US OPEN: DJ, CAM, BRYSON SEEK FINAL-ROUND RALLY

LOS ANGELES – The good news for Dustin Johnson? Just five players are ahead of him on the U.S. Open leaderboard. The not-so-good news? He’ll have to find a way to make up five strokes during Sunday’s final round at Los Angeles Country Club.

It’s not an impossible deficit. Six previous U.S. Open winners have rallied from five strokes or more in the final round. That includes Arnold Palmer’s historic 7-shot comeback at Cherry Hills in 1960.

But it hasn’t been done this century. The last champion to rally from five strokes is Lee Janzen in 1998 at the Olympic Club. Before then, it was Johnny Miller rallying from six strokes down by shooting a then-record 63 at Oakmont. That was 50 years ago.

Johnson knows he’ll need something similar but at least he has a chance – provided his putter heats up. It went frustratingly cold in the third during the 1-over 71 that left Johnson at 5 under and five shots behind co-leaders Wyndham Clark and Rickie Fowler.

“I just didn’t hole any putts was the big key,” the 4Aces GC captain said. “I hit a lot of good ones. Just didn’t hole anything was the problem. … Just tough to get in the hole. Felt like I played good, gave myself a lot of opportunities. Tomorrow, I’ll just need to roll in a few more putts.

“Still, I’m in a really good position. Going to have to shoot a good number but with the conditions the way they are, might not have to be too low. But going to have to shoot probably 4-, 5-under, 6-under.”

Since 2011, Johnson has 10 rounds of 65 or better at the U.S. Open. That’s three more than any other player in that span. He shot a 6-under 64 in Thursday’s prime scoring conditions – it was the easiest scoring opening round in U.S. Open history. He’ll likely need another one in much tougher conditions on Sunday.

He's ready for the challenge.

“It all depends on how it’s set up, really,” Johnson said. “If it plays as firm and fast as it was this afternoon, then yeah, go out and shoot a good score and definitely have a chance.”

Two other LIV Golf League captains also enter the final round inside the top 10. Crushers GC’s Bryson DeChambeau shot a 2-under 68 to move to 3 under, while Ripper GC’s Cameron Smith shot a 71 that also left him at 3 under. Both are tied for ninth.

DeChambeau was one of 11 players in the field of 65 on Saturday who shot 68 or better. But he said he didn't get the most out of it.

"Look, I'm happy to shoot 68 Saturday of a U.S. Open. There's no doubt about it," he said. "That's a great score. Just know it could have been lower. That's what we always say, right? Could have done this, could have done that."

DeChambeau was hoping the lead would drop to 8 under and give him a legitimate shot. At seven shots back, it’ll take a record-tying performance.

Still, he plans to come out firing on the more scorable front nine.

“Got a long way to go tomorrow,” DeChambeau said. “Still have a chance. Go low tomorrow on the front nine, I think I’ll have a chance on the back.”

As for Smith, his stayed in the top 10 on the leaderboard thanks to his final putt, a 24-1/2 footer for birdie at the 18th. But he’ll need a more cooperative driver. He lost 1.6 strokes to the field off the tee as he hit just seven of 13 fairways.

“Still feel like I played really good today,” Smith said. “Probably didn’t hit my driver as good as I did the previous two days; there was lots of scrambling going on out there. Just get the driver untracked again, everything else feels really good.”

As for a target number to shoot? Smith just smiled.

“Geez, probably one of the best rounds of my life,” he said. “It's going to have to take at least 5- or 6-, probably even 7-under, I think. The golf course is getting tougher, but there's still lots of wedges out there. The leaders are there for a reason, as well. They're obviously playing really good golf.”

KOEPKA’S 4-PUTT

Brooks Koepka was putting together a solid round until he reached the par-3 15th, which played at 81 yards on Saturday – the shortest hole in U.S. Open history.

Koepka’s tee shot landed 73 feet from the pin, on the wrong side of the somewhat kidney-shaped green. From there … well, Brooks will explain.

“If I hit the first one, it was good,” he said. “Second one, just hit it a touch hard. Definitely didn’t play it high enough as well. I watched Mackenzie’s (Hughes). I thought it was slower than it was. Just hit it a little hard. Next one just broke left. I thought it was straight. What else can you do?”

The four-putt was his second in his U.S. Open career. The first time also was in California – in 2012 when he was still an amateur, having qualified at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

This season in LIV Golf, Koepka currently has an active streak of 98 consecutive holes without a three-putt.

The four-putt ruined what otherwise was a productive round.

“Very easily could’ve been 3-, 4-, 5-under,” he said. “But it’s the U.S. Open, right? If you’re out by a couple of inches, you’re penalized.”

So with his chances of winning a second consecutive major having slipped away, what’s the mindset for Sunday?

“Just go and play a good round of golf and see what happens,” he said. “Nothing else you can do.”

NIEMANN EYES BEST MAJOR FINISH

Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann produced five birdies during a seven-hole stretch Saturday en route to a 70 that left him at even par through three rounds.

“I’d like to take the positives out of it,” Niemann said when asked to assess his first 54 holes at LACC. “Think I’ve been playing good golf. Not my best yet but I feel I’ve been hitting the ball better and hitting good putts. Nice to see them drop a little more today than the first two days.”

Niemann will start the final round tied for 20th. In his first 17 major starts, his best major finish is a tie for 16th at the Masters in April. He'd love to improve on that result.

“I know I can go low and get a good round and see how high I can finish,” he said.

SERGIO'S FIGHT FOR 71

Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia said Saturday's round was mentally challenging after striving hard to make the cut in his 24th U.S. Open start. Garcia shot a third-round 71 that left him at 2 over.

"It was tough," Garcia said. "Yesterday, I kind of emptied myself mentally, fighting so hard to make the cut. Things just weren't really happening, even though I felt like I was playing well. ... But I fought hard to shoot 1 over."

BRYSON: LINKSY LACC

Asked to compare Saturday’s course conditions at Los Angeles Country Club to the first two rounds, Bryson DeChambeau said it’s playing more as a links course.

“That’s the best way I can describe it,” he said. “I feel like I’m playing a British Open now in a sense. Not saying that it is. It’s a U.S. Open. But it does feel a little bit more linksy.”

ROUND 4 TEE TIMES