US Open 2014: final round live! | Scott Murray

Updates from Pinehurst No2Email scott.murray@theguardian.comOfficial live leaderboard

2.01pm ET

Yes, shots are out there. A fast start for Keegan Bradley, with birdie at 3. How he'll regret that 76 yesterday after a pair of 69s. Ian Poulter birdies the opening hole, while Steve Stricker picks up a shot at 2. They're all at +3. This is likely to start cooking quite soon.

Speaking of which, I'm off to quickly refuel with a big bowl of the only foodstuff to be marketed by a singing golf glove, and which may or may not taste similar to the sandy dunes of Pinehurst No2. In the meantime, Rob Bleaney is - like a nourishing pint of plain to a grateful Flann O'Brien - your only man.

1.54pm ET

Daniel Berger hit the opening shot of this tournament. His last shot at the 2014 US Open was a three-footer for birdie after a fine approach, and that means he's signing his name to a 66. Will that prove the best of day? A few players further up the leaderboard (Berger ends at +7) will hope to follow the 21-year-old American's lead. Magnificent round.

1.51pm ET

Hole in one news! Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, with a 7-iron on the 172-yard par-three 9th. He whips it into the front left of the green. It takes an immediate right turn, and rolls serenely down towards the hole. One of those that's obviously going to drop, long before it actually does. What a shot! Up on the tee, Johnson drops his iron over his head, turns and performs a rather sweet double fist pump, a circular motion as smooth as that swing. Then a fist bump with his playing partner Kenny Perry. And then he runs down the gallery, high-fiving a never-ending row of hands. There have been 43 previous aces in US Open history, the last 12 months ago at Merion. That one, you may recall, was made by Shawn Stefani, a gift from the golfing gods to make up for the 85 he'd shot the day before. Johnson's appears to have been payback for the double-bogey he took at 7, which isn't quite as spectacular a turnaround, but it's good enough!

1.43pm ET

Oosthuizen sadly bogeyed the last, by the way. A shame, because that would otherwise have been a four-under 68. Doesn't make much difference to the South African, of course, who is well down the field, finishing at +9. But it shows there's a score out there. Or there might be: of course the course is going to (literally) get harder as the sun keeps cooking it. But still, the point's been made.

1.41pm ET

Matthew Fitzpatrick finishes his amateur career by tapping in for par at 18, and signing for a stunning final-day 69. He's +11 overall, and of course the low amateur. His playing partner Louis Oosthuizen smiles broadly and offers him warm congratulations. The knowledgeable North Carolina crowd give the up-and-coming Sheffield star a huge reception. And here's something for his CV. Fitzpatrick, of course, won the silver medal at the Open Championship last year. The only other player to hold both Open and US Open low amateur titles at the same time? Bobby Jones, in 1930. Not bad going, huh?

1.37pm ET

A weekend to forget for Toru Taniguchi. The Japanese veteran shot a painful 88 yesterday, fully 18 strokes over par. He ended the third day at +23 for the tournament, and he's certain to finish this tournament in 67th and last place, having carded another six bogeys on his way to a 76 today. Chances are his woeful overall total of +29 will ensure he's an embarrassing ten shots worse than the penultimate straggler: Boo Weekely, also back in the clubhouse, finished a mere 19 over par for the tournament. But Clayton Rask is doing his level best to spare Taniguchi's blushes with a late run towards the bottom. He's currently +17, having just double-bogeyed 10 and triple-bogeyed 12. Dearie me. Now, dispatches detailing the travails of struggling professionals can always be read as snide, of course, but nothing's further from the truth. These gentlemen have more talent in their little fingers than a two-bob hack will ever have in their entire body. But weekend hackers need a little boost sometimes, and it's good to know that the best can struggle like the rest of us.

1.17pm ET

On the subject of Johnson, here's the always entertaining Butch Harmon on Sky, giving one of the most trenchant quotes of the sporting decade so far: "Dustin isn't - I don't know how to say this nicely - he isn't the most intelligent person in the world." Harmon then goes on to suggest that this works to his advantage, as he'll be going out today and taking everything on, and to hell with it. Which explains a lot about Dustin's many major meltdowns, but what an entertaining player. It'll be heartbreaking if he doesn't land one at some point.

