Five things to keep an eye on during the third round of the U.S. Open

With the leaders going off in a matter of minutes at the U.S. Open, here's a look a five things you should keep an eye on during the third round.

Tiger's third round is critical to Sunday success — Saturday is usually known as Moving Day, but for Tiger Woods, it could be his most important round of the week. As CBS Eye on Golf's Shane Bacon pointed out, Woods has never shot higher than 71 in the third round of a major championship and gone on to win. He's a front-runner at majors. If he falls off the pace and goes into the final round a shot or two off the lead, we'll likely see someone else hoist the trophy on Sunday afternoon. Why? Because Woods has never come from behind in a major to win.

[Brian Murphy: Tiger Woods' calm, clinical dissection was a cool change]

Who's going to make a move? — Following a 6-over 76 on Saturday, Joe Ogilvie sent out this tweet: "Someone will go low today, didn't think it played that difficult, pins were gettable." Ogilvie, who went off in the second pairing of the day, obviously played in different conditions than what players will face late in the day. But it brings up an interesting point: If there are low scores to be had, who's going to make up ground on the field? Matt Kuchar (3-over), Steve Stricker (4-over) and Lee Westwood (5-over) are all lurking on the second page of the leader board -- and all three of them have the game to make Ogilvie look like a genius.

Course conditions at Olympic Club — With temperatures expected to get close to 80 degrees today, there's a good chance the USGA will have to water the greens during play to keep them from baking out. Olympic Club Super Pat Finlan confirmed that greens were watered last night to make the course conditions comprable to what players saw on Friday. However, the temperature increase could alter the situation and make things very interesting late in the day when the final groups are on the course.

The par-3 15th hole — Before the start of the week, the par 3 that seemed to be garnering the most attention was the 13th. With the shaved bank on the left side of the hole, some players were already saying it could be one of the toughest holes on the course. But the spotlight shifted on Saturday when the USGA decided to move the tees on the par-3 15th hole up, taking the hole from 154 yards to just 107 yards (it's also playing four yards on and four yards from the edge). USGA Executive Director Mike Davis must have a sense of humor, because he has the shortest hole on the course coming just before the longest -- the 670-yard 16th hole.

[Related: Sergio Garcia destroys microphone, but at least it was a good swing]

Watch out for John Peterson — David Toms is the big name in the group, but don't forget about John Peterson. The recent LSU grad was one of the most decorated amateur golfers before turning pro just last year when the USGA decided not to put him on the Walker Cup team. He's second in the field this week in birdies (7), and ranks in the top-10 in fairways hit (T10) and birdies (T7). The favorable pairing with a former LSU Tiger could be a benefit. If you're looking for a darkhorse within a couple shots of the lead, Peterson could be your guy.

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On his birthday, Phil Mickelson gives himself the gift of a decent round

Phil Mickelson wants to win a U.S. Open. Badly. Very, very badly. But unless he's able to shoot a 59 on Sunday, it's likely he'll have to wait another year. And he's not particularly happy about that.

[Related: Tiger Woods on the outside looking in after lackluster Round 3]

On his 42nd birthday, Mickelson turned in a decent enough performance, a two-birdie, three-bogey one-over 71. It's the same score he carded on Friday, and were it not for his horrendous +8 Thursday, he'd be right in contention. With that in mind, he wasn't in much of a chatty mood afterward, even though the crowd at 18 sang "Happy Birthday" to him:

Yes, that's exactly 33 words from Phil. Not his most eloquent performance. But hey, tomorrow is a new day ... and 2013 is a new U.S. Open.

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Tiger Woods collides with cameraman after ugly U.S. Open round

After a flat-out horrendous round at the U.S. Open on Saturday, Tiger Woods was walking off the 18th green when this happened:

Now, this is a moving Rorschach-blot test, an opportunity for you to see what you want to see. Was this an example of:

1. Tiger leaning into a cameraman, then making a big deal of a minor injury that wouldn't have happened if he'd been paying attention to anything around him.

2. The overzealous media not respecting Tiger's space and causing him injury that could affect his play tomorrow.

Your call!

