Collin Morikawa could not miss on Saturday, which explains why he posted one of the best rounds of the championship.
He carded a bogey-free 4-under 66, a round in which “everything worked well” for the two-time major champion. But most importantly, Morikawa climbed from 4-over to even par, setting himself up for a possible come-from-behind triumph at Pinehurst No. 2 on Sunday.
“I was trying to get to even,” Morikawa said after his third round at the U.S. Open.
“You can’t be aggressive out here, but I’m very happy.”
Morikawa did not miss a putt inside of 10 feet on Saturday, a big reason why he did not drop a shot all day. Instead, he made four birdies, three of which came on the back nine. His first birdie of the day came right out of the gate on the opening hole.
“Made up and downs, putted a lot from off the fringe. Just made the putts that I needed to,” Morikawa explained.
“[On Friday], I think I missed everything that I could have made. The first day was kind of a little bit of both. So it was nice to see putts go in. Just kind of build that, hopefully, for [Sunday].”
The former California Golden Bear gained nearly five strokes with the putter on Saturday, which ranks first in the field by a wide margin.
“I was just making sure I stuck with everything that we’ve been working on,” Morikawa said of his putting.
“It was nice to see the first one go in and build off that.”
His opening birdie came from 10 feet out—a distance that always provides a spark in momentum early in a round. Another putt from 11 feet at the 2nd hole, this time for par, also dropped. He wound up making two more par saves at the 4th and 6th holes to keep his scorecard clean early.
“My 4-under could have easily been the other way,” Morikawa said.
“When you play really smart golf out here, I wouldn’t say it’s rewarding, but you have to be able to put it in the right spots and take advantage when you do. I made the putts that I needed to. Made up and downs. Made everything essentially. That’s the only way you’re going to score out here.”
Now Morikawa will rest up for Sunday’s final round, when he will go off much later in the day than 10:39 a.m. That, of course, is when he began his third round, nine shots off the pace. But after his remarkable 66, Morikawa walked off the golf course five shots back of 36-hole leader Ludvig Åberg, and given the difficulty of Pinehurst No. 2, he could be closer to the lead by day’s end.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.