Rory McIlroy walks off the ninth green during Saturday’s third round. Credit: golffile.ieMother Nature appears to be the only thing that can stop Rory McIlroy’s march to victory in the 111th US Open today.

Thunderstorms are forecast for Indiana and Kentuck in mid-afternoon and while they could lose force and even miss Congressional Country Club altogether, there is a chance they could force play to be suspended in the final round.

One thing is sure, the course will be a tough prospect for the 72 players who have survived the halfway cut with early starters Wes Heffernan and Brad Benjamin closing with rounds of 78 and 80 respectively. 

McIlroy is eight strokes clear of Korea’s YE Yang on 14 under par - the second biggest final round lead in the history of the US Open. 

COURSE SETUP: ROUND FOUR  OF THE 2011 U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

The following are details on the course setup for Round 4 of the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club, from Mike Davis, USGA Executive Director. 

Weather Forecast for Sunday (provide by Greg Quinn and Jake Swick with Thor Guard Weather) – Mostly cloudy skies and muggy conditions will persist through much of the morning and into the early afternoon hours. Temperatures will likely remain in the upper 70s until we get a break in the cloud cover by 2-3 p.m. Currently there is a large area of showers and thunderstorms over Indiana and Kentucky and although it should weaken and dip southward as it progresses to the east, this may impact our area during the mid-late afternoon time period. 

Green Speeds – This morning’s green speeds averaged 13 ½ feet on the USGA Stimpmeter, which will likely settle out in the low 13s by midday.  

Water Management – Given the very soft conditions, no irrigation was applied to the golf course.   

Rough – The closer-in first cut of rough (3 ¼” and 3 ¾” on the long and short approach-shot holes) along the fairway and the further-out longer second cut were not mown.        

Total Course Yardage for Sunday (tee marker settings to flagstick) = 3,606 yards out; 3,846 yards in for 7,452 total yards 

Hole 1 – 408 yards; hole location is back left

Hole 2 – 204 yards; tee markers placed 31 paces forward on the penultimate teeing ground; hole location is in very narrow left quadrant requiring a choice from the tee – place conservatively to the center of the green or challenge the very narrow left side

Hole 3 – 463 yards; hole location is placed in the center-right quadrant just below the upslope

Hole 4 – 421 yards; tee markers placed 48 paces forward on the penultimate teeing ground requiring choice from the tee on how much of the dogleg to challenge; hole location placed just over the front bunker on the left

Hole 5 –  388 yards; tee markers placed 27 paces forward on the right portion of the lower teeing ground; hole location is in far-right portion of the green; majority of the putts will be down the hill on this left-to-right sloping putting green

Hole 6 – 552 yards; tee markers placed on the back-left teeing ground; hole location placed in the back right of the green against the pond 

Hole 7 – 178 yards; hole location is on the back tier hugging the left side

Hole 8 – 346 yards; hole location placed front-left portion of the green just over the front bunkers

Hole 9 – 646 yards; tee markers placed on the back-left teeing ground; hole location is in the back-center trough

Hole 10 – 214 yards; tee markers placed on the back teeing ground; hole location is the front-left “bowl”

Hole 11 – 515 yards; tee markers placed on small upper-back pad; the hole location is in the back-right quadrant

Hole 12 –  478 yards; hole location is placed up on the center-back elevated pad

Hole 13 – 171 yards; tee markers moved forward 22 paces to penultimate teeing ground on the far left side; hole location is placed on the right side just over the ridge bisecting the front and back of the green – requiring a very precise tee shot

Hole 14 – 453 yards; hole location placed in the front-right portion just short of the ridge – if played properly, the players can use this ridge/backstop to their advantage but must beware of going beyond the backstop 

Hole 15 – 497 yards; hole location placed in the back-right quadrant hugging the left side

Hole 16 – 563 yards; tee markers moved 16 paces forward; hole location is in the very inviting center trough – this hole location will likely produce a few eagles

Hole 17 –  426 yards; hole location (like the 14^th hole) placed in the front-right portion just short of the ridge – if played properly, the players can use this ridge/backstop to their advantage but must beware of going beyond the backstop.

Hole 18 – 529 yards; back teeing ground used; the hole location is placed just over the ridge that bisects the green – a conservative play to the front-right portion (as opposed to the back left) of the green will require dying the ball at the top of the ridge in order to stop the ball close to the hole.

Sunday pin positions