Adam Scott stands out amid U.S. Open leaderboard of fresh faces

OAKMONT, Pa. -- Asked Friday how he'd describe his window to win another major championship, Adam Scott had a one-word zinger: "Ajar."

Yes, a self-effacing but fair assessment when you're pushing 45. But perhaps Scott didn't foresee the round he would shoot on Saturday.

Scott followed consecutive even-par 70s with a third-round 67 thanks to a torrid back nine at Oakmont Country Club, and suddenly, the Australian went from hanging around to firmly in the mix at the U.S. Open.

Sam Burns took the 54-hole lead at 4 under par, but Scott grabbed a share of second place alongside J.J. Spaun. Of the top five on the leaderboard -- featuring Burns, Spaun, Viktor Hovland of Norway and Carlos Ortiz of Mexico -- only Scott has won a major.

In fact, most of the others have limited experience simply contending on the weekend. Scott has been here time and time again, with 20 top-10 finishes at majors from 2002-24.

If Scott outlasts his greener competition, he would be the second-oldest winner in U.S. Open history behind Hale Irwin in 1990. It would also mark the longest gap between a player's first and second major wins; it's been 12 years and change since he slipped on the green jacket at Augusta National.

"It would be super fulfilling," Scott said. "Everyone out here has got their journey, you know. Putting ourselves in these positions doesn't just happen by fluke. It's not easy to do it."

Scott was even for his round before a pair of tremendous shots into the 13th and 14th greens to set up birdies. At the former, a par-3, he landed his iron shot inside 5 feet. Then he dialed up the backspin on his wedge into the 14th and nearly holed it.

"It was like a readjustment out there today. Obviously it was softer, and controlling spin to some pins was very difficult. But I just tried not to force anything. I played safe shots and accepted I wasn't going to finish next to the hole when (his shot) wasn't dialed in."

His last birdie came at the par-4 17th, where he escaped the greenside bunker and rolled in a 14-footer. Scott went 3-for-3 on sand saves for the day, and his playing partner, Hovland, singled him out by saying he had a "brilliant" round.

Hovland was 15 years old when Scott won the Masters. The younger generation that represents most of this U.S. Open leaderboard know what Scott can do, even if glimpses have been rarer lately.

"I really haven't been in this kind of position for five or six years, or feeling like I'm that player. But that's what I'm always working towards," Scott said. "It's not that easy to figure it all out.

"But if I were to come away with it (Sunday), it would be a hell of a round of golf and an exclamation point on my career."

--Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media