SAN FRANCISCO – There is a cluttered leaderboard at the U.S. Open where Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell lead at 1 under par. But there are 12 others within four shots of the lead. Here are some nuggets and notes to whet your appetite as you prepare for the final round at The Olympic Club:
• In the four previous U.S. Opens here, the man who has held the lead after 54 holes has finished second each time.
• McDowell has held only one 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour and that came at the 2011 Players Championship. He shot a final-round 79 and tied for 33rd place. If he wins Sunday he will become the 22nd player to win multiple U.S. Opens.
• McDowell is tied for third in fairways hit (28/42), tied for 13th in greens in regulation (32/54) and tied for 10th in putting with 84 putts.
• Furyk’s even-par 70 on Saturday was his 26th round at par or better in 67 overall rounds at the U.S. Open. Like McDowell, Furyk would become the 22nd player to win multiple U.S. Opens if he seals the deal on Sunday.
• In his last 17 events entering the final round with at least a share of the lead, Furyk has finished no worse than second, winning 10 times and finishing runner-up seven times.
• Furyk continues to miss fairways but is hitting greens. He’s tied for 37th in fairways hit (20/42), tied for second in greens hit (37/54) and tied for 40th in putting with 90 putts.
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• Tiger Woods has never come from behind to win a major championship. But he did come from four shots back to win the Memorial two weeks ago and Lee Janzen came from five shots back to win the U.S. Open here at Olympic in 1998. Headed into Sunday, Woods trails Furyk and McDowell by five shots.
• Speaking of Woods, of the last 11 twosomes on Saturday, only one player shot a higher score than Woods’ 75. David Toms shot 76. Woods’ 75 equaled his worst Saturday score in 15 U.S. Opens played as a professional.
• Five players have won the U.S. Open in their first appearance: Horace Rawlins (1895), Fred Herd (1898), Harry Vardon (1900), George Sargent (1909) and Francis Ouimet (1913). Blake Adams, who is tied for fourth place, is in the best position to add his name to that list.
• This is Lee Westwood’s 57th major championship and he is in search of his first major victory. He has seven top-three finishes in his last 15 majors before this week.
• Six of the eight most difficult holes are Nos. 1-6, the most difficult being the par-4 sixth hole at 498 yards. It’s playing to an average of 4.549. The easiest hole continues to be the short par-5 17th hole which is playing to an average of 4.734. The U.S. Open will be decided on the final four holes.