US Open 2018: third round – as it happened

A topsy-turvy day at Shinnecock Hills, as Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson take turns to melt downOfficial US Open leader board

12.40am BST

“Jesus!” DJ taps lightly at his birdie putt, and it glides six feet by. The one coming back stays high on the left lip, and that’s a closing bogey. He signs for a 77: the 2016 champion will be out in the penultimate group tomorrow with the 2017 winner. Daniel Berger and Tony Finau, whose rounds finished a long, long, long time ago, are in the final group! Now that’s what I call Moving Day. Also: what about that Phil Mickelson, huh? See you tomorrow for more carnage‘n’thrills!

+3: Berger, Finau, Koepka, D Johnson
+4: Rose
+5: Stenson
+6: Aphibarnrat, Reed, Furyk
+7: Gay, Meyer, Hatton, Grace, Poulter, Hoffman
+8: Woodland, Simpson, Z Johnson, Schauffele, DeChambeau, Thomas, Fitzpatrick

12.31am BST

Dustin fires his second straight at the flag, and holds the pose. The ball bounces near the cup, and stops 15 feet past. It’ll be a tricky slider coming back, but he’ll have a putt for birdie, a 75 ... and a two-shot lead going into the final round.

12.28am BST

Tommy Fleetwood signs for a 78, quite a comedown after yesterday’s 66. He’s +9. His partner Charley Hoffman shot 77; he ends the day at +7. Back on the 18th tee, Dustin clatters his drive down the right side of the fairway, the perfect angle to come in. If he birdies, he’ll have a two-shot lead, and suddenly that early collapse won’t seem half as bad. But if he bogeys, the final group tomorrow will be Daniel Berger and Tony Finau!

12.22am BST

Dustin sends a wedge into 17. He’s left with an 18-foot uphill putt for birdie. He leaves it six inches short, but par will do. Of course par will do. You have to take your hat off to the big man: despite that horrific start, and going out in 41, he’s come back in level par so far. That’s while fighting both his demons and the conditions. If he wins his second US Open tomorrow, this stretch has been as crucial as his opening 69-67 salvo.

12.15am BST

Rose has a 30-footer coming back down the 18th green. He tickles it ... and it keeps on going ... and keeps on going ... and he’ll have a 15-footer back up for par! He gets a bit over-aggressive with that next one, the result of hours of frustration no doubt. But he’s left with a downhill three-feet tickler for bogey. In that goes, and he signs for a very creditable 73. He’s +4. Stenson can’t get up and down from the front, and he signs for a 74: he’s +5. Meanwhile a par for DJ on 16, though he nearly drained a 35-foot uphill putt after playing the hole sensibly and conservatively.

12.09am BST

Stenson’s second into 18 comes a cropper on the false front. Rose sends his a little left, into Koepka Country ... so while he’s on the very edge of the green, he’ll have an incredibly fast one coming back.

12.00am BST

Stenson splashes out of sand at 17 to six feet - then tickles in the par saver. Meanwhile Koepka finds the heart of the 18th in two - then sends his downhill birdie chance six feet past the cup. But he knocks in the return for a par and a 72. He’s in good position to become the first player to retain this trophy since Curtis Strange in 1989! Ian Poulter meanwhile signs for a 76; he’s stumbled to +7 and yet isn’t out of this by any means.

+2: D Johnson (15)
+3: Berger (F), Finau (F), Koepka (F), Rose (17)
+4: Stenson (17)
+6: Aphibarnrat (F), Reed (F), Furyk (F), Hoffman (15)

11.55pm BST

DJ has a great run at his par putt on 15. But the ball is always staying up on the high, right side, a dimple away from dropping. That’s a bogey that drops him back to +2. Rose takes two putts from 20 feet for his par on 17.

11.50pm BST

Dustin takes his medicine on 15 and wedges back out onto the fairway. No messing, no attempt to snatch extra yards. He then gently lifts a wedge into the centre of the treacherous green. He’ll have a chance to save his par from 15 feet. Up on the par-three 17th, Stenson sends an 8-iron into the bunker front right of the green; Rose whistles a 9-iron straight at the flag, and though the ball topples back just off the front, it’s not miles from the cup.

11.46pm BST

A hideous misjudgement by Justin Rose, putting for birdie at 16 from the fringe. He leaves his 30-foot putt a good seven feet short, the ball also kinking off to the left alarmingly. A misread and a mishit, all rolled into one. He’s got a job on to save his par. He prods timidly at the putt, and hands back the shot he so brilliantly picked up on the previous hole. He’s +3. Stenson remains +4 with a drama-free par.

11.44pm BST

So having said Koepka was in control of his emotions ... he races his birdie effort at 17 ten feet past the hole. He can’t make the one coming back, and he slips to +3. That’s incredibly careless. All of a sudden, Daniel Berger and Tony Finau, who finished hours ago, are in a tie for third! Still a fair chance they could be in the lead by sundown.

