Phil Mickelson (69): "I'm very excited to have fought back on the back nine and get back into contention and a tie for the lead. It should be a fun day on Sunday. It's such a tough course I don't know what score it will take to win. I'm not entering it with a number in mind."

Kenneth Ferrie (71): "I don't think many people are going to give me a chance of winning. It's my first time and I don't know myself how I'm going to handle it. I could go out all guns blazing and play great or shrink under the spotlight. This is the biggest stage in golf and so far I'm front and centre. It proves a lot to a lot of people and that I deserve a little bit of respect for what I do. My whole game is based on fairways and greens, I don't overpower courses like Tiger (Woods). This course is very good for my sort of game and I'm a huge fan of the set-up."

Colin Montgomerie (75): "To be five-over after four was a disaster so to be five over at the finish was a hell of an effort. A 67 tomorrow and I've got a big, big chance of winning this thing. If I can drive the ball the way I know I can I will be okay. I am three behind and that's an opportunity. I have very few opportunities left at this thing and I want to give it my best shot."

Luke Donald (70): "When I made a birdie on 16 I thought maybe if I could get one more and get back to five over I could only be three or four back at the end of the day. The wind is picking up slightly but not enough for it to make too much of a difference. If I'm still within four or five tomorrow you never know what could happen, but you can't really make a charge on this course. You try to hit fairways and greens and hopefully some putts go in."

Paul Casey (72): "I didn't hit enough fairways but did a good job of keeping the head screwed on, that's what it's all about. Whether you're hitting it good or bad you just have to be very patient and take the good with the bad. Pars win golf events round here, you just have to cut out the big numbers. I haven't played particularly great golf tee to green but I've done a good job of keeping my head screwed on and rolling with the punches. It is always a learning experience and it's the first time I've made the cut in a US Open so I've got to be happy. This is a wonderful golf course and a good experience."

David Howell (74): "There is only one leader and that is the guy at the end of the week. I'm not going to take any positives from the fact I was leading for a brief period of time. I played about as well as a man can to shoot four over par today, but once again I didn't get the ball up and down a single time when I missed a green. You can't get around this course if you can't do that. More than anything else you need to be on your game and you need to be as patient as you can possibly be. You need a bit of luck to get it round as well and I don't feel I have had that. All in all it's such a bizarre tournament there is not much you can take from it."