Birdie: Lee Westwood
It wasn’t always pretty, but it certainly was entertaining to watch Westwood creep into contention during Saturday’s third round. For the second time this week at Oakmont, the 43-year-old Englishman holed out for an eagle from the fairway on a par 4, spinning a wedge shot back into the cup from 130 yards on No. 5 to momentarily grab a share of the lead. Then there was the adventure on the short par-4 11th, when Westwood drove into a bunker, hit his second from an awkward stance into a greenside bunker but popped his third to two feet for the “routine” par. When play was called for darkness, Westwood had the eagle, three birdies and four bogeys in 15 holes. More importantly, he also still had a chance to claim his first major championship in his 74th career major start, sitting just three strokes off the lead at two under for the championship. -- R.H.