1.10pm ET

And now some historical fuel for those hoping to hunt down Kaymer. Sky are showing re-runs of Dustin Johnson's incredible antics over the opening holes of the final round of the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach. He was three in front going into that round, and four behind after five holes. His amateur turn at the side of the 2nd green was one of the most jaw-dropping meltdowns ever seen on a sporting stage; two weekend hacks to advance his ball less than a yard as he attempted to find the putting surface. And then a drive at 4 dispatched into the briny. Only Dustin can implode as spectacularly as that, of course. Then again, sport has myriad ways of telling very strange stories. Imagine if he finally won the major he's been threatening to land for years, as the beneficiary of one of the game's great collapses! No, it'd be too ridiculous. But just imagine it.

1.01pm ET

Louis Oosthuizen is having the sort of round that'll give the chasing pack some serious succour. He's -4 for his round today through 14 holes, with birdies at 1, 5, 10 and 13. Daniel Berger is now -3 after his third birdie of the day at 12. And a bit further up the leaderboard, Billy Horschel has added a birdie at 3 to the one he carded on the opening hole. Seems there could be something out there. Plus the fact, consider: a birdie for Rickie Fowler and a bogey for Martin Kaymer at the 1st, and suddenly the lead would only be three strokes. Anything could happen this afternoon. It'll be time to give ourselves over to the affliction of golf fever, that feeling that only comes at the business end of a major tournament, very soon.

12.49pm ET

G-Mac, as we heard earlier, wedged his Optimistic Titfer onto his noggin at a jaunty angle this morning. But the Sky summariser and former Ryder Cup player Howard Clark has just been asked about the pin positions, and his reply began with an involuntary smirk, shake of the head and small splutter of laughter. "I thought they might have given the players a little bit of respite today, but I cannot find one pin where the slopes of the green gather the ball towards the pin. They all repel the ball. They throw the ball away. If you get a couple of yards on the wrong side, they just throw the ball off the side of the green." Clark then went on to describe birdies as "a thing of the past". Ian Poulter, mind you, thinks the pin locations are "a touch friendlier than they were yesterday", though of course that statement is extremely relative, and anyway he has to think like that, or what's the point in going out there? Whoever's proved right, we could be in for a lot of entertainment.

12.41pm ET

A second birdie for G-Mac at 3, wedging to six feet, but he's dropped a shot at 4 and remains at +6. A few early starters in the red for their rounds, though: the aforementioned Fitzpatrick (-2 now today after a smooth putt for birdie at 13!), Berger (-2 through 11) and Oosthuizen (-3 through 12), as well as Billy Horschel and Jim Furyk, who have birdied 1 and 3 respectively, and are +5 for the tournament. "He may not have the game or charisma, but in golfing terms, if Martin Kaymer wins today he can only be compared to Seve in achievements by a European prior to turning 30," opines Seamus Devlin. "Outstanding." Yep. In fairness, you'd have to have some act if you were planning to compete with the much-missed Señor Ballesteros in terms of charisma. But Kaymer's achievements are already pretty stunning: a PGA Championship, time spent as world number one, the decisive putt at a Ryder Cup, and an unofficial "fifth major" in the Players. Perhaps Rory McIlroy's two majors, near miss at the Masters, and overall celebrity pizazz - things seem to have constantly happened to him ever since he broke onto the scene - runs Kaymer close? Rory's got four years on Kaymer, too.

And then of course there's the stellar career of Sergio Gar
[You are fired. Ed.]

