Watch the final round of the US Open live on Sky Sports Golf from 1pm
Sunday 20 September 2020 14:07, UK
Andrew Coltart says Matthew Wolff is entering 'uncharted territory' as he takes a two-shot lead into the final round of the US Open at Winged Foot after his five-under 65 on Saturday.....
It was a brilliant display of golf from Wolff, there's no disputing that. Some of the best players in the world are near the top of the leaderboard and only Alex Noren was able to shoot a 67, which Wolff beat by two shots.
In days gone by you may have seen youngsters wilt after heading in the wrong direction, but he dug his toes in and worked really hard to create a tremendous round out of this and give himself a wonderful opportunity.
He wasn't that great off the tee but when he did miss the fairways he still managed to give him himself some opportunities. Will that carry on tomorrow? We shall see, but at the end of the day, as good as these players are, the winners tend to get a little bit of a break just at the right time.
The thing that I was impressed with was that he didn't take ridiculous shots on when he was out of position, he put the ball back in play and gave himself an option from there to get onto the putting surface.
Wolff finished tied-fourth in the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park last month, so knows he can contend in majors. He has seen a fellow youngster go out there and win a major and he believes he's as good as Collin Morikawa, so that's going to give him a great impetus going into the final day.
Tomorrow he's going to feel like he has never felt on the golf course before. This isn't a regular PGA Tour event that he's on the cusp of possibly winning, this is a major championship and something completely different.
He's going out there with a target on his back, he's in uncharted territory and his mind is naturally going to wander, so I would say the advantage is with the players behind him. The chasing pack are possibly going to expect him to falter a little bit and they're going to have a slightly easier sleep.
Those behind Wolff are going to be thinking that they have to stay patient but have to take the golf course on, whereas Wolff is going to start to wonder whether things are possible and he won't know how he's going to hit it until he clips a couple of wedges away on Sunday morning.
Major contenders
I agree with what Bryson DeChambeau said post-round, as he does have to congratulate himself for his perseverance and his mental strength. He didn't get it all his own way, there's no doubt about that, as he got off to a terrible start with bogeys over his first two holes.
It's very easy for the shoulders to go down, but he dug in and ground out a tremendous score. He talks about the importance of hitting three fairways, but I can't see - under the pressure of a final round in a major championship - that missing these fairways are going to set players in good stead.
I thought it was impressive today to see Rory McIlroy get off to a steady start, which is something you want to see a bit more of from him in majors. That allows him to put the foot down, rather than getting off to a bad start and wrestling an average score.
We discussed Xander Schauffele at the start of the week and he's stayed in the running without being at his brilliant best. He has made plenty of mistakes around there but gets it round a US Open, so I still think he is doing a lot of good things going into the final round.
I don't want to take anything away from Wolff, but having a two-shot lead with a round to play is a big weight around your neck and is going to be tough. Anybody down to those on three over have a chance, but they'll have to go low.
Who will win the US Open? Watch the final round live from 1pm on Sky Sports Golf and 7.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event.