[Related: Tiger Woods on the outside looking in after lackluster Round 3]

Yahoo! Sports' Brian Murphy was directly across the walkway from the collision, and gives us this on-the-scene report: "I guess he had no clue Tiger was coming up, and he decides to start picking up his equipment — what appeared to be a TV camera — and back into the path without even looking. Tiger was storming up the hill and — bam! Collision. Tiger's right hand jammed fairly hard against the guy's camera, and the guy appeared clueless as to what happened. Tiger yelped, dropped a profanity, shook his hand vigorously and kept steaming up the staircase. As he went up the staircase, he shook his hand two or three more times." Murphy further notes that "For once, Tiger wasn't the bad guy in an incident with the gallery. He had a right to be pissed."

After the collision, Tiger did a brief post-round interview with NBC's Roger Maltbie, politely answering a question about the speed of the greens. When Maltbie asked him about the hand, Woods gave Maltbie a gaze icier than the waters of the San Francisco Bay and said simply, "It's fine."

Woods was seen practicing on the putting green not long after the incident, so it can't have been too catastrophic. Still, the way that Woods and the accompanying security reacted, you'd think someone had pulled a knife. Good to see that didn't happen, of course.

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Lee Westwood gets in the mix going into U.S. Open final round

SAN FRANCISCO — No matter the major, there are always seems to be at least three or four names that get bandied about as potential first-time winners every year.

Luke Donald. Matt Kuchar. Dustin Johnson. Sergio Garcia. There's no question you'll hear all of their names at least a hundred times in the run-up to a major.

And then there's Lee Westwood. You know, the guy who holds the albatross title of "Best players to never win a major." It's a title that's been run into the ground over the years, but there's no question Westwood holds the crown. He's crashed and burned enough times in major championships to make you wonder if he'll ever win one in his career.

[Related: Tiger Woods on the outside looking in after lackluster Round 3]

Every year pundits find a major championship track that's right for him and, like clockwork, he finds a way to miss the cut or implode on weekend. So when he started off his first nine holes of the U.S. Open with three bogeys and a double, most just shrugged their shoulders and said, "Well there goes another missed opportunity."

But here's the deal: Instead of letting things get out of hand, Westwood started to grind, closing with a birdie on the 17th hole to finish at 3-over 73. There was a moment where you felt like it could potentially be a turning point in the week.

After Saturday's 3-under 67, which moved him to 2-over for the tournament and within three shots of the lead, it's looking more and more likely that we could look back on those last nine holes on Thursday afternoon as the moment Lee Westwood finally got the major championship monkey off his back.

[Related: Gallery sings to B-day boy Phil Mickelson after his so-so round]

On paper, Olympic Club set up perfect for Westwood. It's a course that rewards solid play off the tee -- which is why so many had him pegged for success this week. But Westwood isn't conquering the course with his driver.

It's actually another club in his bag that keeping him in contention: his putter. Without a doubt, the flatstick has been the one club in his bag that's kept him from winning a major of the years. But not this week.

Westwood needed only 28 putts on Saturday, getting out of trouble with some clutch par saves to stay in contention. Even when he bogeyed the eight and ninth holes to go out in even-par 34, Westwood immediately bounced back with birdies on the 10th and 11th. This isn't the Westwood we're used to seeing at majors.

[Related: Watch: John Peterson hits his first-ever hole-in-one at U.S. Open]

Another reason to like his chances tomorrow? He's have fun for a change. I know, that doesn't even sound possible at a major championship, but Westwood has looked incredibly loose this week, laughing, smiling and joking with his caddie during each round.

"I had a lot of fun out there," Westwood said after his third round. "Really enjoyed the day. Finished it off nicely. A lot of good chance to shoot a really good score out there."

With the pressure on Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell tomorrow, Lee Westwood has a chance to go out there tomorrow and do the exact same thing he's been doing all week: have some fun and maybe, just maybe, walk away with his first major championship.

It didn't seem possible early in the week, but on the eve of the final round of the U.S. Open, the thought of Lee Westwood kissing the U.S. Open trophy on Sunday evening doesn't sound crazy.

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What you need to know going into the final round of the U.S. Open

This is it, folks, the final round of the U.S. Open is here. Before you settle in to watch it unfold on your couch, here's a look at some things to keep an eye on throughout the day. No doubt this tournament still has a few twists and turns left. It is, after all, the U.S. Open.