+1: D Johnson (14)
+2: Rose (15)
+3: Berger (F), Finau (F), Koepka (17)
+4: Stenson (15)

11.41pm BST

Charley Hoffman has a 25-footer up 15. His birdie putt slips by ... and nearly off the back. Somehow it clings onto the bank, but he doesn’t take advantage of the stroke of luck, missing the par effort coming back. He’s +6. Meanwhile back down the hole, Dustin flays a dreadful tee shot deep into filth down the right. Trouble ahoy.

11.37pm BST

Solid par for Koepka on 16, followed by a fuss-free tee shot into 17. He’s looking in control of his game and his emotions, unlike so many players around him. Par for Dustin on 14: he remains one clear of Koepka at +1.

11.33pm BST

DJ bounces his second into the heart of 14. Like Rose before him, he’s sussed out that you simply can’t go for the flags; you have to guide your ball into the green in the links style. Which is not to say these greens are always fair - the recent bunker shots of Koepka, Poulter and Stenson show that it’s patently not - but that quite a few players haven’t thought through their approach shots.

11.29pm BST

What a birdie by Justin Rose! He can’t have too positive a run at his putt, because anything too strong might race away from the cup on this ludicrous green, possibly even topping off. But he guides it in so delicately! That’s a precious birdie on a hole that’s taking shots off just about every player that comes through. His partner Stenson does extremely well to get up and down from the back. But that was simply fantastic by Rose ... who knows what it takes to grind out a US Open, having won one at Merion.

+1: D Johnson (13)
+2: Koepka (15), Rose (15)
+3: Berger (F), Finau (F)
+4: Stenson (15)

11.25pm BST

Par for DJ at 13. More nonsense meanwhile on 15, with Stenson flicking a soft splash out of sand at the front of the green; it’s never staying on. Down the back it goes. That’s preposterous. The USGA will no doubt point to Justin Rose’s approach: a glorious shot bumped up into the middle of the green, from where he’ll have a good look at birdie from ten feet. But come on.

11.20pm BST

The 2003 champion Jim Furyk has just posted a 72. That goes with his first two rounds of 73 and 71: the 48-year-old veteran and US Ryder Cup captain is +6 and well in the hunt! As is Justin Thomas, who signs for a 74. He’s +8. Meanwhile a third bogey in five holes for Henrik Stenson, the result of coming up well short at 14.

+1: D Johnson (12)
+2: Koepka (15)
+3: Berger (F), Finau (F), Rose (14), Stenson (14)
+5: Hoffman (13)

11.17pm BST

Koepka crashes a lovely drive down 15. But then aims his second too close to the flag, which is perched precariously near a bunker on the right. His ball’s swallowed up by the trap. Then he nearly holes out with a delicate splash ... only for his ball to slowly roll by, pick up speed, and nearly fall off the back of the green! In some respects, he’s very lucky that didn’t go all the way down the bank, as ridiculous as that would be. He lags up from 15 feet and taps in for bogey. This green is way too severe. Koepka’s partner Poulter splashes out from another bunker in similar fashion, goes very close, and suddenly finds himself at the bottom of the swale. He does well to get up and down for bogey too. Ever so slightly farcical. And Dustin Johnson’s back in the lead on his own!

11.06pm BST

Dustin wedges his second at 12 to ten feet. A chance to reclaim the lead on his own ... but he pulls a poor one to the left of the cup. Still, he appears to have recovered his mental equilibrium. Ian Poulter, however, hoicks a hybrid deep into the filth down the right of 15. That could be a lot of trouble.

11.00pm BST

Brooks Koepka sends a right-to-left slider into the cup at 14 from 60 feet! A monster rake, but one of those putts which somehow looked in the hole almost from the second it left the face of the putter. You know those kind. But what a par save that is! One of those moments where you wonder if his name’s on this trophy. Well, it already is, of course, but again, you know. That’s an astonishing escape. He looks in the mood to become the first man to retain the US Open since Curtis Strange in 1989.

10.57pm BST

A majestic up and down from sand at the side of 13 by Justin Rose. He remains at +3. But his partner Henrik Stenson can’t save his par from off the front. He drops out of the lead, to +2. On 12, a reinvigorated Dustin bangs a monster down the middle; behind that group, the USGA have the hoses out on the greens! It’s almost as though Phil Mickelson’s made his point.

10.55pm BST

Koepka tries to lash his second at 14 to the green, but the thick rough grabs his club and turns it over. The ball squirts off to the right, and there’s no going straight to the flag from there: the flag’s tucked behind a bunker on that side of the hole. Instead, he takes his medicine and bumps his third off to the left of the green, where he’ll have a 60-foot two-putt for bogey.

