Kaymer still in control despite over-par third round

By Simon Lewis

Martin Kaymer stands on the brink of US Open success as he takes a five-shot lead into Sunday's final round at Pinehurst No.2.

The German, current Players champion and 2010 US PGA winner, had jumped out into a six-shot lead at the halfway stage having set a US Open record 36-hole total of 130 following consecutive 65s.

And while he may well have been braced for charges from chasing stars Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and world number one Adam Scott they never quite materialised, meaning a third-round, two-over-par 72 from Kaymer did not hurt him as much as it might have done.

Instead, the 29-year-old saw his advantage at the top of the leaderboard diminished by just a shot as he slipped from 10-under-par to eight-nder with one round to go on Sunday.

“If you have four shots (as a lead), five shots, six shots, at the end of the day, if you play a golf course like this, it can be gone very quickly,” Kaymer said.

“You could see it today. I made three bogeys the first six holes. I didn't hit many fairways today.

“So the challenge will be tomorrow, to keep going and not try to defend anything. Because if you try to defend then you're not free enough. You don't swing as free.

“And that will be the challenge. So we'll see how it will react tomorrow, how the body feels, and how I handle the situation.”

Kaymer leads by five from Americans Rickie Fowler and Erik Compton, who both shot 67s for the rounds of another rain-free day in the North Carolina sandhills that ended with just six players under par.

A further shot back on two under lies Sweden's world number two Henrik Stenson, who carded a level-par 70, and Dustin Johnson of the United States, who also failed to advance his score following a third-round 70.

Brandt Snedeker is the last remaining golfer in red numbers, at one under par, after a 72 with his fellow Americans Brooks Koepka, Kevin Na and Matt Kuchar on level-par.

Defending champion Justin Rose of England (70) sits at one-over in a tie for 10th with Spieth (72), Chris Kirk (72) and Zimbabwe's Brendon De Jonge (73).

So much for “Moving Day”, as Saturdays at the majors so often prove to be in the jostling for position heading into the final day.

The only direction Ireland's McIlroy moved was in reverse as he slipped to three-over-par following a lacklustre 74 that began with a five-over front nine holes.

The two-time Major winner grabbed two birdies back at the par-five 10th and par-four 13th only to bogey the par-four 14th en route to his four-over round.

Fellow Irishman Graeme McDowell fared even worse, his 75 dropping the 2010 US Open champion to seven-under.

All in all, it was a third great day in a row for Kaymer, despite failing to reach the heights of his first two rounds.

With just one bogey in his 36 holes, two in the opening four of his third round pointed towards a very bad day indeed.

Kaymer, though, steadied the ship with aplomb, an eagle following at the par-five fifth.

From then on it was all about containment, the only charges coming from Fowler and Compton, who started from a long way back.

There were a couple more bogeys for the German but he signed off in perfect style with a birdie at the 18th.

“It's still a good round,” Kaymer said. “Two over par is not as bad as it looks on the scorecard, I think. A little bit of an up and down start.

“A couple of early bogeys and then the eagle that brought me back to level par and then putted off the green. So a lot of things were happening today. But I think I kept it very well together, even though I didn't hit as many great shots as yesterday and Thursday.

“But overall it's a decent round.”

For McIlroy there was only frustration from his 74 as he slipped out of contention in his bid to win a first major since the 2012 PGA.

“I'm very disappointed that I couldn't really keep it together today,” McIlroy said.

“And even if I was somewhere around par, 70 out there today is a good score. If I had shot something like that, I would have felt OK.

"But, yeah, just there's some holes, I guess making bogey on five from the middle of the fairway with a 7-iron in my hand, bogey on six after hitting a really good shot, not taking advantage of seven, bogey on nine, which you really should get up and down.

“Just let a few shots get away from me. I mean, I've come in here playing well. I still feel like I'm playing well.

“I'm driving the ball well. I'm hitting really good iron shots, just not being precise enough sometimes and not missing it in the right spots where it's an easy up and down, where sometimes taking your bogey and moving on.”