For the fan in me, Moving Day always arrives with a sense of expectation, and departs with a sense of sadness. There is mild grief for not just the players who fall from contention. There is also the angst with knowing that just one day remains, in what began as three practice rounds, prior to four days of competition. It is inevitable that this come to pass, just as it is inevitable that a competitor will eventually raise Victoria in triumph.

On Saturday, the true diversity of the LaLaLand experience came to the fore. It was intimated by a reliable source, that a somewhat-sinister plot was hatched to reduce the number of golf fans in attendance. Next, a golf ball landed, from over three hundred yards away, in the golf ball holder of a television announcer’s cart. Finally, the shortest golf hole in US Open championship history was played and, at a mere 80 yards, did play under par.

Thanks to statistics provided by the host USGA, we know that it is likely that the winner will come from somewhere between five-under par and ten-under. In the last 49 years, no player has pulled a Johnny Miller, and come back from more than a five-shot, third-round deficit. The last player to do so, was Miller himself, fifty years ago at Oakmont.

The USGA has the course where it wants it. Inspired by decades of Hollywood thrillers, tees will sequence in a manner that tests the psyche, while holes will be situated in a manner that tests the steady hand. Falter but once, and much will be needed to recover. On that somber note, welcome to Sunday, and five things that we learned on Saturday, at the US Open.

Rickie Fowler lips out his par attempt on No. 18 to drop into a share of the lead through 54 holes. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/0IbQ8EzKIE

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 18, 2023

1. Front Nine-Back Nine starring in remake of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

On Saturday, Tom Kim took a wee 29 shots to complete the first nine holes of the North course at Los Angeles country club. Only five players have done this in the entirety of US Open history; none since 2015. Six birdies and three pars did the trick, and a seventh birdie at the 10th hole lit the hearts and souls of all fandom. The North course simply shrugged, and said Welcome to the back nine. It is there that more dreams are dashed than a Hollywood lot.

Next up for Kim was a series of holes whose distances defy conception. The second of two massive par-three holes, and a closing sequence of plus-size par four holes, wrapped around the aforementioned, tiny one-shotter. Kim had no more birdies in the bag, but three bogeys jumped up out of the rough and reduced his round from minus-seven to minus-four. Kim moved inside the top ten, but outside of that five-stroke margin that predicts winners.

2??9??

Tom Kim is making a big move at LACC. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/gS36nB0Y8h

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 17, 2023

2. Snakes are everywhere

Not the kind that take advantage of new arrivals in Tinseltown, nor the ones that lurk in the high rough that edges the fairways at LA North. The putting surfaces at the George Thomas masterpiece are conducive to the reading of long putts, and that bodes well for golfers in search of an on-course comeback. They are the ones most likely to take a run at long putts, and they are the ones most likely to be rewarded. There’s one exception: Rickie Fowler. Anyone who has watched the Cali Kid-turned OSU Cowboy since his amateur days, knows that Fowler putts all putts with confident abandon. He is trying to make all of them, and he believes that he can. Some hit the edge and spin away (see opening paragraph) while others tumble in from unbelievable distances. If the putter shows up and the nerves hold up, Sunday might be a great day for Fowler.

From 69 feet away??@RickieFowler rolls in a lengthy birdie at No. 13. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/75FCIgUNjf

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 18, 2023

3. Whirls and Twirls

Like a lot of generational things, the club twirl is lost on folks above a certain age. Even when Tiger started to do it, none of us born prior to 1975 cared all that much. For those born after, it was an era-defining expression of golf swagger. Look closely at Wyndham Clark below, and you can see the effort he puts into the club twirl. It’s as if his trainer had moved him from leg day, to arm day, to twirl day, in preparation for this event.

Clark earned the right to twirl his club with this approach. Few anticipated that Clark would be tied for the lead through 54 holes, and paired again with Fowler in the final group. The Colorado native played an unspectacular front nine of minus-two, which kept him near the top. Bogey at 11 and 12 were stage direction for his exit, but he then did an unexpected thing. He made birdie at 13, then followed a bogey stumble at 17 with the shot you see below. The bell might toll for Clark on Sunday, but he’ll have some odds to do yet another, unpredicted thing: win.

A closing birdie to tie the #USOpen lead for @Wyndham_Clark. ? pic.twitter.com/kPgLzXzSUZ

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 18, 2023

4. Who needs putter?

Scottie Scheffler had quietly gone about his business at Wilshire Boulevard’s lovely layout. He stood one-over on the day through 16 holes, and four-under on the week. It looked to be another close-but-no-cigar for the 2022 Masters champion, and then the Texan made an unprecedented move. Scheffler drew a distant iron shot in toward the 17th green, and watched as the ball released along the green of the course’s toughest par-four hole. He did not have a proper vantage point from which to see it finish, but he knew from the roar that the only place it could lie, was four inches below the putting surface, nestled in the hole. The eagle brought him to six-under, and a closing birdie staked him to a penultimate pairing with Rory McIlroy.

In my mind, this is the pairing to watch. Scheffler is McIlroy of a decade ago. He wants more than one major title on his resume; he wants many, and he does not wish to miss out in 2023. McIlroy is the almost-aging, former-firework who shined bright early, but has cooled in the ensuing decade. He knows that one major win can ignite a celebrated, second act to his career. One more close call can add another layer of scar tissue that makes winning again, more difficult.

? SCOTTIE EAGLE ?

Scottie Scheffler holes out from the fairway on No. 17! #USOpen pic.twitter.com/MIgpxtWxMU

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 18, 2023

5. Oh, those Hollywood Nights

There’s the Bob Seger song, and there’s also the Newbomb Turk movie, that bookend the tragedy and hilarity of the West Coast. Sunday will give us a winner. If it doesn’t get done in regulation, it will happen in a two-hole playoff. In anticipation of a playoff and in assurance of a prime-time, East coast finish. Rickie and Wyndham will tee off a full seventy minutes earlier than they did on Saturday. We know the following:

*Someone will shoot 30 or better on the front nine;

*Someone unexpected will rise (and the opposite);

*Someone unexpected will falter (and the opposite);

*After a week away from the PGA Tour, we will talk about the merger again on Monday;

*Odds favor a first-time major champion, as six of the nine within five strokes, have no majors on their dossier;

One thing that we do know, is that no one will repeat the magnificence of Cameron Young, who decided to liven things up with a tee shot for the ages, on Saturday’s tenth hole. Despite never visiting the fairway, Young made par. How he did it, is the stuff of Hollywood minds and cameras.

"Nobody will believe this."

Cameron Young's tee shot ended up in a spot made for a ball. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/rGVYnSTGVj

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 17, 2023