Five things to ponder

Who could be this year's version of Jack Fleck? — If you don't know who Jack Fleck is, he was the municipal-course pro in Iowa who held off golf legend Ben Hogan in an 18-hole playoff at the 1955 U.S. Open at Olympic Club. It's arguably one of the greatest upsets in golf history. That said, who could potentially be this year's Fleck? Fredrik Jacobsen isn't an unknown, but most of the golfing public would probably be shocked if he came from two back to win. Nicolas Colsaerts, currently at 2-over, is another name to keep an eye on.

Who's more likely to stumble: Jim Furyk or Graeme McDowell? — Honestly, you'd probably have better odds of flipping a coin to answer this question. Furyk once again struggled off the tee on Saturday, so you may want to give the edge to G-Mac based on his impressive birdie finish. But McDowell isn't a mortal lock, either, to take home his second major. The tournament will boil down to who can make the least number of mistakes when it counts late in the afternoon. McDowell torched the back-nine (if you can call 3-under 33 that), so he gets the edge as the guy who's least likely to stumble.

[Related: Co-leader Graeme McDowell is man to beat at the U.S. Open]

Course conditions — USGA Executive Director Mike Davis made it known that he wouldn't water Olympic Club's greens under any circumstances on Saturday. Even with the lack of moisture, they held up incredibly well and were even receptive late in the day. Some greens started to look a little ashy, but overall, you'd have to believe the USGA will stick to its plan and let the greens firm up even more on Sunday. It's the final round of the U.S. Open, so expect the course to be unforgiving.

Don't bet against an 18-hole playoff — With 25 players within six shots of the lead, Sunday's final round could turn into a Monday playoff the way things are going. Two of the four times (1955, 1966) Olympic Club's hosted the Open, the tournament's gone to an 18-hole playoff. Anything could happen, but we wouldn't be surprised to see a three- or four-man playoff take place.

Any crazy tee box locations? — The USGA deserves a lot of credit for moving the tees up on the par-3 15th hole from 154 yards to 107 yards. While the decision didn't have any bearing on Saturday's outcome, it makes you wonder if Davis has any other changes up his sleeve for today.

What's at stake

Graeme McDowell — Simple, the chance to become a two-time U.S. Open winner. We've seen lots of one-hit wonder major winners, but it's hard to question a guy's career when he has multiple victories.

Jim Furyk — Like G-Mac, he has the chance to add two-time major winner to his resume. After struggling in 2011, this year has produced the consistency we're used to seeing out of Furyk. But he still doesn't have a win. Picking up his first win in two years at Olympic Club would be fitting, considering how well he's been playing of late.

[Brian Murphy: Tiger Woods done in by litany of mistakes in Round 3]

Fredrik Jacobsen — Just two back of the lead, Jacobsen is a darkhorse playing in the second-to-last group. While most couldn't pick him out of a lineup, you shouldn't sleep on his chances. With three top-20 finishes in his last four major starts, a win would make people take notice of a guy who's been quietly flying under the radar.

Lee Westwood — With the exception of Tiger Woods, nobody's under more pressure to win than Westwood. Three back of the lead after a 3-under 67 on Saturday, all he needs to do is post a solid round and see what happens. A victory on Sunday would validate his sterling career, and could potentially jumpstart a special year for a guy with immense talent.

Ernie Els — He has an opportunity to become the feel-good story of the last couple years. At 42, Els is on the back end of his career and has been a non-factor at the majors since he finished in third-place at the 2010 U.S. Open. This is a chance to prove the naysayers who thought he couldn't win another major wrong.

Tiger Woods — The heat is on after Saturday's 5-over 75. You'll hear during the final round telecast that Tiger's never come from behind to win a major, and at five shots back, it's hard to see him getting back into contention with so many big names ahead of him. Although, Billy Casper came back to win the U.S. Open in 1966, erasing a seven-shot deficit on the final day. So it's possible to shock the world at Olympic Club. What would a win mean? Everything at this point.

[Related: Tiger Woods collides with cameraman after ugly U.S. Open round]

TV schedule

Coverage of the final round will be broadcast on NBC from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Or until the tournament is over.)

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