Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy vie for U.S. Open title
Fowler and Clark tied for the lead
Rickie Fowler has a chance to cap a remarkable comeback story with his first major title while Rory McIlroy can put an end to his nine-year major drought in the final round of the U.S. Open on Sunday.
Fowler grinded his way to a round of even-par 70 at the Los Angeles Country Club on Saturday to enter the final round tied atop the leaderboard with fellow American Wyndham Clark at 10-under par.
They will be in the final pairing again on Sunday and are scheduled to tee off at 2:30 p.m. local time (2130 GMT).
Fowler’s resurgence
Southern California native Fowler is a former top-10 player who fell off the golf map in recent years but has been in first place at the end of each round to the delight of his many fans in LA.
“Tomorrow is when the tournament starts,” he said on Saturday.
“After going through the last few years, I’m not scared to fail.”
Clark’s challenge
Clark, who won his first PGA Tour event last month, has been attacking the George C. Thomas-designed course near Beverly Hills with impressive confidence through the first three days and won’t go down without a fight on Sunday.
McIlroy in contention
One shot back of the leaders is a dialed-in McIlroy, another fan favorite who is looking to capture his elusive fifth major championship and first since 2014.
“I feel like over the last three days I’ve executed that game plan really, really well, and I just need to do that for one more day,” he said.
The world number three from Northern Ireland will tee off alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler, who finished his third round with an eagle-birdie one-two punch to take momentum into the final round. Playing in the penultimate grouping, they tee off at 2:19 p.m. local time (2119 GMT).
Other contenders
Harris English, who has quietly put together a solid three rounds to sit just four back of the leaders, will play alongside fellow American Dustin Johnson. They are set to take the course at 2:08 p.m. local time (2108 GMT).
Winner’s prize
Sunday’s winner will walk away with $3.6 million of the tournament’s $20 million purse.

