At US Open, Adam Scott turns back the clock and climbs within a shot of the lead

OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) - His hair is speckled with gray. Even if he remains a fan favorite in some circles, when picks to win the U.S. Open were being made, not many included 44-year-old Adam Scott.

Once third-round action at Oakmont wrapped up Saturday, though, the list of the top 10 names on the U.S. Open leaderboard was made up of two kinds of players: Those who had never won a major. And Scott, the 2013 Masters champion.

On a day that brought back memories of that Sunday, 12 years ago at Augusta, one of Australia’s biggest sports stars matched the day’s best score with a 3-under 67. He’ll enter the final round tied for second at 3 under with J.J. Spaun, a one shot behind Sam Burns, with whom Scott will play alongside Sunday in final pairing.

Not bad for the man who came out of Friday’s round of 70 and called it "even-par, old-man golf."

"It's huge, obviously," Scott said. "For sure I'll be nervous but I'm in a great spot. I'm happy to be one behind, not sleeping on lead and that kind of stuff."

If the only player among the top contenders who harbors memories of what it's like to close on one of golf's biggest stages can pull it off Sunday, he'll become the second-oldest winner of America's national championship, behind Hale Irwin, who was 45 when he won at Medinah in 1990.

Setting aside the idea that the U.S. Open and Oakmont are supposed to be the sort of nerve-jangling test that the 40-something set isn't great at, Scott played the final six holes in calm, damp conditions in 3 under.

That included a tee shot to inside 5 feet for birdie on 13, an approach on 14 to a foot for birdie, a 14-footer for another birdie on No. 17 and a two-putt from 55 feet on the 18th hole to close with a par.

With a ball speed measured at 187 mph on the 18th tee box, and a drive that traveled 331 yards, some of this looked more like Scott back in 2014, when, partly on the strength of that Masters victory, he passed Tiger Woods to vault to No. 1 in the world ranking.

Scott finished second two times last year, including at the BMW Championship in the playoffs, but has not been lighting up the PGA Tour in 2025; he doesn’t have a top-10 finish this year. But, he said, things have been trending in the right direction lately.

"I started hitting it better off the tee in the last month, and usually over my career, I’ve seen that bleed through the rest of the game," Scott said. "I’ve slowly done it. I’m not exactly firing on all cylinders, but it’s a nice thing having some confidence coming into tomorrow."

If this were a game of resumes, not driving, chipping and putting, Scott would already have the trophy.

This marks the Aussie’s 96th straight major - the longest active streak and second-longest of all time only to Jack Nicklaus, who played in 146 straight. This also marks Scott’s 97th overall major. The other four players at even or better heading into Sunday - Burns, Spaun, Viktor Hovland and Carlos Ortiz - have combined to play 63.