Henley wedges pin high to 15 feet at 10, but can’t make his par saver. Bland is able to get up and down from the back, though, and the gap at the top is now just one.
DeChambeau rattles in his 15-foot par saver! He remains at -3, and good luck prising his fingers from the trophy. At 16, Thomas clips his 6-iron to tap-in distance, and the 2017 PGA champ will rise to level par after a period of bang-average action. Meanwhile some trouble for the leading pair at 10. Bland sends his second over the back into the thick stuff, while Henley, having found a bunker with his tee shot, catches his second heavy and ends up well short of the dancefloor. Some important short-game stuff coming right up!
6.43pm EDT 18:43
Rory McIlroy trickles his monster eagle putt down the green at 18. He tidies up for birdie, and that’s a seize-the-day 67 that brings the 2011 champion into the thick of the action! The crowd reward the popular Irish star with a huge roar, and for the first time in a while, McIlroy will seriously compete at the business end of a major championship. He’s the new clubhouse leader at -3.
6.40pm EDT 18:40
Another clumsy one from DeChambeau, who wedges carefully out from the greenside rough at 14. Too carefully, because his ball doesn’t get over a small ridge and begins rolling back down the green in the wrong direction. Big par putt coming up.
6.38pm EDT 18:38
Bland finds the front of 9 in two. But he underhits his long eagle putt, which topples back down the slope in the middle of the green. He ends up with a three-putt par. Birdie for Henley, though, who gets up and down from sand to go two clear again. Meanwhile on 14, DeChambeau crashes a huge drive down the middle, only to pull his wedge into the thick rough surrounding the green. To be fair, he’d found his ball in a divot. And on the par-five 18th, McIlroy is on in two, albeit a long way from the flag.
-6: Henley (9) -4: Bland (9)
6.33pm EDT 18:33
DeChambeau chips up onto the 13th to eight feet, and in goes the birdie putt! At one point yesterday he was as low as +5, only to reboot and keep his title defence alive. Well, it really is alive now! He’s just two off. Meanwhile on 18, McIlroy, who could do with picking up a shot to finish Moving Day on a high, finds the fairway with a big boom off the tee. And a first birdie of the day for Rahm, who made his way straight down 10 in textbook style.
McIlroy steers his putt on 17 over the hump to kick-in distance. A decent par after that drive. A fairly miserable bogey for Wolff on 9, though. From the middle of the fairway, he sends his second behind a tree. He’s forced to hack out into a bunker and take his chances with an up and down. His splash out is weak, and his long par putt is a total misread. A catalogue of errors, and he’s getting a wee big agitated again. He’s -3.
6.21pm EDT 18:21
McIlroy’s tee shot at 17 goes right this time. Only just off the fairway, but it disappears into the thick stuff. He whips his second onto the green, albeit nowhere near the flag, but he’d have probably taken that outcome. A tricky two putts over a hump coming up. Meanwhile on the par-five 13th, DeChambeau’s back foot slips as he drives, sending his ball into deep rough on the right. He powers his second into equally thick nonsense on the left, but he’s near the green and will be happy to work with that.
6.15pm EDT 18:15
A word on Bubba Watson, who is having a shocker so far. Bogeys at 3, 6 and 7, and he’s tumbled down the standings to level par. He’s alongside Xander Schauffele, who has also been out of sorts: out in 36, and now bogey at 10. Schauffele’s playing partner Scottie Scheffler drops a shot there too, and he slips back to -1. US Opens are hard.
6.12pm EDT 18:12
McIlroy fist-pumps the air again. This time it’s after splashing out from a greenside bunker at the tricky 16th, then nailing a very missable six-foot par putt. He remains in a tie for fifth.
A birdie for Collin Morikawa at 13. He’s been quiet today, but now he’s under par for his round … and for the championship. He’s -1. Meanwhile a huge roar by Matthew Wolff, who has calmed down considerably since his hot flush on 7. He steers in a delicate 20-foot right-to-left breaker on the par-three 8th, and the birdie brings him to within a shot at -4!
