How badly do you want it? Saturday is when the nerves start to get frayed and little mistakes can become magnified in the quest to win. This is the one Saturday of any major championship when standing still can be better than moving on the day called "Moving Day." This is the part in "Predator" where you cover yourself in mud and hope to not be noticed. Or maybe cover yourself in cauliflower and lie on the greens ... just sayin'. Here are Round 3 grades.
Rory McIlroy
Grade: C+
World Ranking: No. 1
Score: 72-72-70 (+4)
The ball-striking was there today. He hit 11 of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens, but 31 putts put the brakes on any chance of catching the guys at the top. Still, an even-par round at a U.S. Open is nothing to be ashamed of, even for the No. 1 player in the world. The plus is for when he said, "Broccoli is too green. The greens are more like cauliflower."
Jordan Spieth
Grade: B
World Ranking: No. 2
Score: 68-67-71 (-4)
He got a passing grade, but emotions started to get the best of Spieth on the greens. It's understandable because being in the final group Saturday means he got the worst conditions. The bigger issue is he only hit 50 percent of the fairways. Spieth is walking a very dangerous line between his second major title this year and an epic collapse. Hit more fairways tomorrow, and the nerves on the greens will not be as frayed (funny how that works). A score of even par or better should put him halfway to the grand slam.
Jim Furyk
Grade: D+
World Ranking: No. 3
Score: 71-73-73 (+7)
I wanted to give Furyk a C here because I know this course is way too long for his game, but Furyk is No. 3 in the world for a reason. Three double-bogeys are just not acceptable for the ranking he has earned playing on courses that are supposed to be too long. He dropped four birdies today, which means he can find a way. Find that way, please.
Bubba Watson
Grade: C
World Ranking: No. 4
Score: 70-77 (+7)
When I saw smoke from a nearby warehouse fire rising above the course, I thought he might have been making another Twitter video, given that he wasn't playing.
Justin Rose
Grade: B-
World Ranking: No. 5
Score: 72-70-72 (+4)
Rose gets this grade not because of the score on his card but for the fight in his heart. He was 4-over after six holes and headed to the toughest hole on the course, No. 7. I know plenty of guys who would have already been at the airport mentally, but not Rose. He found a way to make par on that hole, and by the end of the day, he turned what could've been a horror show into a drama. Hopefully the putter works better tomorrow.
Henrik Stenson
Grade: C-
World Ranking: No. 6
Score: 65-74-72 (+1)
See how easy it is to talk yourself into an awful putting day? He called the greens broccoli and had 34 putts en route to a 2-over 72. Now, if he wants to win his first major, he's going to have to shoot the same score he did on Day 1, when he wasn't calling the greens names. No matter how justified, don't tease the greens gods. Sticks and stones might break your bones, but greens will bite you!
Dustin Johnson
Grade: B+
World Ranking: No. 7
Score: 65-71-70 (-4)
I wanted to give Johnson an A, but with a double-bogey on the scorecard, I can't. Other than that, though, Johnson did exactly what he was supposed to do on a Saturday at this major. Shoot even or better, and let everyone else fall around you. He hit every fairway and made five birdies on the day, which proved he can score on this course in extremely tough conditions. Only hitting 12 greens with 32 putts means he can improve Sunday too.
Sergio Garcia
Grade: C-
World Ranking: No. 8
Score: 70-75-70 (+5)
It ain't easy to recover from a triple-bogey. But following the triple on No. 14, he rallied with two birdies. Five birdies total on the day while shooting even par is why he gets the minus. I will say I'm slightly impressed with only 28 putts on greens he absolutely hates. Shoot a good number tomorrow, and I'll have an excuse to give a great grade.
Rickie Fowler
Grade: B
World Ranking: No. 9
Score: 81-73 (+14)
He didn't win anything. He's not even playing this weekend, but he woke up this morning and probably got a kiss from Alexis.
Jason Day
Grade: A+
World Ranking: No. 10
Score: 68-70-68 (-2)
Superman has entered the building, and he's from Australia. Kryptonite (vertigo) had him powerless, barely able to make it to the scoring trailer, at the end of Round 2. We didn't even know if he would be able to play in Round 3, and we still aren't sure if he can play Sunday. Two early bogeys, and you thought he was done. But just like all superheroes, Day found a reserve he might not have even known he had. He birdied four of his last seven holes. Find a way to win tomorrow, and get ready to sell the movie rights to this story.
Louis Oosthuizen
Grade: A
World Ranking:No. 27
Score: 77-66-66 (-1)
If not for a hiccup on No. 11, Oosthuizen could've had the only bogey-free round in the field. Five birdies in an almost surgical dissection of this monster course deserve high praise. To think he started the tournament with a 77 and this round is his second 66 in a row should send your impression meter into high gear. The question becomes: Can he possibly drop another 66 and maybe walk away with this championship? If he does, his name will be right up there with Arnold Palmer's when they talk about greatest comebacks in golf.
Ben Martin
Grade: F
World Ranking:No. 54
Score: 67-70-86 (+13)
Want to know what it looks like when the pressure of a major is so great you blow a valve? Check out Ben Martin's front nine. He birdied the first hole with the possibility of winning the U.S. Open, and then he dropped a bogey, three doubles and a quadruple-bogey (on a par 5!) to make the turn at 10-over. After stopping at the pro shop at the turn for some new clothes to replaced the soiled ones, he almost made it back with only three bogeys. But a triple-bogey on the final hole was the course exacting its revenge. MEDIC!
Chambers Bay greens
Grade: F
World Ranking:N/A
Score: N/A
Everyone knows I'm honest to a fault. So I'm going stop people from saying dumb things such as, "We all have to play them" and "If you hit it solid, it should hold it's line." Just stop it. This is American golf's national championship, and while these greens might represent what our economy was a few years back, they should also be a showcase of a great U.S. golf course. They are not. I don't mind seeing the best in the world struggle with decision-making and bad bounces, but I don't want to see those same guys putting on the greens I putt on at a lit, par-3 course on Wednesdays at home. That's not what I want the world to see representing our national championship. Do you?