Strokes Gained: Lowry's Prowess on Oakmont's Greens
By Mark Broadie
Shane Lowry of Ireland surged into the lead by recording a third-round 65, tied for the lowest score of the championship. Lowry holds a four-stroke lead over Dustin Johnson and Andrew Landry entering this afternoon’s final round.
Lowry’s place atop the leader board was powered by his putting and short game. His putting contributed 41 percent of his total gain on the field, and his short game (off-green shots inside 100 yards) contributed another 36 percent. “My putter feels good in my hands,” he said.
Dustin Johnson is in a tie for second place headed into the final round. He did this on the strength of his championship-leading driving, which contributed 53 percent of his total gain. Johnson was ranked No. 24 in strokes gained putting out of 67 players who made the cut. “It's tough to make putts. I feel like I'm hitting my putts on my line with the correct speed. So, I mean, at some point, they will start to go in.”
U.S. Open Through Three Rounds:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Player | Position | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Shane Lowry | 1 | 0.7 (22) | 0.6 (28) | 2.0 (1) | 2.3 (2) |
| Dustin Johnson | T2 | 2.3 (1) | 1.0 (15) | 0.3 (34) | 0.7 (24) |
| Andrew Landry | T2 | 0.4 (31) | 1.0 (15) | 0.8 (22) | 2.1 (3) |
| Lee Westwood | T4 | 1.1 (13) | 1.1 (13) | 1.4 (4) | 0.4 (36) |
| Daniel Summerhays | T4 | 0.1 (42) | 1.6 (6) | 0.9 (19) | 1.4 (12) |
| Branden Grace | 6 | 0.6 (24) | 0.4 (36) | 1.0 (11) | 1.6 (8) |
| Sergio Garcia | T7 | 1.4 (6) | -0.4 (60) | 1.8 (2) | 0.5 (30) |
| Scott Piercy | T7 | 1.1 (13) | 0.9 (18) | 1.3 (6) | 0.0 (44) |
| Zach Johnson | T9 | 0.3 (34) | 0.2 (42) | 0.7 (25) | 1.8 (7) |
| Jason Day | T9 | 1.2 (9) | 0.0 (47) | 1.4 (4) | 0.4 (36) |
| Bryson DeChambeau | T9 | 0.4 (31) | 0.5 (35) | 0.8 (22) | 1.3 (13) |
| Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | |
| Top 11 average | 3.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
Mark Broadie is a Columbia Business School professor who developed the strokes-gained statistic to compare each player’s performance against the rest of the field.
