Rory McIlroy in pursuit of US Open leader Bryson DeChambeau

Rory McIlroy had an overdue fifth major title within his sights after eating into his overnight deficit in the final round of the US Open at Pinehurst.

Starting the day three shots behind Bryson DeChambeau, McIlroy made the ideal start with a birdie from 20 feet on the first and found himself just a shot behind when DeChambeau bogeyed the fourth.

McIlroy was then unfortunate to drop a shot on the par-five fifth after what looked an excellent approach ran off the sloping green into one of the native areas.

MASSIVE par save to keep the lead!@b_dechambeau remains 1 ahead of McIlroy. pic.twitter.com/JMJcY4P3qs

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 16, 2024

From a poor lie, McIlroy chipped into the bunker in front of him and narrowly failed to hole a 20-foot par putt.

McIlroy closed the gap again with a birdie from 15 feet on the ninth, but DeChambeau kept his nose in front with par from a similar distance on the eighth.

Playing alongside McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay was two shots off the lead after narrowly failing to match McIlroy’s birdie on the ninth.

Former champion Martin Kaymer had earlier showed what was possible – both good and bad – in the final round.

Ten years after leading from start to finish and winning by eight shots at Pinehurst, Kaymer carded a closing 73 to finish 13 over par.

The former world number one birdied the first, fifth, 10th and 13th – where a forward tee had brought the green into range – but also made a double bogey on the ninth and a quadruple-bogey eight on the 14th.

“I think it’s very fair, I think you can shoot two or three under par,” Kaymer said..

“You do have some tricky pins but you know that. You have to play away from flags quite often so you rely on a lot of putts inside 10 feet because you will