Tommy Fleetwood started Saturday's round at 1 over and finished his third round with an even-par 70. It left him at 1 over for the championship and tied for tenth at Shinnecock Hills.

Wyndham Clark is leading the group at 7-under, six shots clear of the field, while Scottie Scheffler, Sahith Theegala, Sam Stevens, and Tom Kim all sat at 1-under, just ahead of Fleetwood in the chase pack.

That is why the Englishman said the tournament is no longer in his control after the third round. And he added he could have gotten 'a couple more' out of both Friday and Saturday.

“The tournament is not really in my control,” Fleetwood said. “We’ll see what Wyndham does and what the rest do. Yesterday I felt like I probably should have or could have got a couple more out of it. Almost feel the same today on the back end, but I can’t complain about where I am.”

After a disappointing second round, where he carded four bogeys, Fleetwood again bogeyed at the par-4 third hole on Saturday.

But he calmed the ship with an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole and later added another birdie at the 16th hole. Despite that, his two bogeys on the back nine evened the score.

“I’ve been playing really, really well,” he said. “I just got to go out there tomorrow, and, like, just shoot the best score I can and see what happens. The tournament is in other people’s hands rather than mine right now, so I’m just going to go out there and do the best I can and see where we do.”

Now, to lift the 2026 U.S. Open from 8 strokes behind, Fleetwood likely requires a similar finish to the final round he recorded years ago at the same venue.

Fleetwood carries a strange piece of U.S. Open history

Only two men have shot 63 or better in the final round of the championship: Johnny Miller and Fleetwood. Miller did it in his winning 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont.

Fleetwood has done it twice, first at Shinnecock Hills in 2018 and again at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023, and became the first golfer to post multiple 63s in U.S. Open history.

It is a huge badge of honor, but it still hurts. Despite these brilliant finishes, he never won any of those tournaments.

In the 2018 U.S. Open, Fleetwood shot 75-66-78-63 at Shinnecock Hills and finished just one shot behind Brooks Koepka.

That Sunday 63 round was a wild run, with Fleetwood piling up birdies and giving himself a real chance at the title before the final putts slipped away at the end.

Then at the 2023 U.S. Open at LACC, he did it again. Fleetwood closed with a 63 there too, finishing 73-69-70-63 for a 5-under total and a tie for fifth. Guess the winner? Wyndham Clark.

And this time, he once again needs something like that to win his first major championship.

“It’s always nice when you have good memories of a place, isn’t it?” Fleetwood said. "I have great shots to go off and good feelings, so I can draw on that. I've enjoyed battling with the golf course so far this week and looking forward to another shot at it."

What do you think? Can Tommy Fleetwood win on Sunday? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Md Saife Fida

Edited by

Ankita Yadav