Hovland in the mix despite 'lingering problem' with driver

OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — When Viktor Hovland sliced his opening shot in the the third round of the U.S. Open all the way into the bushes, he had no good options.

He took a penalty stroke, dropped onto a muddy cart path and managed to hit through some of Oakmont's few remaining trees on his way to a bogey.

Hovland finished with an even-par 70 on Saturday and was three strokes behind leader Sam Burns heading into the final round. The 27-year-old Norwegian was a definite threat to win his first major title this week. The question is whether his driver would allow it.

“A little bitter about my driver. Just can't seem to figure it out,” Hovland said. “It's like a lingering problem all these years.”

Hovland's first shot of the day went so far right that it disappeared into some bushes at the very edge of the course.

“Aimed it left, and tried to hit a little squeeze cut out there,” Hovland said. “Just got super stuck on it, hit it off the heel as well, and it was an open club face. And then just, yeah, sayonara.”

Even after dropping, the former Oklahoma State star needed to hit between a couple trees. His shot clipped one of them slightly but still reached the green, and he was able to limit the damage.

After another bogey on No. 3, Hovland's 7-iron approach on the par-4 ninth took one hop and bounced off the flagstick — an example of what he is capable of from the fairway. He birdied that hole and No. 10, and after his tee shot went into the rough on 17, he hit a beautiful pitch over a couple bunkers and then made a 3-foot putt for birdie.

“I was quickly staring at bogey there if that second shot doesn't come out perfectly," he said.

But just when it seemed Hovland would finish on a great note, he ended the round like he started it — missing the fairway to the right off the tee. This time he found a bunker on No. 18 and bogeyed that hole to fall to 1 under for the tournament. He was in fourth place behind Burns, Adam Scott and J.J. Spaun.

“When you start to see the ball leak a little bit right, which has been my miss recently and came out today, then that’s when you start to guide it a little bit more,” he said. “Obviously, that leads to even worse shots. So it’s kind of a bad position to be in.”

Hovland was right back on the range after his round, trying to work out the kinks. He's doing enough other things well that even a little improvement with the driver could leave him in very good shape.

"I’m a few shots behind, but obviously I’ve got a chance. If you would have asked me start of the week if I had a chance to win on Sunday I would have been extremely happy with that, three shots behind," he said. “A lot of things can happen out here.”

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