Don’t forget Furyk

The man perhaps with the best chance to challenge Aaron Baddeley and Tiger Woods on the final day of the 107th U.S. Open might be Jim Furyk, who, while no one was looking, quietly sneaked into serious championship contention.

Furyk has almost been anonymous at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, but a birdie-birdie finish Saturday put him at even-par 70 and 6-over 216 through 54 holes.

Among the leaders, Furyk is the only man other than Woods to have won a U.S. Open.

Woods has won two, in 2000 at Pebble Beach and two years later at Bethpage Black.

In 2003, Furyk broke through with his win at Olympia Fields outside Chicago. Furyk also had a chance to win last year at Winged Foot before finishing tied for second behind winner Geoff Ogilvy.

“There’s always a benefit to knowing you can win,” Furyk said. “You’ve done it before rather than thinking you can.”

It takes a level head and steady hand to win a U.S. Open, and Furyk has both.

He might be the one guy who won’t flinch down the stretch if he’s battling Woods for the championship.

“Obviously, with Tiger Woods leading or close to the lead, you know he’s the favorite and you all are picking him,” Furyk said. “And most of the guys that are playing against him have their eye on him.

“He’s got the most experience of all. He’s been in the hunt more than anyone, won more times than anyone. So he obviously doesn’t lack any confidence down the stretch.”

He needs a Miller moment

Power of positive thinking, or something like that.

Ian Poulter shot 2-over 72 and is 11 over through 54 holes.

What’s it going to take to win?

“I will have to shoot a Johnny Miller tomorrow,” Poulter said.

Poulter, of course, was referring to Miller’s closing round of 63 to win the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont.

Stricker strikes back

Steve Stricker shot his way back into contention with a 68 and is at 216 through 54 holes.

Stricker is one of six players who has shot rounds of under par this week.

Stricker also shot 5-over 75 on Thursday.

“You look like an idiot at times,” Stricker said of playing Oakmont. “Scratch that. You look like a fool at times.”

Goggin takes one-man tour

Matthew Goggin was the first player out and he played by himself, since 63 players made the cut and he was the odd man out … or in. Goggin sped through his round in a breezy 2 hours, 57 minutes.

Goggin shot a 74 and could have played with a marker, but thought it would be better going alone if he had a rhythm. His tee time was 10:05 a.m. – more than five hours before the last group started.

“I was totally shocked at how many people were out here,” he said. “It was shocking to me to be wandering around and all the bleachers were absolutely packed. I guess everybody’s getting their vantage points.”

European history

Get close to the top of the leaderboard at a major, and European players know what’s coming.

When are you finally going to win one of these things?

“It has to happen sooner rather than later,” Justin Rose said after shooting a 73 that put him three strokes off the lead at the U.S. Open. “There are so many capable players from Europe it has to be a matter of time.

“It’s a question of who it will be.”

Rose and fellow Englishman Paul Casey both have a shot at it. The two are 5-over 215, tied for third with Stephen Ames and Bubba Watson behind leader Baddeley and Woods.

There was a time in the 1980s and early 1990s when the Europeans were major players at the majors – at the British Open and Masters, at least. Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Jose Maria Olazabal all have titles to their names.

But the Europeans have been shut out since Paul Lawrie won the British in 1999, and you have to go back to Tony Jacklin in 1970 to find the last European who won the U.S. Open. Don’t even start on the drought at the PGA Championship.

Definitely worth the wait

Jeff Brehaut waited more than 20 years to play in his first major, and he’s making the most of it.

The first step was making the cut, which he did with rounds of 73-75. And when it looked like the third round might get away from him, Brehaut holed a 60-foot par putt on No. 9, then shot 33 on the back for a 70.

That left him with a fleeting chance at 8-over 218, and if nothing else a chance to return. The top 15 are exempt next year, and the top eight get invited to the Masters.

“One shot at a time,” he said. “Don’t do that to me. I’ll be grinding over every shot.”

Brehaut always thought his game would stack up well in a U.S. Open, a major that rewards par, and he has found that to be true. He has made only eight birdies all week, but at Oakmont that’s about par for the course.

“I’m not playing that great,” he said. “I’m just managing it.”

It has been a great week off the course, too. His father flew in from the Bay Area, and when Brehaut woke up Saturday morning in the house he’s renting a quarter-mile from the course, he couldn’t find him.

“He came out here at 6 a.m. and was sitting on the patio here reading the newspaper,” Brehaut said. “He’s really jacked up.”

Fasth wastes fast start

Any other course, Niclas Fasth might still be near the top of the leaderboard.

At Oakmont Country Club, though, one bad hole has a way of becoming a bunch.

Three birdies in his first 10 holes had Fasth near the top of the leaderboard at 3 over. But he got into trouble with a double bogey on the par-3 13th, and dropped two more strokes over the next three holes.

“Not that I had much momentum today, but I lost whatever I had from there,” said Fasth, who finished with a 5-over 75. “It goes quick.”

His only consolation is that he’s not out of it. At 7-over 217, he’s only five strokes behind leader Baddeley.

“Straight bogey-bogey, and it’s easy to just fold,” he said. “But you know, everybody’s going to do that.”