Tougher course takes toll on Kokrak

June 19, 2016 at 12:08a.m.

By ED PUSKAS

OAKMONT, PA.

Jason Kokrak expected Oakmont Country Club to play tougher Saturday as the U.S. Open course continued to dry and the USGA made pin placements more difficult.

The Warren native was correct.

After shooting rounds of 71 and 70 during a grueling 36 holes Friday for a 1-over par 141, Kokrak, 31, played an uneven third round and shot a 4-over 74. He dropped 19 spots to a tie for 35th place and trails leader Shane Lowry by 10 strokes.

But Lowry did not complete the third round. His group got through 14 holes and stands at 5-under. The players who completed the first and second rounds Friday were rewarded with a long day of waiting around on Saturday. The third round did not begin until 3 p.m.

Kokrak had three birdies and missed on chances for others, but most striking was that he had six holes of bogey or double-bogey Saturday, matching his total from Friday’s rounds combined.

Again, it was the start and finish of the round that did the most damage. Kokrak teed off at 4:06 p.m. after a slew of golfers completed the suspended second round. He bogeyed three of the first four holes around a birdie on No. 2, then made par on three straight holes before another bogey on No. 8.

Kokrak ended the front nine was a par on No. 9. It was the beginning of a solid six-hole stretch for the Warren JFK and Xavier University graduate, who made par on five of them, sandwiched around a birdie on No. 11.

But Kokrak bogeyed No. 15, a 500-yard par-4 and then three-putted No. 16 for a double. His tee shot on the 231-yard par-3 dropped left of the green and his chip went short and below the hole. A long first putt rode past the hole and Kokrak then missed a shorter try before tapping in to finish with a double-bogey.

But Kokrak bounced back on the final two holes as day faded into night at Oakmont. His tee shot and approach combined to leave a 12-footer for birdie on No. 17 and Kokrak drained it.

Kokrak and third-round playing partners Russell Knox and David Lingmerth then teed off on No. 18. Moments later, the horns sounded at Oakmont, signaling the suspension of play for darkness. But since they’d teed off, the group was able to finish the final hole.

Kokrak nearly came up with another birdie, but the putt wouldn’t fall and he tapped in for his ninth par of the day.

On Friday, Kokrak stressed that making par was important at Oakmont, because bogeys are to be expected on this brutal course, especially in a U.S. Open. He made 13 pars in the first round and 11 in the second on Friday. He birdied two holes in the first round and four in the second.

But par and birdies both were harder to come by on Saturday. So were quotes, as Kokrak walked out of the scoring area shortly after 9 p.m. and declined an interview request.

After 36 holes on Friday, Kokrak said the key was “fairways,” as in hitting them. He was 9 of 14 in that statistic for each of the first two rounds and matched that Friday. But after reach 25 of 36 greens in regulation Friday, Kokrak hit just eight of 18 in regulation in the third round.

He may have played it safer off the tee Saturday. His longest drive Friday was 318 yards in each of the first two rounds, but was just 280 yards on Saturday.

Some familiar names didn’t make the cut Saturday after completing the second round in the afternoon. Phil Mickelson was at 7-over, while Luke Donald (8-over), Rory McIlroy (9-over), Keegan Bradley (9-over), Ernie Els (10-over), Retief Goosen (10-over), Webb Simpson (11-over) and Rickie Fowler (11-over) also were among those missing the cut.

The best round of the day was a 4-under 66, shot by both Branden Grace and Jason Day. Grace moved into a tie for sixth place at 1-under and Day — after a horrible start with a first-round 76 on Friday — is tied for 8th at 1-over.