10.52pm BST

DJ’s putt might be short, but it isn’t a gimme. There’s plenty of right-to-left break on it. But he delicately guides it in, and pumps his fist in a mix of celebration and relief. He’s going in the right direction again at last! He joins Koepka and Stenson in the lead again. “Found a clip of Big Phil on the 13th earlier.” Please be upstanding, ladies and gentlemen, for sports satirist Gary Naylor.

+1: Koepka (13), Stenson (12), D Johnson (11)
+3: Berger (F), Finau (F), Rose (12)
+4: Poulter (13), Hoffman (11)

10.46pm BST

Dustin Johnson finally relocates his mojo! He clips a delicious wedge into the par-three 11th, landing it pin high. He’ll have a five-footer for his first birdie of the day!

10.44pm BST

Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson have been put on the clock. They both par 12, though arguably should have made birdies: after lovely approaches, Rose misjudges the pace of his eight-foot putt, while Stenson pulls a simple uphill six-footer. Poulter chunks one coming into 13, then watches in dismay as his wedge falls off the false front. He does very well to take two putts from the fairway, limiting the damage to a bogey. He’s +4 again. Par for Dustin Johnson on 10. And on 14, Koepka lashes his drive into the thick fescue down the left.

10.37pm BST

It’s beginning to unravel for poor Tommy Fleetwood. He’s just followed up three bogeys in four holes with a triple bogey at 10. All caused by a wild drive, a couple of hacks into deep rough, and a missed tiddler. He’s +7, and dreams of improving on last year’s fourth-placed finish are quickly evaporating.

10.32pm BST

I mean, this might not necessarily be the best way to showcase the skills of the world’s top golfing talent. But it is wonderfully entertaining.

10.30pm BST

On the par-three 11th, Stenson sends a gorgeous wedge in to eight feet. But he doesn’t give the birdie putt enough on the left, and it dies away to the right before it gets to the hole. A tap-in for par. Pars are usually not to be sniffed at around here, but that’s a poor miss. Still, he remains tied for the lead. Rose walks off the green happier, because he’d sent his tee shot into the thick stuff between two bunkers on the right, but chipped gracefully to four feet and tidied up.

+1: Koepka (12), Stenson (11)
+2: D Johnson (9)
+3: Berger (F), Finau (F), Poulter (12), Rose (11), Hoffman (9)

10.26pm BST

Koepka can only bump his chip from the back of 12 to eight feet. And the par putt’s not going in. But Poulter had sent an easy second to similar distance, and in goes the putt for back-to-back birdies! He’s sprung back up to +3, which is now just two off Stenson and Koepka’s lead!

10.24pm BST

“If I hit it any harder, I go down the fuckin’ hill!” That’s Dustin’s response to leaving a 12-foot birdie chance short on the wind-whipped 9th green. A very uncharacteristic show of frustration by the usually placid big man. But at least it’s a par. The relaxing environs of Shinnecock Hills, ladies and gentlemen! In the meantime, Stenson makes his first bogey of the day. His putt on 10 slides off to the right. And Rose can’t save his par either. Berger and Finau leading after 54 holes? Don’t rule it out!

E: Koepka (11)
+1: Stenson (10)
+2: D Johnson (9)
+3: Berger (F), Finau (F), Rose (10), Hoffman (9)

10.18pm BST

A third bogey in four holes for Tommy Fleetwood: 6, 8 and now 9. He slips to +4. Justin Rose joins his partner Henrik Stenson in difficulty at 10, sending his ball down the swale to the left. Stenson is first to chip up: he flips up a wedge to eight feet. Then Rose knocks his to a similar distance. They’ll have opportunities to save their pars. Meanwhile a little trouble for Koepka on 12: he finds the thick stuff down the right with his tee shot, and his wedge in takes a flyer through the green. He’ll have a tricky chip back up out of some light cabbage.

10.15pm BST

Brooks Koepka knocks in his birdie putt, and joins Henrik Stenson in the lead. He might have sole ownership of it soon, too, because the big Swede has just seen his approach to 10 topple back down the huge false front. Incidentally, Koepka’s partner Ian Poulter arrests his decline with birdie at 11 as well to return to +4. A pair of twos! Shinnecock difficult, they say?!?

E: Koepka (11), Stenson (9)
+2: Rose (9), D Johnson (8)

10.07pm BST

Dustin bumps his chip at 8 up to ten feet, but can’t guide in the left-to-right par putt he’s left himself. This is turning very ugly; he’s now +2 having started the day at -4. He’s yet to reach the turn! Meanwhile a gorgeous tee shot at the par-three 11th by the defending champion Brooks Koepka. He’s sent that straight at the flag: it stops four feet to the left of the cup. That’s sensational. He’ll have that for a share of the lead.

