International trio leads the way into the final round of the U.S. Open

The rest of the field is looking up to Louis Oosthuizen, Mackenzie Hughes, and Russell Henley on the U.S. Open leaderboard

Louis Oosthuizen has knocked on the major championship door so many times before, come tantalizingly close to savoring victory. On Saturday at Torrey Pines in the third round of the 121st U.S. Open, he made sure he’ll get another opportunity in a big way.

Oosthuizen’s 50-foot putt for eagle on the 18th hole ensured there will be an international trio leading the way into the final round on Sunday. The South African finished at five-under, tied with Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes and American Russell Henley. They come from different countries and have enjoyed differing levels of success in their professional careers. But one thing they have in common is this: lifting the trophy on Sunday will mean a whole lot to each of them.

Hughes and Henley are the surprise entrants in the three-way race that will take place tomorrow afternoon in southern California. Hughes hasn’t won in five years, Henley in four; the Canadian has missed his last five cuts on the PGA Tour, while Henley hasn’t been better than 72nd in his last four starts.

Hughes doesn’t have any experience on this type of stage: his best finish in a major championship is 40th. He gave himself this opportunity with his own spectacular eagle, a 63-footer on the 13th in a three-under round of 68. If he has one thing on his side on Sunday, it’s the strength of 37 million golf fans back home in Canada cheering him on. A Canadian has never won the U.S. Open; Hughes is the first since at least World War II to hold the 54-hole lead.

The border is closed between Canada and the United States, so Hughes’ family won’t be able to join him in San Diego. His mother works as a nurse back home in Hamilton, Ontario, and has been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed 9,000 lives in the province. He knows she’ll be watching from 2,000 miles away, along with the rest of the country.

“I don’t look at it as a burden. It’s flattering to have that support,” Hughes told Steve Sands of Golf Channel about his fans back home. “I’m going to give it my all tomorrow for myself and for Canada. All the people watching me. Canadian fans are the best.”

Representing America, Henley is aiming for the breakthrough victory he’s been chasing since he burst onto the PGA Tour in 2013, winning in his first start. He starred down Rory McIlroy at the Honda Classic in 2014 and has three career victories, but has never been in the top-10 in 26 major championship appearances.

Oosthuizen has chance to end decade of frustration in majors

Oosthuizen has had success in majors before, winning the Open Championship in 2010. Since then, his career has been defined by being so close but yet so far away. He’s never won on American soil, that victory at St. Andrews still his only PGA Tour win. He’s been runner-up in five majors since then, including the 2015 U.S. Open and last month at the PGA Championship, tied for the most ever for a player who hasn’t won more than one.

He insists he took nothing but positives from all those near-misses, but, in a typical, understated Oosthuizen way, he says it won’t be much help on Sunday. “Look, it will help a bit, but I need to play well,” he said. “There’s a lot of great players up there that’s got a chance of winning this, and I just need to go out and play as good as I can tomorrow.”

The three of them will have to be at their best tomorrow because lurking right behind are McIlroy and defending champion Bryson DeChambeau. The two former champs sit only two shots back in a tie for fourth place. They were among the pre-tournament favorites, the type of long-hitting, big names that the eyes of the golf world gravitate towards in a major championship.

The trio at the top are used to being overlooked. They can change that narrative on Sunday and enter the record books as something that will always stick to them: U.S. Open champion.