US Open Golf 2017 Leaderboard: Live Look at Saturday Scores, Overall Predictions

It's a crowded field at the top on Saturday at the 2017 U.S. Open.

The wide-open tournament has already seen some big names drop out of the competition, including the top three-ranked golfers in the world, and others who have managed to survive to the weekend are struggling to put themselves into contention on moving day.

Paul Casey, Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood and Brooks Koepka all shared the tournament lead at seven under heading into Day 3 at the Erin Hills golf course in Erin, Wisconsin. It's not quite the most fearsome group of tournament leaders, but all are very strong golfers. Harman is the lowest ranked at No. 50, per OWGR.com

They do have more highly touted stars like Rickie Fowler and Hideki Matsuyama nipping at their heels, plus a hard charge from Justin Thomas to begin Day 3 and scores of other players all within three or four strokes.

Saturday promises to be a dogged fight for position with the championship round looming. Here's a live look at the scores from Day 3.

If Fowler can get back into the flow he was in on Thursday, he has a very good shot at winning this tournament outright. The talented 28-year-old has yet to win a major, but he has come so tantalizingly close on several occasions, most notably in 2014 when he finished in the top five in all four major events.

Fowler stormed out to a 65 on the first day, notching seven birdies. It took him until the 11th hole on Day 2 to finally hit a bogey, but he managed to not let the tournament get away from him and finished one over on the day. Meanwhile, stars like Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy dropped out, a historic development, per ESPN's Bog Harig:

Recent U.S. Open winners like Martin Kaymer and Jordan Spieth have also struggled to stay relevant, paving the way for Fowler to make his move and get the breakthrough that has so far eluded him in his career.

While Fowler has been mostly consistent in his play, the same can't necessarily be said for others at or near the top of the leaderboard. Casey, for one example, was great on Day 1 with a 66 on his scorecard, but he faltered a bit on Friday, with a hefty triple bogey on the No. 14 hole sinking his score, but not enough to knock him from the top.

"Not every day you enjoy a round of golf with an 8 on the card, but I'm a pretty happy man," Casey said, per Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press (via the Toronto Star). "Yeah, it was a bit of a roller coaster. I guess it's rare you get through a U.S. Open or any major without some kind of a hiccup."

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Of course, the triple bogey was one of Casey's few blemishes through two days of play, and if he can avoid any other disastrous holes like that one, he should have a good shot at fighting for a win at Erin Hills.

If there's a player to join Fowler and Casey at the top when all is said and done, look no further than Thomas, who has gone from a 73 on Thursday and a 69 on Friday to an early surge on Saturday that shows little signs of dissipating.

When a golfer is sinking putts like these, it's hard to imagine him fading away over the final 27 holes or so, per PGA Tour:

Of course, there are so many other strong players on this crammed leaderboard, from Matsuyama to Louis Oosthuizen to J.B. Holmes (and more), it's hard to say exactly how the U.S. Open will shake out.

However, since this is a tournament that has seen so many stars cleared out early, it makes sense for it to also be a competition of coronation, with someone in the field looking for a first major win finally locking it down. If that ends up being the case, Fowler has the talent and drive to make it happen.

1. Rickie Fowler 2. Paul Casey 3. Justin Thomas