Updated
at 6.07pm EDT
6.04pm EDT 18:04
A stunning chip by McIlroy on 15. He sends his fourth shot from 44 yards to four feet, and tidies up for bogey. Not ideal, but when his ball disappeared down that ravine, forcing him to drop behind trees, he’d have grabbed this outcome with two greedy hands. He’s still only three behind the lead, and fist-bumps accordingly.
A sad end to Bob MacIntyre’s round. Bogey at 18, and he’s signing for a one-over 72. Still, he’s +3 for the week, currently in a tie for 33rd, and this is yet another decent showing from the young man from Oban. He’s clocking up plenty of major-championship experience.
6.00pm EDT 18:00
Birdies for Scheffler and Schauffele at 9. They’re -2 and -1 respectively. Bogey for Rahm at 8; he’s -2. And on 7, Wolff briefly threatens to boil over as his second topples unluckily down a swale to the left of the green. He then overhits his chip up, as well as the one coming back. On both occasions, he batters the earth with his club. Fortunately he manages to limit the damage by rolling in a staunch 12-foot bogey putt. He slips to -3.
5.57pm EDT 17:57
Henley does well to lag his long par putt to 18 inches, and limits the damage to bogey. Par for Bland, who scrambles brilliantly from the front. Up on 11, DeChambeau creams his tee shot straight at the flag, leaving an eight-footer for birdie, but he fails to hit it. Par, and he remains at -2. And on 15, McIlroy hooks an iron around the trees, and finds the fairway, 50 yards from the green. A great outcome from where he was, but he’s hit three, and a double is the most likely outcome … unless he can find a big up-and-down.
5.54pm EDT 17:54
McIlroy’s ball has indeed disappeared down an embankment. It’s a penalty zone, and he’s forced to take a drop. This could get costly, because there are trees blocking the route to the green. Full punishment for what was an appalling tee shot. Back on 6, Henley is left with an uphill lie in the bunker and the face nearby. He splashes out, but gets nowhere close. He’ll be left with a 40-footer for par.
5.49pm EDT 17:49
Bland misclubs coming into 6, and he’ll have to get up and down from off the front to save his par. Just a little stutter, coming after the dropped shot at 5. His partner Henley finds the rough down the right with his tee shot, then pulls his second into the bunker front left of the green. He might be up against a lip there. And up on 15, McIlroy flays a dreadful drive miles left, over the filth, past some trees, and down what appears to be a ditch. Let’s see where that’s ended up.
5.45pm EDT 17:45
On 18, Dustin Johnson finds the back of the green with a big second shot, the ball briefly threatening to roll back down the slope towards the cup. It stubbornly stops, but he rolls from 30 feet to tap-in distance for birdie. That’s a 68, and at -1, the 2016 champion is the new clubhouse leader.
5.43pm EDT 17:43
Russell Henley suddenly has a two-stroke lead at the top. He pars 5, but Bland had found a bunker to the right of the green, and his eight-foot attempt to save par dies off to the right. Par for McIlroy at 14, meanwhile.
Im Sung-jae is in the house with a 69, as is Francesco Molinari. A 68 for Ian Poulter, and all three are currently sharing the early clubhouse lead alongside Paul Casey, at level par.
5.36pm EDT 17:36
Just a par for DeChambeau on the par-five 9th. He’ll feel that, because he was in front of the green in two, but underhit his chip in, sending his ball toppling back down the ridge running across the green. He nearly makes the long birdie putt, but remains at -2.
5.32pm EDT 17:32
Louis Oosthuizen gets back to -4 with birdie at 5. Meanwhile here comes McIlroy’s downhill 50-foot eagle attempt. It shaves the right-hand side of the hole and rolls four feet past. That’s a fine effort! In goes the one coming back, and that’s three birdies in four holes. He was a dimple away from making one at 11, too. This is the Rory we’ve missed at the majors for so long. Can he keep it going? Keep it going, please, Rory!