10.01pm BST

News of Rickie Fowler, who is having an absolute shocker today. Not necessarily of Mickelsonesque proportions, but still. Out in 41, after two bogeys and two doubles, he’s just trebled 10. He’s crashed down the standings to +11. Meanwhile on 9, Justin Rose comes up short, and leaves himself stuck on the bank, in sticky fescue. He punches up to six feet, but pushes his par saver to the right. He’s +2. Stenson pars to remain in the lead at level. And Dustin’s woes continue on 8: he’s crashed his drive down the centre of the fairway, but chipping into the wind, leaves his approach on the false front of the green, and his ball topples back down the fairway. Work to save his par.

9.55pm BST

So now it’s official: it’s Dustin Johnson meltdown time! He leaves his 50-foot uphill putt seven feet short, then pulls the par putt left. His four-shot lead at the halfway mark has gone within seven holes! Henrik Stenson is now the sole leader of the US Open. Meanwhile another dropped shot for Ian Poulter, who pushes a six-foot par putt wide right. He’s +5.

E: Stenson (8)
+1: Koepka (9), Rose (8), D Johnson (7)

9.50pm BST

Up on the 18th green, Patrick Reed signs for a 71. He’s in the clubhouse at +6; the Masters champion won’t be miles from the lead at the end of play tonight, the way things are going. He’s there alongside Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who shot 68 today, and three behind the clubhouse leaders Daniel Berger and Tony Finau. This is going to be a very interesting afternoon!

9.46pm BST

Justin Rose drops one at 8, the result of finding sand with his approach. He wasn’t far from making his 20-foot par saver, though. His partner Henrik Stenson makes another staunch par putt, though, and remains tied in the lead with Dustin, who has just sent his tee shot at 7 into the middle of the green.

9.43pm BST

DJ’s putt is pretty good, to be fair, but it slides by the left of the cup. He couldn’t have done any better without making it. But this is a dreadful start by the world number one. Another bogey, and he’s now in a three-way tie for the lead. His partner Piercy three-putts for bogey, and he slips to +4 again. The conditions out there are very testing for the late starters: the wind’s up and the greens are cooked. What price Daniel Berger and Tony Finau in the final pairing tomorrow?

E: Rose (7), Stenson (7), D Johnson (6)
+1: Koepka (8)
+2: Fleetwood (8)
+3: Berger (F), Finau (F), Hoffman (7)

9.38pm BST

The good news for Dustin is, he’s got a lot of green to play with. The bad news, he lifts his third into the heart of the putting surface, but it doesn’t release towards the hole as he’d expect it to on these parched, hectic greens. He’s left with a 15-footer for his par. If he doesn’t make it, he’ll have given up his sole leadership of the 118th US Open in short order.

9.35pm BST

Dustin Johnson isn’t at the races today. He’s in the middle of the 6th fairway, and sends his 6-iron way to the right, the ball bounding into some thick greenside nonsense. On Sky, his worried but always straight-talking coach Butch Harmon says: “I can tell you that he is completely out of sorts.”

9.32pm BST

OK, Rose’s ball did topple into the bunker. He splashes out to eight feet. And in it goes! Another great up and down! He’s playing some majestic golf amid this war of attrition on an increasingly difficult Shinnecock Hills. He remains at level par. A missed par putt for Tommy Fleetwood on 6; he’s +2 now. Meanwhile difficulties again at 8 for Ian Poulter. He’s in the same bunker he thinned one out of last night. Today, he doesn’t really commit to his escape, and though he dinks the ball up on the green, it falls back down the false front and u-turns past the bunker. He’s further from the hole than he was. Poulter takes the putter out, and leaves his fourth eight feet short. The bogey putt curls to the right, and the double takes him back to +4. This hole has cost him five shots in the last 20 hours or so.

9.26pm BST

The Fox coverage is a bit erratic, isn’t it? They’ve just shown Justin Rose hitting into the par-three 7th. His ball was heading towards the bunkers on the left. It might have gone in. It might have stayed up in the fringe. No idea, because they cut away before the ball had stopped moving. “Evening Doctor Golf!” writes Hubert O’Hearn, who has the fever, is my diagnosis. “I finally got tired of the footy and thought I’d catch a bit of the golf. Was going to make a joke about watching a game where the ball isn’t moving when players strike it ... and the first thing I see in the hole-by-hole report is Phil attempting a volley. Oh Phil.”

9.22pm BST

DJ is momentarily rocking. He flays his drive at 5 into the deep stuff on the left. Anyone else is doing well to get that back out; DJ powers a wedge 100 yards down the fairway. Then he sends another wedge into the centre of the green. He’s got a 20-foot putt for birdie. But the wind is up, and the greens are parched now, and he’s having trouble placing his ball! He does amazingly well to dribble his putt to the side of the hole and take his par. When he was watching his drive sail into the fescue, he must have feared the worst. But that par save may have arrested his downward momentum. Meanwhile a birdie for his partner Piercy, who moves back to +3. And a fine 20-foot par saver for Stenson on 6.

