Sam Burns holds steady, up 1 shot on Adam Scott at U.S. Open - ESPN

OAKMONT, Pa. — Sam Burns only wobbled twice on a soggy Oakmont course Saturday and held his nerve with a great lag from just inside 60 feet on the final hole for a 1-under 69, leaving him one round away from a U.S. Open title and no margin for error.

Burns, who has never contended in his 20 previous majors, next takes on the Sunday pressure of golf's most stringent test alongside Adam Scott, the 44-year-old Australian and the only player among the top 10 with experience winning a major.

Scott, whose lone major was 12 years ago at the Masters, didn't make a mistake since a soft bogey on the opening hole and looked far younger than his 44 years down the stretch with brilliant iron play and enough putts for a 67, leaving him one shot behind.

This was shaping up to be a wild chase to the finish, with only four players under par. That starts with Burns at 4-under 206. He has five PGA Tour titles, the last one more than two years ago. He is coming off a playoff loss last week in the Canadian Open.

J.J. Spaun, who lost in a playoff at The Players Championship in March, kept pace with Burns throughout the back nine until the end, when he couldn't save par from a bunker and shot 69. He joined Scott a shot behind.

«It seemed like we were kind of back and forth,» Spaun said. «He would take the lead, I would take the lead, I would fall back, whatever. But it was fun. You can't really play against your opponent; you got to play this course. There's just so much on demand with every shot.»

The other survivor to par was Viktor Hovland, who has been smiling as much as anyone on a course that has been exasperating to so many all week. Hovland salvaged a bogey from an opening tee shot into the bushes and an exquisite shot off the muddied