Branden Grace of South Africa hits his tee shot on the 14th hole during the third round of the 115th US Open. Grace was tied for lead with three others going into the final round. (AFP)

AFP/Washington

Four players will share the lead at the start of the final round of the US Open, just the second time that has happened in the tournament’s history after the 1973 Open at Oakmont.
Americans Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, Australian Jason Day and Branden Grace of South Africa are the pace-setting quartet at four under par 206. They are three shots clear of the rest of the field and the odds are firmly that one of them will get the job done at the demanding Chambers Bay golf course south of Seattle.
The potential storylines are strong and none more so that for Day, who collapsed at the end of Friday’s second round with a vertigo attack, but, still suffering, came out to put together one of the most remarkable rounds in US Open history on Saturday.
At times he struggled to stay on his feet, looked distressed throughout, and even had difficulty glancing up to follow his ball flight. But somehow he kept his game together as others around him came to grief on a golf course that takes no prisoners. Day on the contrary picked up shots.
“I didn’t feel that great coming out early, and then I felt pretty groggy on the front nine just from the drugs that I had in my system, then kind of flushed that out on the back nine,” the 27-year-old Queenslander said.
Spieth, the 21-year old Texan who is seen as the new face of American golf, replacing the fast-fading Tiger Woods, is on the cusp of doing something only five other players have done—winning the Masters and the US Open in the same year, thus getting halfway to pulling off an unprecedented calendar-year Grand Slam.
He would also be the youngest US Open champion since Bobby Jones in 1923 and the youngest to win two career majors since Gene Sarazen in 1922. Age, however, he believes, does not come in to play.
“I don’t think of age as having anything to do with it,” he said. “I think we’re all peers, and there’s four of us tied for the lead. There’s a lot of guys that can play a good, solid round from tomorrow and shoot two or three under and come from behind.”
Johnson, many believe, is long overdue a major win having come close in all four Grand Slam tournaments in the past. He is the biggest hitter on the PGA Tour and this year appears to have added a finesse around the greens to his game and a maturity to his approach.
The outsider among the leading foursome will be 27-year-old Grace.
But he is a proven front-runner having won on each of the six occasions he has been leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes.
Grace, seeking to become the third South African to win the US Open title after Gary Player, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, said that patience was the key.
“It’s a tricky golf course. If you let it slip and you get the wrong bounce you’re looking at making bogeys,” he said. “You just have to try to keep those things off the scorecard and make those pars. I think a good, level round tomorrow might just do it.”
In fact, playing partners Johnson and Grace followed similar routes of highs and lows to reach the same destination. Big-hitting Johnson used his power off the tee and a deft touch around the greens to rack up five birdies, along with three bogeys and a double at the par-four 13th, to card a level-par 70.
Grace offset three birdies with three bogeys for a matching 70. “I actually played some great golf and the concentration slipped a little bit around the turn,” Grace said.
“I’m still happy. I’m still in a good position, I’m grinding away. It was a good day out there, but it was tough. Tomorrow is just going to be another tough grind. The course really firmed up towards the end and played really bouncy and tricky,” he added.
Johnson, like Grace bidding for his first major title, was also happy with his form on a challenging afternoon on a firming course.
“I played really well today,” said the 30-year-old American. “Obviously the setup was very difficult, the golf course is playing really firm and fast. It’s just tough out there.
“A few three-putts, other than that, I felt like I putted it well. I just missed a few short ones. I made some putts, too.”
Johnson, a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour, is well aware of the challenge facing him in the final round of a major on a difficult layout where danger lurks at every corner.
At the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach, the American squandered a three-shot lead on the last day, slumping to an 82. That same year in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, he was slapped a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a waste bunker on the 18th hole to miss out on a playoff for the trophy.
“I’ve been in the situation a few times so I know how to handle myself,” said Johnson. “I know what it takes to get it done ... just need to go out there and focus one shot at a time. And we’ll see what happens.”

Leaderboard (Top Five)
206: Jason Day (AUS) 68-70-68, Branden Grace (RSA) 69-67-70, Dustin Johnson (USA) 65-71-70, Jordan Spieth (USA) 68-67-71
209: JB Holmes (USA) 72-66-71, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 77-66-66, Cameron Smith (AUS) 70-70-69, Shane Lowry (IRL) 69-70-70
211: Andrés Romero (ARG) 71-69-71, Joost Luiten (NED) 68-69-74, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 69-72-70, Patrick Reed (USA) 66-69-76, Tony Finau (USA) 69-68-74, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 65-74-72
212: Kevin Kisner (USA) 71-68-73, Matt Kuchar (USA) 67-73-72, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 73-70-69, Alexander Levy (FRA) 70-69-73
213: Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 70-71-72, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 68-73-72, Adam Scott (AUS) 70-71-72, Jason Dufner (USA) 68-72-73, Charlie Beljan (USA) 69-75-69