9.16pm BST

Anyway, on 4, Dustin Johnson leaves a ten-foot par putt a couple of inches short. A great up-and-down by Justin Rose from the back of 5. And birdie for Henrik Stenson on 5. Throw in Charley Hoffman’s bogeys at 1 and 3 (+2) and Scott Piercy’s double bogey, bogey, bogey whammy on 2, 3 and 4 (+4) and the leader board looks very different now!

-1: D Johnson (4)
E: Rose (5), Stenson (5)
+1: Koepka (7), Fleetwood (5)
+2: Poulter (7), Hoffman (4)
+3: Berger (F), Finau (F)

9.10pm BST

Does it show disrespect to the championship? “It’s certainly not meant that way. It’s meant to take advantage of the rules as best you can. In that situation, I was just going back and forth, and I would gladly take the two shots rather than continue that display.”

Do you regret what you’ve done? “I’ve had an awesome day, the people here have been incredible, singing Happy Birthday, people here have made coming here an awesome experience. It’s a fun birthday. I don’t mean any disrespect, and if that’s the way people took it, I apologise to them, but that’s not the way it was taken. I took the two-shot penalty and moved on, and there’s not much more to say.”

9.07pm BST

Phil speaks! “Look. I don’t mean disrespect by anybody. I know it’s a two-shot penalty, at that time I just didn’t feel like going back and forth and hitting the same shot over. I took the two-shot penalty and moved on. It’s my understanding of the rules. I’ve had multiple times when I wanted to do that, I just finally did it. No question [the ball] was going to go down into the same spot behind the bunker and I wasn’t going to have a shot. I don’t know if I would have been able to save a shot or not. I do know it’s a two-shot penalty to hit a moving ball. I tried to hit it as close to the hole to make the next one. I took the two shots and moved on.”

9.03pm BST

Thanks to John. Phil’s about to talk to Curtis Strange, nominative determinism in full effect.

9.00pm BST

A wild hook off the fourth tee from Johnson gets caught in the wind, and drifts into what looks like heavy rough to the edge of the fairway. Rose has to play a rescue shot from a fairway bunker and has plenty to do on his next shot. This is a test, as dear, departed Graham Taylor might say. Windy and drying ground making for a deadly combination out there. Just ask Phil and Beef. Mickelson is currently doing some press calls so his version of events is imminent.

8.51pm BST

Johnson has a long one for birdie and again comes up short. He under-amped it, likely in the knowledge that any carry through would take the ball down dale. He settles for par. It might not help Johnson that Piercy, alongside him, is coming apart. Not quite Big Philly-style but he has dropped four shots already.

8.47pm BST

Dustin Johnson looks unruffled by the previous hole’s woes while Piercy, wild with both of his shots, continues to wobble. Plays a great drive and then a sand wedge off the fairway to set up a birdie. Rose’s third shot is much better, and a par putt is within his sights. He holes out calmly. Well done.

8.44pm BST

Justin Rose’s chance to put the hammer down not helped by two wayward shots on the fourth. His par is endangered. Ian Poulter, three over for the day, is trying to fight his way back with some long hitting.

8.40pm BST

Well well well. DJ has dropped two shots closer to his chasers after a nightmare on the second hole. Johnson takes his time over his par putt on a green that looks anything but that colour. This is a monster putt...but not nearly enough purchase and leaves him on a double bogey if he can’t drain a very missable fourth shot. Which he does miss...drama. Having watched Piercy make his own double bogey, Johnson steps up to putt. Those are the first two double bogeys of the day on the hole. Justin Rose on level par is in touch. In the tent, meanwhile, Beef has a wry grin on his face as he and Mickelson sign off their cards.

8.31pm BST

Justin Rose just holed a chip, a pearler of a shot, but the focus is on DJ, whose lie is not good at all on the dust track. He aims right of the flag and lands safely on the green. Bogey still looks likely after that tee shot, but at least he has shots in hand.

8.28pm BST

“C’mon wind,” begs Ian Poulter as he uses his driver on hole three. Charley Hoffman made a fine approach, and an even better putt to give himself the chance of a 3. Piercy plays a wild one; he looked bunker-bound but is actually in a worse lie than the sand. Now, DJ - “the man,” according to his fans - has whipped it to what looks like a patch of sandy road. Difficult next shot for him. Big Phil has just hit a beautiful shot on 18th, spinning the ball close. He puts for par and, er, 81. We await his post-match quotes.

8.20pm BST

Johnson putts downhill for birdie, from 12 yards or so, and looked to have judged the escarpment of the green superbly, only for a sudden change of direction. The par putt is not a gimme, but he rolls it. Piercy makes par with a decent chip to the green and pea-roller putt.

8.17pm BST

Nice shot by Piercy, who lands just short of the green and is unlucky to roll back. Johnson, nerveless, has given himself a decent birdie chance with his shot to the green.

