MCCARTHY: Wolff howls at Winged Foot ... Hadwin, Pendrith talk round 3

Whoever said what you don’t know won’t hurt you, definitely hadn’t played Winged Foot. “There’s a lot of holes out there that maybe people would try to hit it in the fairway or maybe take the safe play because it is a U.S. Open and they know that pars are a good score, but I don’t really like to think of it that way,” Wolff said. “I like to go out there and do what I feel comfortable with, rip dog and see how it goes from there.” Besides exciting new vernacular, the golf world is shaking its head trying to adjust to a world where players aren’t afraid to rip dog (hit driver) at a championship that once chewed up and spat out all but the most precise of golfers. Wolff’s 5-under 30 on the front nine allowed him to quickly catch 36-hole leader Patrick Reed, who looked to be picking up right where he left off with his magic-shot game. But everything fell apart for the fiery 2018 Masters champ on the back nine where he shot an 8-over 43 to drop from 5 under to 3 over for the tournament. Bryson DeChambeau, who played alongside Reed on Saturday, will join Wolff in the final group on Sunday. DeChambeau, the game’s biggest bomber, shot an even-par 70 and takes his go-for-broke strategy into the final round of a major with a chance to prove that his incredible experiment with mega-distance can work at the toughest tournament in golf. Louis Oosthuizen (-1) is the only other player under par through three rounds. The sweet-swinging South African shot a 2-under 68 on Saturday and is looking for his second major win. With disaster lurking everywhere, no lead is safe at Winged Foot and there is a group of world-class players still in the hunt. Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Harris English are tied for fourth at level par. One shot further back at one-over par and alone in seventh is Rory McIlroy. UH O CANADA Adam Hadwin is looking for answers at the U.S. Open, and Taylor Pendrith is looking for fairways. The two remaining Canadians in the field had their hands full with Winged Foot on Saturday. Hadwin made three bogeys in his first four holes and scratched and clawed his way around the course for the rest of his round to finish with a 4-over par 74. “It’s been pretty standard all week, although I continually hit it worse as the week has gone on,” Hadwin said after his round. “Man, I don’t know. I felt lost out there, to be honest. I scrambled really well at times.” As unhappy as the 32-year-old Canadian is with his game this week he made the cut and his 9-over par total through 54 holes has him in the middle of the pack. After his round Hadwin was torn whether to go to the practice range and try to find something that might work on Sunday or just get some rest and take on the gruelling course one last time on Sunday. “I’m not sure where to go from here, to be honest,” Hadwin said. “I’d like to think I could find it out there on the range, but I’ve been doing that for three days now, and I haven’t. I’ll continue to grind it out, and see what I bring to the table tomorrow.” Hadwin told Postmedia on Monday that he’s reached the point in his career where he feels it’s time to take the next step and contend at majors. He already has a PGA Tour win, he has shot 59, and he has played on two Presidents Cup teams. Pendrith has a similar score but a very different perspective on the week. The 29-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., who plays most of his golf on the Korn Ferry Tour, is playing in his first major championship. On Saturday he shot a 5-over 75 and will begin the final round at 10 over for the week. “You can hit some really good shots and end up in not good spots, and you’re struggling to make bogey,” Pendrith said. “I’m just having a ton of fun here and trying to embrace the challenge. Whatever happens happens. Made the weekend and felt like I played pretty nice today, just kind of going along and trying to enjoy the weekend.” Pendrith has been one of Canada’s top golf prospects for a long time and after battling injuries for much of his young career, he looks ready to shed the prospect label and make the jump to the PGA Tour.