SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. _ One day after making a mess of Shinnecock Hills, which nearly was unplayable in the third round Saturday afternoon, the USGA presented the world's greatest golfers with a setup that rewarded good shots, and the result was a barrage of birdies that made for an entertaining stretch run to the wire.
Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, starting tied for 23rd six shots behind the leaders, had the crowd roaring repeatedly as he made eight birdies on his way to a 7-under 63 that tied the U.S. Open single-round scoring record and enabled him to post a 2-over 282 that was good for third when he finished.
Then, Fleetwood watched for two hours as defending champion Brooks Koepka, World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Masters champ Patrick Reed and Tony Finau fought hard on the back nine to beat the leader in the clubhouse.
Koepka was the only man who could do it, one-putting five times in a gritty show on the back nine on his way to a 2-under par 68 that put him at 1-over 281 for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Fleetwood. Koepka became the first repeat winner of the U.S. Open since Curtis Strange in 1988-89, and Strange was on hand to witness it as a commentator for Fox Sports.
Johnson birdied the final hole for 70-283 to finish alone in third. Reed bogeyed the last for 68-284 to drop to solo fourth, and Finau double-bogeyed the final hole to finish fifth at 72-285. There was a four-way tie for sixth at 286 between Xander Schauffele (68), Tyrell Hatton (69), Henrik Stenson (71) and Daniel Berger (73). After recording only three sub-par rounds in the third round, the field produced 15 red numbers in the final round.