12.29pm ET

The last round of the brilliant young Matthew Fitzpatrick's amateur career, and already he's made sure he'll have something to remember it by. Of course he's already guaranteed to end the tournament as low amateur, but he's just raked in a 40-footer on 11 for birdie, a lovely embellishment to the day. You'll not see a more spectacular putt in this final round, and he's a very, very respectable +11. His performance on Thursday and Friday, holding his own alongside Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose, was simply magnificent. Good luck to the young man as he embarks on a professional life travelling all round the globe, playing the greatest game in the world, sampling different cultures, meeting new people, the sun beating down on his sponsored cap, the money rolling in, the constant sense of achievement and wonder as he makes use of a rare god-given talent ... it's hard sitting here writing these reports sometimes, I can tell you that for free. Luckily there's not too much time to stop and think.

12.14pm ET

One man who's been almost totally forgotten this week has been Michael Campbell. Memories of Pinehurst's first-ever US Open winner, the late Payne Stewart, are always going to take precedence. But Campbell won Pinehurst's second US Open in 2005. That's a victory worth remembering today, because third-round leader Retief Goosen went into the final day with a three-shot advantage over second place, dropped six strokes on the front nine, and ended up carding an 81. The lads in second place at the 54-hole mark were no less hapless: Olin Browne shot 80, while Jason Gore ended up with an 84. That's worth repeating: the leading trio going into the final round of the US Open returned cards of 81, 80 and 84. Campbell, four behind at the start of play, shot a best-of-day 69 and deservedly took the title. So nothing's done and dusted.

11.58am ET

G-Mac's taking his own advice, leading from the front, showing the way forward, etc., and so on, and so forth. He's birdied the opening hole, though of course he's too far back to play any serious part in today's narrative. He's +6 for the tournament now. He's not the only man under par for his round at this early stage today. Daniel Berger, who hit the first shot of this tournament, made the first birdie, and therefore was the first leader of the 2014 US Open, has picked up a shot at 5 to move to +10, while the 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen is -2 for his round after birdies at 1 and 5, and sits alongside Berger at +10. Kenny Perry, hole-out hero from the scrubland at 14 yesterday, has also birdied the opening hole. But that's only four men out of the 25 to go out during the last two and a half hours. Whether G-Mac's internet-distributed prediction of a birdie-fest (sort of) will come to pass, therefore, is anybody's guess. Which of course is journalistic shorthand for "I have no idea, please disregard this waffle".

11.49am ET

First things first, then. Is it possible for someone in the field to post a score that will worry Martin Kaymer, he of the five-stroke lead? According to Graeme McDowell, the pins are "not quite as brutal as yesterday" and that it "looks like a score may be achievable today". Spreading these opinions as he is on the popular social

bullshitt
networking service Twitter, G-Mac finishes his dispatch with a hashtag flourish: #golow. Sound advice. Go low, people! Go low! Whether the weather will help the chasing pack in their quest is another matter: early overcast skies are expected to give way to sun, a big yellow menace likely to bake those VW Beetle / Tortoise / Turtle / Upturned Soup Bowl greens and make aggressive birdie-chasing golf even more difficult. But time will tell, which of course is journalistic shorthand for "I have no idea, please disregard this waffle".

11.00am ET

It wouldn't be right to heap extra pressure on Martin Kaymer, but then we'd be remiss in our duties not to mention it: only one player has ever led a US Open field by five shots at the 54-hole mark, then failed to lift the prize. Step - or rather stumble - forward, Mike Brady. In 1919, at Brae Burn Country Club in his home state of Massachusetts, Brady went into the final round five clear of the 1914 champion Walter Hagen. He then shot a dismal 80. Hagen, playing behind Brady in the days when tee times were rather more random, set about eating into the lead. Eventually he stood on the 18th tee, having taken 71 strokes. A birdie up the par-four last would snatch the trophy.

Brady had been waiting nervously in the clubhouse for word. He got word. Hagen was a born showman - to illustrate, here he is taunting the secretary at Royal Cinque Ports by parking a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce in front of the clubhouse and swilling champagne in the back seat - and upon creaming an iron to eight feet to set up his birdie chance on the last, sent for Brady to come see. Brady shuffled out, with the gait of the condemned. But Hagen lipped out. Par. The scores were tied, and Brady would get a second chance in an 18-hole play-off.

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