Play was shut down for Saturday just shy of nine o’clock, with the last threesome five holes from completion of Round 3. After the Thursday downpours, this is some feat! If veteran challengers are your thing, there are plenty in the mix for their first major (Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, and Sergio Garcia, to name three). If dark horses make your heart go zing, saddle up Andrew Landry, Scott Piercy or Daniel Summerhays. If Tiger spoiled you and guys with major collections do it for you, in the mix we have Jason Day, Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner. Let’s get to it.

Four-over par will not win the U.S. Open

Suggestions at the beginning of Open week, most eloquently stated by resident professional Bob Ford, were that a score as high as four-over par would be good enough to win the U.S. Open at Oakmont. As of 8:49 p.m. on Saturday evening, when play was suspended for darkness, 28 players were at three-over or lower, and seven were at even par or under. There is no gaffe large enough to take the winner to that high a result. Mike Davis and his crew should be applauded for setting the course up to look Winged-Foot tough but play fairly.

Bryson DeChambeau is on the cusp of something

He hasn’t won on Tour yet, but the guy that has everyone talking and writing is on the verge of achieving something special. Mr. One-Size-Fits-All in the shaft department has put together rounds of 71, 70 and 70, good for a spot just six back of the leader. If the top-five golfers, all spaced between two-under and five-under with holes to play, struggle coming home in the morning, Bryson DeChambeau will have a chance to graduate from 2015 U.S. Amateur winner to 2016 U.S. Open champion.

Keep the short par 4s short

You want late-round excitement? Preserve the driveable guise of hole No. 17. How about some early movement? Bump those tee markers up on No. 2. It’s a fact that the beastly long par fours (1, 7, 9, 15 and 18), not to mention the eternal 8th (the 300-yard par three) and 12th (a nearly-700 yards par five) will get these guys sooner or later. Give them a chance to knock it close for eagle on a four-par and generate roars that echo and footsteps that reverberate around the golf course.

Could Branden Grace threaten Miller’s 63?

We remember his spin-out on No. 16 at Chambers Bay last year, as Branden Grace was convincing us that he could win the United States Open championship. In 2016, Grace put six birdies on the board, against two bogeys, in round three. His 66 moved him well up the leaderboard and into red figures. Tied for the low round of the day with Jason Day, Grace figures to have gained invaluable information from his run at the trophy out west. Couple that with an international record of strong finishes and impressive victories, and the 28-year-old South African should be a factor in Sunday’s dash to glory.

Is Andrew Landry For Real? 

He was a Thursday novelty who turned into a Sunday challenger. While third-round playing partners Dustin Johnson and Scott Piercy, both Tour winners, were making mistakes and double bogeys, Landry plodded along, making little noise and many pars. The young man from the University of Arkansas has turned in the rarest of performances thus far this week: he is doing everything well. Landry has hit 66 percent of fairways, 71 percent of greens, outdriven the field norm by 11 yards and averaged 1.59 putts per green. A win by Landry would be a Steve-Jones (1996) type shocker, a Lou Graham (1975) sort of Who’s that? And that’s a story that even this skeptic can appreciate and laud.