A Wide Open Tightens Up : Golf: Brown and Donald lead, but 27 are within four shots, including Strange, Faldo and Nicklaus.

Saturday is called moving day on the pro golf tour, the third round when players move into contention on the leader board.

There was movement Saturday in the 90th U.S. Open at Medinah Country Club but in reverse.

The 36-hole leaders backed up, others closed in and, going into today’s final round, 27 players are within four shots of the lead.

Mike Donald and Billy Ray Brown became the 54-hole leaders at 209, seven under, when Tim Simpson, the 36-hole leader, faltered along with Jeff Sluman, Hale Irwin and Scott Simpson.

It’s a crowd at the top now as Larry Nelson, Mark Brooks, Tim Simpson and Sluman are only one shot behind Donald and Brown.

Six other other players are grouped at 211--Curtis Strange, Mike Reid, Australia’s Craig Parry, Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal, Fuzzy Zoeller and Larry Mize.

Scott Simpson is grouped with six others, including two-time Masters champion Nick Faldo, at 212. Jack Nicklaus heads a group at 213.

Strange, who is trying to become the first player to win three consecutive U.S. Opens since Willie Anderson achieved the feat in 1903-1905, barely made the cut Friday.

After playing his morning round, in which he shot a four-under-par 68, Strange said the Medinah course was “pretty defenseless.”

He made that evaluation on a humid, overcast day because the greens were still holding shots and there wasn’t much wind.

Greg Norman, who had a 69 for a two-under 214 total while also playing in the morning, said the tournament really stopped Wednesday night when a rainstorm dampened the slick greens, slowing them up so there were more birdie opportunities.

Later in the afternoon, Medinah got its revenge as the wind kicked up and the pressure of the U.S. Open got to some of the leaders.

Take Scott Simpson. He was nine under with a one-shot lead going to the 16th hole. He bogeyed 16 and then self-destructed at the par-three, 168-yard 17th, a hole that has frustrated others.

Simpson triple-bogeyed and added a bogey at the par-four, 440-yard 18th hole. So he lost five shots to par on the last three holes, finishing with a 73.

Tim Simpson was only one shot behind Scott Simpson at the 16th hole. Tim Simpson took a bogey there, plus another at No. 17, and wound up with a three-over-par 75.

Sluman, who had no bogeys for the first 36 holes and was only one shot behind Tim Simpson at the outset of the third round, struggled most of the day and came in with a 74.

Irwin, who was four shots out of lead after Friday’s round, also had a 74.

It wasn’t a productive day for the final six groups Saturday. Brown had the only sub-par round of the 12 golfers.

Donald, who was two strokes behind Tim Simpson after 36 holes, played par golf. He didn’t make a birdie on the back nine, had one bogey at No. 12, but he’s still the co-leader.

“The rest of the field reacted like it was the U.S. Open and backed off,” Donald said. “As it turned out, par was a pretty good score.”

Brown, 27, playing in his first U.S. Open, did even better. He shot a three-under-par 69.

“I never really expected to be in this position in my first U.S. Open,” said the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Brown. “I am trying to savor the moment and enjoy it. I’m feeling the heat already and it’s not tomorrow yet.”

Brown is in his third year on the tour. He won the NCAA championship as a freshman at the University of Houston in 1982.

His best finish is a tie for second in the Kemper Open in 1989. He has had five top-10 finishes in 14 tour events this year.

He had failed to qualify for four previous Opens.

Brown has played like a veteran here with three sub-par rounds, 69, 71 and 69. With others faltering, he charged into contention on the back nine with birdies at the 10th, 11th and 13th holes, but had a bogey at No. 16.

He said he didn’t realize he was the co-leader until he was walking up the 18th fairway.

Brown’s father, Charlie, was a lineman for the Oakland Raiders in 1962 and his brother, Chuck, played for the football St. Louis Cardinals.

Brown, who lives in Missouri City, Tex., said he played football until his sophomore year in high school before switching to golf.

The young pro has become friendly with Curtis Strange, and he and his wife had dinner with Strange Friday night.

“He’s a guy with something to prove,” Brown said of Strange. “I could see it in his eyes at dinner.”

Strange, who had four birdies in a bogey-free round, said he’s fired up now.

He is two strokes out of the lead and he was three back last year at Rochester, N.Y., when he defended his Open championship.

“I wish I was in the lead, but I feel a good last round could put me close and possibly shake somebody,” Strange said.

When Strange was in the interview tent, Scott Simpson was still on the course and leading at nine under.

“Scott is a proven Open champion (1987 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco),” Strange said. “He’s a good striker of the ball, a good putter and good thinker. He’s a guy who will be tough to beat.”

As it turned out, Simpson started beating himself on the last three holes. He opened the door for others with his collapse.

“I feel more like Homer Simpson (the cartoon character), beat down,” Simpson said as he came into the interview area.

“I am sure Curtis is not shedding any tears for me. He is right back in it and has pretty good memories of the U.S. Open,” Simpson said.

U.S. Open Notes

An early evening thunderstorm with flashes of lightning drenched the Medinah course after play was completed. There is a 40% chance of more rain today with winds forecast from 10 to 20 m.p.h. . . . Jack Nicklaus shot a four-under-par 68. He might even be closer to the lead if he played the par-five holes better. He’s one over par on the par-fives for three rounds. Nicklaus played in the morning and he didn’t particularly like it. “The nice thing about the Senior Tour is that you get to play late every day,” he said.

Records were set Friday for the most sub-par scores in the second round (47) and for 36 holes (86). The previous second-round record was 24 at Oakland Hills (Birmingham, Mich.) in 1985 and the Olympic Club in 1985. The previous 36-hole record was 64 at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., in 1988. The lowest 36-hole cut record was tied at 145. The cut was at 145 last year at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester. However, par there was 70 compared to 72 at Medinah.

COMPLETE RESULTS: C19