8.15pm BST

Hoffman makes a saving shot to make bogey. Fleetwood’s birdie attempt limped by and he will have to settle for par. Disappointment for both.

8.14pm BST

Mickelson and the boy Beef are having quite a chat. Meanwhile, referee John Bodenhamer is explaining why Mickelson got given a 10 - for hitting a moving ball - and also why Phil is not going to be kicked out, even if he looks like he would rather be anywhere else. “We informed him and he said thank you and went on with his round. It was a short conversation.”

8.11pm BST

Dustin Johnson takes to the tee, the Stars & Stripes wafting in the breeze behind him. Ahead of him, Fleetwood has played a useful second shot to the first. Hoffman has a nightmare in the bunker and has a tough shot to make five after two attempts to get out of the sand. It’s Scott Piercy’s honour and that goes to the centre of the fairway. Jupiter’s Johnson hits a cut into the wind and goes a little to the left but no problem.

8.02pm BST

Welcome, one and all. While Scott’s in the clubhouse, I am watching Tommy Fleetwood taking his opening tee shot. The loud locals hail him in the style of the baddies in the karate kid - “C’mon, Tommy!”. Charley Hoffman gets a call of “San Diego”. Both hit drives that kept them out of trouble. And leave that loud lot behind. Meanwhile, Justin Rose saves par to stay at +1.

7.57pm BST

Right, I’m off to take a break before it all hots up. Hold on, it’s already boiled over, hasn’t it. Hey, well. Anyway, John Brewin is slipping into the hot seat, and I’ll see you all again soon.

7.55pm BST

A quick update on Mickelson. He’s parred 15 as well, as casually as you like. Meanwhile his score at 13 has now been updated to 10. So he’s +16. He may as well tee up an exploding ball on 16, and drive back to the clubhouse in a buggy with square wheels. His round has become a circus. As for his partner Beef, his current run of double bogey, bogey, bogey, double bogey would be worthy of comment ... under normal circumstances. Oh Phil! I can’t wait to hear Lefty’s post-round interview.

7.51pm BST

The defending champ is out and about. Brooks Koepka knocks his approach at 1 into the sand, then gets too much on the ball with his splash out. It flies across the dancefloor and topples off the front. He refrains from sprinting after it and smacking it back in the general direction of the cup, a la Lefty. His putt up onto the green isn’t all that, left six feet short. But in goes the bogey putt, to limit the damage and ensure all yesterday’s good work isn’t ruined. He’s +2. Par for his playing partner Ian Poulter, meanwhile, who stays at +1.

7.43pm BST

Anyway, there is a serious golf tournament going on as well. And there are opening-hole birdies for both Marc Leishman and Russell Henley. A first excuse to update the leader board, and a chance for everyone to catch their breath and attempt to regain a little mental equilibrium:

-4: D Johnson
E: Piercy, Hoffman
-1: Henley (1), Fleetwood, Stenson, Rose, Koepka, Poulter
+2: Leishman (2), Fowler (1)
+3: Berger (F)

7.39pm BST

He’s +15 now, by the way. Oh Phil. ♫ ♯ Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Lefty, happy birthday to you! ♭♬

7.38pm BST

Par for Mickelson on 14. He’s wandering around as though nothing has happened. A tip of the hat as the crowd cheer their hero anyway. You’ve got to hand it to Lefty, never a dull moment. And if he’s never to win a US Open, this is yet another way he’s made his mark on this famous old tournament. File along his six runner-up spots, though I concede this particular episode won’t be one for the purists.

7.31pm BST

All eyes on the birthday boy Phil Mickelson. Because this is very strange! On the 13th green, he overhit a putt, jogged after his ball, and as it was trundling off the green, hit it back towards the hole! Then he announced he was withdrawing, and walked off the course. But now he’s back, having been penalised for hitting a moving ball, and marked down for a quintuple-bogey 9. Nobody’s sure whether he’s injured, withdrawn, continuing, playing just so Beef has a marker ... or even protesting about the state of the course this week, as he’s been known to have his, er, beef with the USGA in the past. This is farcical.

7.23pm BST

Daniel Berger pars 18 and he’s in the clubhouse with a brilliant 66. That equals the aforementioned best-of-week rounds by Fleetwood and Koepka. He’s leading in the clubhouse at +3. Out on the course on that mark: Rafa Cabrera Bello and the 2003 champion Jim Furyk, who have both birdied the opening hole.

7.18pm BST

It’s been a good day for Kiradech Aphibarnrat. He’s the very early clubhouse leader at +6, in with a 68, one of the rounds of the week. It’s only been bettered by the 66s of Tommy Fleetwood and Brooks Koepka, and the 67s of Dustin Johnson and Tyler Duncan.

