Thomas bags US Open history with 63

Peer at the leaderboard and you eventually find Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen, straining to keep in touch. They are all seeking their first major championship and barring a miracle comeback by someone like Louis Oosthuizen or Sergio Garcia (who both fall under "The Field" at 25/1), we will have a first time major victor for the seventh consecutive major.

Instead, that accolade must go to Justin Thomas.

Fairways are usually cut very tight (narrow) and the rough is deep enough to lose your golf bag in if you lie it down. In fact, it's wide-open going into the final round.

"Yeah, 12 under, I'd have about a 10-shot lead in most Opens", he said.

Thomas mixed nine birdies and two bogeys before hitting his second shot to six feet on the par-five 18th hole and tapped in for eagle to record the lowest round (9-under) in relation to par in US Open history.

"I'm not sure when it's going to sink in or when I'm going to realize what I did", Thomas said. I'll probably go back, pack up and then I'll come back and have a beer and watch the closing stretch. Before I played the game professionally and would be considered a masochist (enjoys bringing pain upon himself), now I'm a bit of a sadist.

It is almost impossible to predict because the competitors and their body of work offer no clear pattern.

Tommy Fleetwood will try to block out thoughts of the "life-changing" effect of becoming the second English victor in five years in Sunday's final round of the US Open.

The leaderboard is so packed and the scoring conditions so ripe that Harman, who's making his first major start since missing the cut in all four in 2015, wouldn't be surprised if he's trailing when he steps on the first tee at 3:54 p.m. ET.

"It's what I believe in myself", Stricker said. "It's hard to qualify for these things". "As long as it's a good tournament, it's good for the U.S. Open and the USGA". Obviously, I have no idea what tomorrow holds, but I'm more motivated by the way that I'm striking the ball. Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Tommy Fleetwood were one shot back. One of them will on Sunday. Will Erin Hills continue to cough up birdies in abundance, or will it finally toughen up?

Thirty-two players had sub-par rounds on Saturday, the most ever for the third round. There were five players in double digits Saturday at Erin Hills.

"For one, the greatness of my round is the 63 in the last round of the U.S. Open to win by one", said Miller, now an analyst for the American TV network NBC.

"There's definitely some opportunity", said Koepka, who has one PGA Tour victory.

Asked if achieving the latter feat was on his mind, the world number 50 replied: "No, I don't think that's a productive way to think about it". That back nine really suits my eye. I could not be leading the golf tournament by the time I tee off. On the 91st hole of the 2008 U.S. Open, the phenom secured his third Open title - and his last major championship to date - thanks to a Mediate bogey. The venues typically produce a level of grumbling that has not been heard this week.

So far, Erin Hills has proven quite friendly this week. Thirty-three players broke par Saturday, a record for the third round of an Open.

But the bottom line is there will still be enormous pressure on Sunday. However, the 26-year-old then bogeyed the sixth after hitting a poor chip across the green and dropped another shot on the eighth after firing his approach over the green. This promises to be different, a shootout perhaps, but no less stressful. "Struck it well, had a couple putts that could have gone that didn't, but had a bunch of looks, hit a bunch of greens, and that's what you've got to do to play well around here". Such is the nature of a leaderboard void of major championship trophies.

Whether others feel the same is tough to gauge.