The 60 players who made the cut finished the third round of the U.S. Open just before 5pm ET.After three hectic days due to heavy rains the play went smoothly today without further delays. The course was soggy,it rained during Saturday evening and the best part of the night,but the maintenance crew (extended to almost 200 people) did a fantastic job to make it playable.The occasional ball plugged here and there,nothing really serious.

The biggest surprise in this third round is that nobody took advantage of the relatively good conditons and the soft receiving greens.Bubba Watson shot the lowest one,3 under par 67.

The other one is that the two leaders after 36 holes,Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover,handled themselves very well both with rounds of 70.They will start the last round at 8 and 7 under as they did today.

They went about it in different ways as Barnes got it to 11 under after an eagle at the 4th hole and had a 6 shots lead at 10th.He dropped another 2 shots on his way in, including a boggey at the 18th where he missed a short put for par Glover had a rough front nine but recovered with 3 birdies on the back to finish with an even par round.

Mike Weir,who started the day at 6 under,only hit 4 of 14 fairways and shot 4 over par 74 and is at 2 under. David Duval also shot even par 70 with a birdie at the 18th and stays at 3 under.He will play his 4th round with the Englishman Ross Fisher also at 3 under. At 2 under with Weir are Phil Mickelson,69 today,and Hunter Mahan,68. Four more players will start the last round under par, at 1under:Retief Goosen,Todd Hamilton,Soan O’Hair, Bubba Watson and 3 at level par:Peter Hanson,Stephen Ames and Graeme McDowell.

Tiger Woods is at 1 over after a 68 today and will need nothing short of a small miracle to get in contention.

So, who is the potential winner at this 109th U.S. OPEN?

At the top Ricky Barnes is currently ranked 519th in the world and, 1 shot behind, Lucas Glover has only one win on the PGA Tour.That said,they both played an impressive 3rd round,when everybody expected them to go to pieces.I think one of them has a great chance to be the Champion on Munday.The other reason to make them favorites is that they will start 4 and 3 shots ahead of their closest contenders David Duval and Ross Fisher.Duval,#1 in the world ten years ago,is now ranked 882nd.Fisher has never won on U.S. soil and never was in this position in a Major Tournament.

It would take a great round,like 5 or 6 under for any other player at 2 under,1 under or level par and a little help from Barnes and Glover to have a chance.Is the crowds’ favorite Mickelson up to it? He thinks he can do it.

We’ll know on Monday.