7.12pm BST

Calum Hill has bounced back nicely after that minor rush of blood to the noggin at 2. A couple of pars to steady the nerves, followed by birdie at the par-five 5th. He’s back where he started the day, at +4. Scotland has been waiting for a major winner since Paul Lawrie won the Open in 1999; this one’s a little bit too early for the 23-year-old from Kinross, surely, but this performance on US Open debut augurs well for the future. Mind you, maybe Russell Knox will beat him to it? The 32-year-old from Inverness is going backwards today, however: an opening-hole birdie has been followed by dropped shots at 2 and 3. He’s +5.

7.05pm BST

Justin Thomas nearly makes an outrageous par at the long par-three 2nd. He sends his tee shot into the sand high on the left. He faces a treacherous splash out, down the green ... and sends his ball whistling off the other side. Then he comes very close to chipping in the return. A bogey; it could have been worse. He’s +5.

7.02pm BST

Mickelson can only batter out of the sand at 11 to the fringe. He’s left with a long par saver; he can’t make it. He’s +10. Meanwhile trouble for Berger at 17: he slam-dunks his tee shot into the bunker front left of the green, and can only slash out away from the pin. He’s left with a 25-footer for his par. His ball makes it 24 feet of the way. Bogey. He’s +3. A par up the last and he’ll equal the best-of-week 66s made by Tommy Fleetwood and Brooks Koepka.

6.54pm BST

Berger passes up an opportunity to attack the flag at the par-five 16th. He’s five under for his round, so doesn’t fancy going over the back. Instead, he leaves himself a long birdie putt up from the front; two putts later, that’s a par that keeps him at +2. He wasn’t far away from draining that 30-footer, though. Meanwhile Patrick Reed’s round is becoming increasingly absurd: a wild tee shot at 6 leads to bogey. He slips back to +3 and he’s still not made par today.

6.47pm BST

It’s turning into an unhappy birthday for poor Phil Mickelson. He’s just carded three bogeys in a row, the latest at 10 the result of finding himself at the bottom of a big bank by the green, and failing to get close with his chip up. He’s +9 now - and possibly plugged in the face of a bunker to the right of the par-three 11th ... and shortsided.

6.42pm BST

Yes, there are scores out there today. And Patrick Reed still hasn’t made a par. He finds the par-five 5th in two big booms, then nearly drains a long eagle effort. No worries, that’s three birdies in a row, and the Masters champ is up to +2.

6.39pm BST

Berger gets up and down from the bank at the back of 14. That keeps his round going. And then a birdie putt from 25 feet on 15 brings him to +2! He’s on course for a best-of-week 65 right now. Tony Finau is on the charge, too: he’s birdied 10, 11 and now 12 to zip up the standings to +4. Meanwhile, like the Oscar Peterson Trio, we get requests. “Can you give a proud mention to my cousin, Cameron Wilson, please?” asks a very polite Tim Hoult. “To make the cut for the first time at the US Open when your fellow Stanford alum Tiger Woods doesn’t is a pretty huge achievement. Well done, Cam!” Yes, he’s done something plenty of the game’s big names couldn’t. Your cousin’s signing for a 76 today, Tim. Not sure what Tiger, Rory, Jason and Jordan have been up to. Watching the World Cup with a tinny on?

6.29pm BST

After shooting a 69 yesterday, Scotland’s 23-year-old US Open debutant Calum Hill could have been fooled into thinking he’s got Shinnecock Hills sussed. Then today he knocked his tee shot at the long, difficult par-three 2nd over the flag. Easy! But he was way too aggressive with his birdie effort coming back ... and nearly putted off the green. Two putts later, and that’s a bogey that drops him to +5. But the young man has been super-impressive this week so far, quietly going about his business and making the cut in his first major with ease. What greens here, though.

6.16pm BST

From stewing Beef to sizzling Berger: Daniel’s just rolled a 30-footer into the cup at 13 for another birdie. He’s now +3 for the tournament. A good tee shot down the middle of 14, too, though his long iron in falls down the bank at the back. Even so, he’s showing the late starters chasing Dustin Johnson what can be done. He’s also showing Dustin Johnson what can be done, but you get the general drift. Also at +3: Patrick Reed, who birdies 4 and still doesn’t have a par on his card today.

6.10pm BST

Beef is stewing. He’d already dropped a shot at 5, and now his tee shot lands on the notorious green at 7 and topples down the bank. It hadn’t pitched far from the flag, and gently too, but that’s the 7th for you. He needs two chips to get back up, and can’t guide in a 12-footer with a massive left-to-right break. A double, and he’s +9. Meanwhile Patrick Reed is still looking for a par: he finds the bunker to the right of the 3rd green ... and holes out with another display of soft-handed genius. He’s +4 again.

6.00pm BST

Berger bounces straight back to +4 with birdie at 12. He’s the only one of the early starters making any sort of move up the leader board: the aforementioned Kiradech Aphibarnrat has bogeyed 13 and 14 to slip back into the big pack at +7. These two chaps remain the only folk out there under par for their rounds today.

