U.S. Open: Why the longest of shots hasn't faded

OAKMONT, Pa. — When he led after Round 1, the thought was, "Nice story, but he'll fade."

When he went bogey, bogey, double bogey in the middle of Round 2 it was, "Well, there he goes."

So what is there to say now after 49 holes that the kid, Andrew Landry, ranked 624th in the world, is still very much in the mix at the 116th U.S. Open?

Shane Lowry held the lead as Round 3 was suspended due to darkness Saturday night. At 5-under with four holes still to play, Lowry held a 2-stroke lead over Landry. (UPDATE: As Round 3 concluded Sunday morning, Lowry moved to 7-under to stretch his lead to four over Landry and Dustin Johnson.)

But so far nothing has fazed Landry. Not the grandness of the stage. Not the bogey spurt in the middle of Round 2. Not playing alongside ultra-bomber Dustin Johnson in Saturday afternoon's Round 3, where Landry routinely found himself 30-plus yards behind in virtually every fairway. Not back-to-back bogies when things restarted Sunday morning, which he responded to with birdies on 17 and 18 to put himself in the final pairing of Round 4.

It's a toughness instilled in him at a young age when his older brother Adam would go out of his way to try to rattle his little bro.

If there was water to the right, as Andrew would stand over a shot, Adam would say, "There's water on the right. There's water on the right."

"You gotta be tough if you're going to play with the big boys," he'd tell him, and then bark at him, "You're not going to make it. You're not going to make it."

He knew that if there ever came a week like this, that his brother would need to know that he'd been through the ringer before.

So when standing on the eighth, as world No. 1 Jason Day (who was on the verge of missing the cut after Round 1) fired up Oakmont with an eagle on the neighboring fourth to move within four strokes of the lead, Landry calmly walked up to his par putt and knocked it in.

At the 10th, with Johnson's drive sitting some 57 yards in front of his, Landry poked his approach to a perfect spot on the front of the green, leading to a tap-in par … as Johnson bogeyed.

As the two walked to the 11th tee, the crowd rooted on Johnson, trying to pick him up. They completely ignored Landry.

Whatever.

Johnson, the 6-foot-4 picture of athleticism, came into the round as the leader by one over Landry. With most of the top players in the world having played their way out of contention, this was Johnson's tournament to win. Only now he was being outplayed by little 5-foot-7 Andrew Landry, who in the 23 holes played Saturday after that 3-over stretch in Round 2, carded just one bogey.

"Out here all these guys are the same," explained Adam Landry, who had visions of himself being out in the fairway of a U.S. Open as he watched his brother hit his second on the par-5 12th. "It's the six inches up here [pointing to his head] that make the difference"

But what about the 30-yard advantage Johnson has on every hole?

"These six inches are more important," he responded, again pointing to his head.

One hole later, as the horn blew signaling the stoppage of play, Andrew Landry stood over a four-foot knee-knocker for par. Sink it and he ends the day on a high note, just two strokes back when play resumes Sunday morning. Miss it and he's got that to think about all night.

Landry stood over the putt, shadows long, sunlight barely existent, and knocked it in.

So no, the moment isn't enough to rattle Andrew Landry.