Olympia Fields the winner through three rounds

Saturday, August 29, 2020

The wind was quieter at Olympia Fields Country Club on Saturday. A few more players, 19 in all, scored under par. Yet, at the top of the leader board, nothing has changed. As was the case on Friday night, only two players are under par on the famed – and now reputation-burnished – North Course of the big south suburban club.

Dustin Johnson, a two-time winner of the Western Open under its current BMW Championship moniker, and Hiedki Matsuyama, who threatened last year on Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 course, are the leaders. They sit at 1-under-par 209 after 54 holes, and lead Adam Scott, Joaquin Niemann and Mackenzie Hughes by two strokes.

Honest, they do. This is not a fluke. Nobody else is even at even par, so thoroughly has Olympia strangled the birdie hopes of so many so often.

The best round of the day was 66, recorded by Kevin Streelman early in the day and by Jon Rahm later. Rahm, who jumped up 33 places into a tie for sixth, could have had a 65, but unaccountably lifted his ball on a green without marking it. That brain cramp brought a one-stroke penalty.

“I just hope I don’t lose by one stroke,” Rahm said.

There are 20 players within five strokes of the leaders, but it seems to be a race between a handful of people for the right to pose with the J.K. Wadley Trophy. The 2-over crowd, which includes Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson and Rahm, has a chance, but does the threesome four in arrears at 3-over? Rahm thinks so.

“Are you kidding? Four shots on this golf course is nothing,” he said. “The golf course is only going to get firmer."

Johnson added a second straight 69 to get to 209. Matsuyama bounced back from Friday’s 73 with a 69 himself. They continue to play the long game, trying to keep the ball in play – even Johnson, one of the era’s biggest bombers – and avoid the rough that swallows golf balls whole and remains thick despite litter watering and no rain since a third of an inch on Tuesday.

“It was a really solid day in tough conditions,” Johnson said. “It really doesn’t matter how far away you are, you’ve just got to be in the fairway. That’s the only way to control the ball and control the spin, and even then it’s still difficult to get it close to the hole.”

Johnson has only had the longest drive on one hole this week, a 376-yard rip on Thursday. Otherwise, he’s been long but not crazy long, trying to keep the ball on the short grass, hitting 21 of 42 fairways entering the final round. Matsuyama’s hit only 15 fairways – just six on Saturday and only three on Friday – but has scrambled exceptionally well, somehow ranking first in tee to green strokes gained. But he knows living on the edge isn’t the best recipe for success.

“I just need to hit the ball well tomorrow,” Matsuyama said. “I just tried to do what I could to stay in (contention).”

Johnson was able to do that, keeping hit wits about him despite opening with a bogey on the par-5 first, and later putting off a green into the rough. Yes, the greens are that fast.

“I know I’m playing well, so you’ve just got to be patient,” Johnson said. “Don’t try to be too aggressive, just keep playing golf. The first hole I just hit a poor bunker shot.

“It’s pretty easy to get into the mindset of ‘4-under is a good score.’ This is pretty much a major championship venue, and the conditions, the way it’s set up, it’s playing just like a major.”

Niemann shot 2-under 68 to climb into the tie for third and was thrilled to do so, not only for this week, but for his chances to make the top 30 in season points and thus qualify for next week’s Tour Championship, where a king’s ransom is available. He, though, downplays that.

“I don’t care if I don’t make it to the Tour Championship or not,” Niemann said. “I know that if I could score just under par, I was going to be right there. I think anything can happen tomorrow.”

For several holes on Saturday afternoon, nobody was under par. Clearly, Olympia, maligned by critics during the 2003 U.S. Open because the scores in the first two rounds were low, has gotten its revenge. Patrick Cantlay, whose Saturday 75 knocked him from a share of the lead into a tie for 15th, may still see his prediction of an over-par winner come to pass.

Rahm’s mental gaffe came on the fifth green, and he had no clue why.

“I hit it 30, 40 feet short right and was holding my marker in my pocket, and for some reason I just picked up the ball thinking I marked it already,” Rahm said. “I was thinking of something else. Took the penalty and moved on. I think the most important shot of the round was that second putt, the 6-footer for bogey.”

Rahm, who first played Olympia North in the Fighting Illini Invitational, played brilliantly otherwise. His 10 fairways hit of 14 tied Matthew Fitzpatrick for first, and he ranked second in putting compared to the rest of the field.

Streelman’s 66, one of only two bogey-free rounds (Daniel Berger was the other), came early in the day, and buoyed his mindset.

“I was contemplating retiring last night, so it’s good – I’ll give it another week,” Streelman kidded. “Obviously I wish I wasn’t so far out of it, but who knows? If I can have another big day (Sunday), anything can happen.”

He’ll start the final round tied for 63rd, 13 strokes back. He’ll not be knocking on the doors of the leaders, but the money will still be good.

Around Olympia

Corey Conners aced the 150-yard sixth hole with a 9-iron. “It was just fighting to work its way to the left, landed just right of the pin, short of the green, got a good bounce and started rolling toward the hole,” Conners said. “I was kind of stretching a 9-iron for me to get it to the green there.” It was the eighth of his career and first on the big circuit. … Sunday’s final round tee times start at 8:10 a.m. with Marc Leishman playing solo. Television coverage begins at noon on Golf Channel and switches to NBC at 2 p.m., five minutes after Johnson and Matsuyama tee off. … The increase in under-par rounds is accounted for in the scoring average, 71.391, which is still 1.391 strokes over par. There were 158 birdies on Saturday, but only three on the 18th hole (Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Champ).

– Tim Cronin