5.56pm BST

An astonishing wedge at the par-three 2nd by Patrick Reed. Having sent his tee shot into very thick oomska to the left, he power-feels a lob out of the mess to five feet. What touch! That escape registers a full 10 on the Seve-o-meter. And then he pushes the short par putt wide right, handing back the shot he’d picked up on 1. He’s +5 again. Paul Casey also follows birdie with bogey, at 5; he’s +6 again. And finally there’s a blemish on Daniel Berger’s card. His bogey at 11 drops him back to +5.

5.45pm BST

Mickelson can’t make his par putt on 5. He sends it sailing five feet behind the cup, and has a long, hard think about the one coming back. It was worth the time, and he limits the damage to bogey. He’s back where he started at +6. Meanwhile the new Masters champion Patrick Reed is out, and he’s played the opening hole in breezy fashion: a tee shot down the middle, a second straight at the flag, a five-footer into the cup. The birdie takes him up to +4.

5.40pm BST

Paul Casey went backwards at pace over the back nine last night. He came home in 40, slipping down the leader board from a very promising position to +6. He should have started with a bang this morning: a beauty of an approach into 1 set up a sure thing of a birdie ... but he missed the short putt he left himself. He’s finally got the birdie his tidy play so far today has deserved, at 4. He’s +5.

5.35pm BST

Mickelson is beginning to fashion a pig’s ear of this hole. His smash out of the thick rough leads to more trouble, as the grass strangles the hosel of his club; though he gets the ball out, it only squirts off to the right side of the hole again, nearly topping into a bunker. But it stays out, and Lefty will have a very awkward stance. He nevertheless manages to swish a wedge into the heart of the green from 135 yards. He’ll have a 30-footer to salvage an unlikely par.

5.30pm BST

Birdie for Phil! He rolls a 30-footer across 4 to rise to +5. But he’s just flashed his drive at the par-five 5th into a big bunker down the right, and with his ball nestling near the face of the bunker, he’ll most likely need to lay up with his second. The chance of back-to-back birdies not so likely now. Actually, scrub that: the chance is very unlikely, because he’s just followed that up with a rookie mistake, sending his next shot into the deep fescue on the other side of the hole in an attempt to snatch too many extra yards. God speed, birthday boy.

5.20pm BST

Kiradech Aphibarnrat is also going along very nicely. The big man from Thailand bogeyed the 3rd hole, but has since registered birdies at 4, 5, 8 and now 12. He’s zipped up the leader board to +5. We’re hoping for, if not quite expecting, a few good scores today: the sun is out, there’s not too much wind, there’s been a little rain so the course isn’t totally unresponsive, and the pin positions aren’t too prohibitive. Countering the early evidence provided by Berger and Aphibarnrat: the course is only going to dry out as the day goes on, and none of the other 31 players currently out on the course are under par.

5.10pm BST

Phil is now level par for his round through 3. The fast start he’d have been desperate for has instead been made by Daniel Berger. One of the USA’s many major-champions-in-waiting, though with only one top-ten finish at the Masters to his name so far, the 25-year-old from Florida has begun with birdies at 2, 4 and 6. That’s whisked him all the way up the standings to +4 and a tie for 14th.

5.05pm BST

The galleries are serenading Phil. A lovely touch. His playing partner, one Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston, has already given him a present: an IOU for a Philly cheesesteak, scrawled on the back of a golf towel. “Happy Birthday Phil, a beef and cheddar on me!” The other side of the towel was a picture of an awful lot of cow slathered in copious amounts of dairy product. Mmmhmm. Though it is Bloomsday today, too. Shouldn’t he have got him a gorgonzola sandwich?

4.55pm BST

♫ ♯ Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Lefty, happy birthday to you! ♭♬ Phil Mickelson turns 48 today. Chasing that elusive US Open to complete his career slam, what he’d give for a low round to close the gap on Dustin Johnson. He starts ten shots adrift. If he can make three up, well, a seven-shot final-round chase has been completed before: all hail King Arnie, who made up seven strokes on Mike Souchak in 1960 (see below). He’s not started particularly quickly today, mind: a par on the opening hole, and he’s just dumped his tee shot at the long par-three 2nd into the bunker front-right. A lovely splash to six feet, and another par. Sixteen holes still to go, mind you. Plenty of time.

Related: The Joy of Six: US Open golf glory | Scott Murray

12.19pm BST

Shinnecock Hills is a wonderfully tough, old-school US Open test. How tough? Here are just a few of the players who have missed the cut: Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, Jason Day, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer, Si Woo Kim, Ernie Els, Graeme McDowell. It’s been carnage.

Then again, Tommy Fleetwood and Brooks Koepka shot 66s yesterday. Dustin Johnson, the leader, has posted 69-67. Keep it in the fairway, bring your A-game to the greens, show a bit of patience, rein it in when you need to, and the scores are there. It’s a US Open. Nobody said it had to be easy.

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