eagle earlier:

Tyrrell Hatton has just started his final round and the English are playing well today. Jordan Smith has just dropped a shot at 13 but remains -5 for the day and level-par for the week, and Tommy Fleetwood is -4 through 8 (-2 for the week). Both of them have made eagle-2s – Smith at the 480-yard 5th, Fleetwood rather more predictably at the 316-yard 6th.

Remember those stats about US Open final round records? I quoted them at the start of my shift, just after 8 p.m.. By way of comparison take a look at Brooks Koepka’s: he’s 6-for-8 at going sub-70 – a huge contrast to this week’s leaders. The two-time champion has just started his final round and, with wonderful timing, he’s done so with a bogey at the par-five 1st.

Ouch. Austin Eckroat just had 6-feet for birdie at the 10th and it has lipped out.

Meanwhile, two Spaniards are under-par for the day. David Puig is -4 through 16 and Jon Rahm -2 through the 6th. Sergio Garcia is yet to catch fire. He’s level-par through the 8th and yet again he won’t finish top 10 in a major – he hasn’t done so since winning the 2017 Masters. He’s +2 for the week and tied 40th.

Jon Rahm, by the way, has just grumbled “Could I get a good lie in a bunker please?” It’s quite a habit of his to make sure everyone knows how the golf course is conspiring against him. It’s also a habit of his to doggedly persist and he does that right now, draining a long putt to complete an unlikely sand save.

Earlier Dave quoted podcaster Andy Leck, who was disappointed to report that the course has been watered. I was thinking of this when watching the Women’s Amateur Championship this afternoon. Played on the linksland of Prince’s GC it was dry and parched and rapid. And it made me wonder what this week could have been like if the USGA had allowed it. Take a look at some of the gallery walkways across fairways. They look like the ones we’re used to at an Open Championship. We could have had fairways and greens like them, too.

How are the leaders feeling right now? Ahead of the final round of the Open at St Andrews last year I found myself getting a coffee next to Eve Muirhead, the Olympic gold medal winning curling skip. I mentioned to her that she’d know better than anyone how Rory McIlroy would be feeling right then and added, somewhat absurdly, that I have never dreamed of lifting trophies or visualised scoring winning goals. Instead, I would have loved to experience the fear that comes before those defining moments in sport; asking myself if I had it in me to achieve what I wanted so dearly. Muirhead looked at me as if I was mad and said: “Believe me, you don’t want to experience it. It’s absolutely horrible.”

Austin Eckroat gave himself a great look at birdie on the 9th. It just slipped past the hole on the high side but he turns in 29 and he’s tied the low score for nine holes in the championship.

Hello, hello. Eckroat has drained a 23-foot eagle putt at the 8th and he is suddenly tied eighth in the US Open! He’s -6 through eight holes and -4 for the tournament.

Excellent point from Henni Koyack on commentary: the late starters – many of them at least – will be watching this early action on TVs in the clubhouse, in the gym or while dining.

How have the leading contenders fared in past US Open final rounds? I’ve had a little look. (Bear in mind that this day is as tough as it gets in golf, so many scores in the 70s are to be expected.)

Rickie Fowler: 1-for-8 at breaking 72 in the final round and the exception was remarkable – a 65 in 2018 that came after an 84 in the third round. (What about when starting the final round in the top five? 72-72)

Wyndham Clark: fresh ground. (n/a)

Rory McIlroy: nine final rounds and he’s feast or famine: four sub-70s and five failures to break 72. (69-73)

Scottie Scheffler: trending? 73 in his first, 72 in his second, 67 last year. (67)

Harris English: sneakily he has plenty of experience because he’s 7-for-7 at making the cut in this championship. That’s the good news. The bad is that he’s 1-for-7 at breaking 72. He did post a 68 in 2021 but three times he hasn’t broken 76. (73)

Hello everyone. What a prospect we have in store: a high quality leaderboard, a front nine full of opportunities and a back nine to sift the chancers from the champions. Thanks for joining us for the ride!

Dave mentioned that there’s a charge going on and Austin Eckroat is the man doing it. He’s ticked four birdies in seven holes and has the par-five 8th to come. He’s -4 for the round, -2 for the week and on the verge of breaking the top 10.

To see what Smith can get up to on the inward nine, I’ll hand you over to Matt. He’ll also bring you a leaderboard charge being made elsewhere.

Take a bow Jordan Smith. He birdies the 9th hole and that’s a McIlroy-esque (Rory did this for the first two rounds) outward half of five-under 30. The eagle and three birdies have moved Smith all the way up to tied 22nd.

A good sign for Rory. And one in the face for the bloke who doubted McIlroy.

A take from golf podcaster Andy Lack, who is on the grounds of Los Angeles Country Club.

Good starts for three big-name Europeans. Sergio Garcia (after 3), Tommy Fleetwood (2) and Jon Rahm (1) are all 1-under for their rounds and +1 overall. But tied 34th on day four of a major is not what they had planned at the start of the week.

Jordan Smith’s golden start continues as he follows his eagle at 2 with birdie at 3. In fact, he came within a foot or so of holing out again. He’s -4 for the day after just 6 holes and up to tied 33rd. Here’s that hole-out eagle and his theatrical reaction.