Woodland maintains lead in US Open as course finally comes into play.

The third round of the U.S. Open turned into a tactical duel between leader Gary Woodland and challenger Justin Rose, with Brooks Koepka and a few others trying to join the fray.

On a day when the course finally began to firm up and come into play, Woodland fired a 2-under 69 to remain at 11-under at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links. Rose countered with a 68 to close to 10-under for the tournament.

But two-time defending U.S. Open champion Koepke is lurking four strokes behind the leader, along with Chez Reavie and another former champ, Louis Oosthuizen.

”I feel like if I can just make a few putts, I feel like I could be right there, right next to Gary," Koepka said in a post-round press conference.

Woodland, who was attracting calls of “Gare Bear” from the gallery all day, proved resilient on Saturday. On two critical occasions, the man known for brute force rather than finesse saved himself from disaster with a deft touch on the green.

On 12 Woodland’s tee shot veered into the weeds, the ball clinging precariously above a bunker. His attempt to pitch from the treacherous lie went badly, ending up in the rough on the other end of the green.

No problem. Woodland sank the tricky 33-foot shot to save par.

Two holes later, Woodland appeared to be on the verge of dropping a stroke or maybe two. But he calmly knocked in a long, lazily curling 43-foot putt to maintain his lead.

“I was trying to chip it down close, take 4 and move on, and the ball came out perfectly executed, chip, and nice to go in,” he told reporters.

But Rose was undaunted throughout. He measured Woodland all day long and closed out with a birdie on 18 that left him just one stroke down.

The leaders were never more than two strokes apart as they spared throughout the afternoon on Saturday.

Meanwhile Rory McIlroy at 6-under along with Matt Kuchar and Chesson Hadley (5-under) harbor some hope of a run at the 119th U.S. Open title.

A short putt by Rose lipped out on 17. But he recovered with a neat birdie on the final hole and appeared confident as the left the green.

“One back give me the freedom to feel like I’ve got everything to gain, nothing to lose,” he said. I’m so close to Gary that I have to go out and play my game tomorrow.”

The sixth U.S. Open hosted by Pebble Beach wraps up Sunday.