Geoff Shackelford

A warm, glorious day greets golfers at Olympic Club for the third round of the U.S. Open. With the leaders teeing off at 3:05 they may actually experience still conditions on their back nine as the afternoon sea breeze dies down.

The setup figures to be fun, with a benign-looking (but apparently volatile) hole location on the short par-5 17th, and the 108-yard 15th bound to turn heads. Some are concerned that the front location on No. 8 could get a little goofy, but I watched early play there and the green seemed sufficiently soft to retain moisture by the time the leaders stroll through at 4:30.

The course certainly can't play any tougher than it has the first two days, can it?

Your leaderboard link is here.

NBC comes on the air at 1 p.m. Pacific, as does online Live Video of holes 8 and 18.

Update on 2012-06-16 21:44 by Geoff

**Course setup notes from Saturday:

COURSE SETUP: ROUND THREE OF THE 2012 U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

The following are details on the course setup for Round 3 of the 2012 U.S. Open at The Olympic Club, from Mike Davis, USGA Executive Director.

Weather Forecast for Saturday (provided by Jake Swick with Thor Guard Weather) – There will be plenty of sunshine mixing only with low-level haze and a few high-level clouds. Temperatures will be comfortably warm again with highs in upper 60s early this afternoon before dropping back later with the arrival of a light onshore breeze. The winds today are predicted to be out of the southwest at 4 to 10 mph.

Green Speeds

This morning’s green speeds once again averaged in the low 13s on the USGA Stimpmeter immediately after the cut and roll. They will settle out in the mid 12s by midday.

Water Management

Hand-watering was applied to all putting greens last night; more water was applied to all the greens this morning. The amount of hydration was based on firmness and moisture readings. All fairways, green approaches and closely mown areas were watered on an as-needed basis last night. There has been an attempt to mimic firmness conditions from rounds 1 and 2.

Total Course Yardage for Round 3 (tee marker settings to flagstick)

3,503 yards out, 3,545 yards in for 7,048 total yards

Hole-by-Hole Information

Hole 1 – 509 yards; the hole location is in the front-right swale.

Hole 2 – 427 yards; the hole location is back left.

Hole 3 – 256 yards; tee markers placed on the back teeing ground for the first time in the championship; the hole location is placed in the far, back center on a green that subtly falls away front to back.

Hole 4 – 423 yards; the hole location is placed in the front right, making putts from the middle of the green very fast.

Hole 5 – 499 yards; tee markers placed on the back teeing ground; the hole location is in the center-left portion of the green; balls will feed to this hole but putts above will be fast.

Hole 6 – 499 yards; the hole location placed in back right.

Hole 7 – 268 yards; tee markers again placed on back of the penultimate teeing ground; hole location is placed just above the back tier on the left side making a miss to the left of the green a tough up and in.

Hole 8 – 188 yards; the hole location placed in front-left portion of the green only several paces over the false front; putts from the middle of the green to this hole location are quick.

Hole 9 – 434 yards; the hole location is front right; putts from most areas of the green will be downhill with a fairly hard left-to-right break.

Hole 10 – 436 yards; the hole location is far, back center of this fall-away putting green.

Hole 11 – 420 yards; the hole location is placed in the front right of the green; players will be able to use the tier that separates the green as a backstop.

Hole 12 – 456 yards; tee markers placed on the back teeing ground; the hole location hugs the left side of the green.

Hole 13 – 180 yards; tee markers placed on the penultimate teeing ground; the hole location is about halfway back and close to the fall-off left of the green.

Hole 14 – 429 yards; the hole location placed in the far, back center of the green; putts from the middle of the green are surprisingly slow up to this hole location.

Hole 15 – 107 yards; tee markers have been moved to the very forward most area of the teeing ground; the hole location is placed only four paces on the green in the front- left corner.

Hole 16 – 671 yards; tee markers placed on the back teeing ground; the hole location is placed in the back-right corner just over the front-right bunker.

Hole 17 – 502 yards; tee markers placed on the players’ left teeing ground; the hole location is placed in the center of the green about a third of the way back; putts from above this hole are very fast.

Hole 18 – 344 yards; the hole location placed in back right just over a very subtle rise.