Bland very nearly drains a 20-footer from the fringe at 4 for birdie. He taps in for par. Henley however, having sent his second over the flag to six feet, makes his birdie effort and goes back into the lead on his own again. Meanwhile on the par-five 13th, McIlroy nearly slam-dunks his second from 260 yards straight into the cup! That would have been an absurd albatross! But it hits the flagstick and rolls towards the back of the green. He’ll have a long two putts for birdie. Much better luck for Rory than enjoyed by Sergio here earlier.
-6: Henley (4) -5: Bland (4)
5.20pm EDT 17:20
Looking back, it was never going to happen. Phil Mickelson winning back-to-back majors at 51, that is. He signs today for a 76 that crashes him down the leader board to a tie for 64th. Back in 40, with a double at 17. He’s +7, but he’ll always have Kiawah. Meanwhile the exciting young Italian, Guido Migliozzi, sends a tramliner into the cup at 7 to move to -1.
5.15pm EDT 17:15
For the second time today, Rahm pulls a short birdie putt to the left. This one at 5 keeps him at level for his round and -3 for the tournament. Bland and Henley split the fairway at 4.
5.12pm EDT 17:12
Henley can’t make his birdie putt on 3. A slightly nervous effort by a player who has been overachieving with his flat stick so far this week. Two steady putts for Bland, though, and the pair remain one clear of Wolff at -5.
5.10pm EDT 17:10
Henley hits the flag at the par-three 3rd with his wedge! The ball takes one bounce, clanks against the stick, and bounds back, stopping six feet away. Meanwhile up on 10, Brooks has suddenly rediscovered his four-time major-winning mojo, raking in a 30-footer for another birdie at 10. And on 12, McIlroy, in thick nonsense to the right of 12, punches his chip into the cup! A huge smile, because all of a sudden, the 2011 champion is just three off the lead! Just look at the big names lurking here!
Henley leaves himself a 25-foot uphill putt at 2 for par. He doesn’t hit it, and hands back the shot he picked up on the opening hole. Bland opts to Todd Hamilton a fairway wood from the fringe, and taps it a hot six feet past. No matter, in goes the par saver, and he’s back in a share of the lead. And up on 7, DeChambeau makes his par putt. What an escape! He remains at -2.
Trouble for Bryson at 7, as he sends his drive down a bank to the side of 7. He’ll need a big break of luck there … and he doesn’t get it. He’s in a penalty area, and has to drop. But he’ll have a chance of escaping with par nevertheless, because he wedges to six feet. This’ll be one hell of a boost if he can get out of Dodge unscathed. Meanwhile up on the hardest hole on the course, the par-three 11th, McIlroy nearly steals a march on the entire field by sending his tee shot over the flag to six feet. But the putt he’s left with is still hellishly difficult, a downhill tickler with a huge right-to-left break. He nearly curls it in, but par will have to do.
4.56pm EDT 16:56
Henley pulls his drive at 2 into thick oomska down the right. A terrible lie. He powers it out as best he can, but there’s no way he’s reaching the green. He gets it as far as the semi-rough, which doesn’t sound great, but is quite the result from where he was. US Open, you see. He’ll need to get up and down from distance if he’s to stay in the lead … unless his partner Bland bogeys, of course, and his second has leaked into the fringe at the back.
4.53pm EDT 16:53
Some high jinks with Justin Thomas on 8. He loses his balance and falls over as he splashes out of a bunker at the front of the par-three. His ball lands 15 feet past the cup, then threatens to spin back all the way. He beckons the ball towards him by waving his club, then mimes a fishing reel. The gallery enjoyed that one. He tidies up for his par, and, as students of the previous entry will have already ascertained, remains at -1.
4.50pm EDT 16:50
McIlroy is this close to holing out for eagle at 10 from 140 yards. His ball rolls an inch wide of the cup, and five feet past. He’s left with the sort of putt he so often misses, but his work with Brad Faxon is slowly bearing fruit, and he tidies up to move to -1. He’s still five off the lead, though, because on 1, Henley rolls a putt from the fringe at the back to the edge of the cup. It waits a beat before topping in, and he takes sole ownership of the lead. Birdie for Bryson at 6, too, and after a slow hour or so, plates are beginning to shift.
