UCLA Alum Patrick Cantlay Shoots Even Par Third Round at US Open

Two birdies in the last five holes helped the former Bruin post his best round of the weekend at The Country Club.

Patrick Cantlay was at risk of falling to the bottom of the pack, but he closed strong to keep his best major finish of the year within reach.

The former UCLA men's golf star shot an even par 70 in the third round of the US Open on Saturday, heading into the clubhouse 3-over on the week tied for 37th and eight strokes back of the co-leaders. Cantlay has improved his score by one stroke each round, and the world's No. 4 golfer will need to continue his climb back up the leaderboards Sunday in order to best his 39th-place finish at The Masters earlier this season.

Cantlay tied for 15th at the 2021 US Open, and he would need to pick up five strokes in the impending final round to exceed that finish. In his first decade on the tour since leaving UCLA as the No. 1 amateur in the world, Cantlay has seven wins and a handful of awards but no major titles.

Just like he was in the first two rounds, Cantlay was even par through his first nine holes Saturday. Cantlay sank a 10-foot birdie putt on 2, and he needed to hit a 14-foot putt on 3 to make par on the same hole he bogeyed and double bogeyed earlier in the week.

The par putt fell just short, though, and he immediately erased the stroke he had gained the hole prior.

Cantlay was unable to birdie 5 like had had in each of the first two rounds, and he bogeyed 7 after going into the front greenside bunker and two-putting. But just like he erased his earlier success with a quick mistake, Cantlay made up for the blunder by picking up his third birdie of the week on 8 to get back to even par on the day.

With the wind blowing in the complete opposite direction as it did the first two rounds, the course played a bit different in certain spots, and that cost Cantlay once he made the turn. 10 and 11 were easy pars for Cantlay the first two times he played them, but he bogeyed both Saturday.

A 37-yard second shot out of the rough on 10 set the former Bruin back, and his three-putt on 11 – featuring two attempts that fell short going against the wind – knocked him outside of the top 50.

Cantlay pulled out the big sticks to try and rebound on 14 after a pair of pars on 12 and 13 prevented a further slide down the leaderboards. Following up on his 334-yard drive, Cantlay's second shot went 264 yards into a bunker. His out rolled 4 feet from the hole, though, and he sank the birdie putt.

A 340-yard drive on 15 led to another birdie putt from 16 feet, but Cantlay missed and he got stuck with the par instead. The par 3 16th had been playing as the easiest hole on the course, and even though Cantlay set himself up with another birdie putt 20 feet from the cup, he sent it a foot too long.

Cantlay's birdie putt was a bit easier on 17, and he sank the 6-footer to birdie the hole for the second day in a row. Cantlay had a birdie putt from 13 feet out on 18 – looking to birdie 17 and 18 on back-to-back days – but it came up short and he tapped in for par to close his round.

Although he did not miss any gimmes, Cantlay left a handful of birdies on the table Friday due to putts that were just a hair off. His driver was also less consistent than it had been all week, only hitting five fairways, but he led the field with a 341-yard average drive in the round.

Cantlay's tee time on championship Sunday has yet to be announced, but he is likely to get going in the late morning local time in Massachusetts.

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