Leishman eyes big U.S. Open finish and potential payoff for next season’s majors

OAKMONT, Pa. – Two weeks ago, Marc Leishman qualified for the U.S. Open, his first major start in three years. Now he’s seeking to convert this week’s opportunity into more major appearances next year.

Shooting a 2-under 68 in the third round at Oakmont is certainly a big step in that direction.

The Ripper GC veteran, winner earlier this year at LIV Golf Miami, made a big move up the U.S. Open leaderboard Saturday thanks to a sizzling start and a bounce-back birdie late in the day.

Entering the third round tied for 45th, Leishman walked off inside the top 20 at 3 over for the tournament and eyeing one more big performance on Sunday. If he finishes inside the top 10, he’ll earn a return trip to the U.S. Open next year. If it’s a top-4 finish, he’ll also get a spot in the 2026 Masters.

“Just happy to make the most of qualifying,” said Leishman, who earned his spot via a playoff at the Rockville, Maryland qualifier. “Sometimes you can get in and you think it's a done deal and away you go. But really wanted to make the most of getting in and doing that hard work, so hopefully a good round tomorrow will do that.

“Hopefully I can get off to a start like I did today and give them something to look at.”

He certainly gave everybody at Oakmont something to look at Saturday as one of the players with an early tee time.

He birdied three of his first six holes thanks to some brilliant early iron play. He made a 9-foot birdie putt at the second hole, a 6-footer at the third and a 12-footer at the sixth – and it could’ve been even better. He had two other birdie putts at the first and fifth holes within 8 feet.

After a bogey at the seventh, he then holed out from the bunker at the par-3 eighth. He originally was going to use a sand wedge but switched to a lob wedge when he saw less sand than expected.

“It was a nice little bit of revenge after hitting it to 12 feet there yesterday and three-putting,” Leishman said of the eighth, which played to 253 yards Saturday and has ranked as the third most difficult hole this week.

But Oakmont wasn’t going to make it easy the rest of the way. Leishman suffered three consecutive bogeys midway on his back nine but responded with a birdie at the drivable 17th and a nice up-and-down to save par at the 18th.

“Obviously a little disappointing about the three bogeys in a row, but you don't have to do much wrong on this golf course to make bogeys,” Leishman said. “I didn't let it get me down too much. Nice to fight back.”

Leishman likes a fight. He also likes a tough course. His win on the Blue Monster in Miami came on what statistically was the toughest scoring in the history of the league, with a field stroke average of 74.38. And nine years ago at Oakmont, he tied for 18th.

“I like tough courses,” he said. “I just like golf courses where it separates the field, when it really punishes bad shots but still rewards good shots.”

Leishman has hit plenty of good shots since joining LIV Golf on Cameron Smith’s all-Australian team in the middle of the inaugural 2022 season. He said it’s a by-product of the league’s roster, which includes 14 major champions.

“We play against really, really strong fields every single week on LIV, and I think doing that has made me work harder not only on my golf game but my body and my head, and that lends itself to more family life, too,” he said. “Like I said, life is in a good spot at the moment for me. I'm very happy and happy to be contending at a U.S. Open.”

It beats watching on TV, which he did earlier this year for the Masters and PGA Championship. Even so, he still had fun.

“Of course I would rather be playing the majors, but I really enjoyed just sitting down with my kids and mates watching the Masters and the PGA,” he said. “I'm a lot happier if people were to be sitting down watching me, but it was a pretty good two weeks for me.”