On his final hole on Friday, Jason Day collapsed with vertigo, suffering from a massive elevation drop that is typical of Chambers Bay. It looked unlikely that Day would finish the hole, never mind the tournament as paramedics rushed to the scene.

The saving grace for the 27 year-old was that he was on his last hole and he had no more long shots to contend with. Just complete the round then rest. His next shot was in the bunker where a staggering Day tried to compose himself. Another fall would result in a grounded club in the bunker and an automatic two-stroke penalty. Golfing rules hold no prisoners. Dazed and confused, probably seeing three or four different balls spinning around him in the sand, Day’s next shot was a testament to thousands of hours of practice. Relying mainly on instinct, he escaped with a bogey and it was disaster averted. He was helped off the course to medical area and his future in the championship looked in the balance.

On Sunday, the Australian Day will be in the final group. There will not be many smiles from him, his eyes are still puffy and his action in collecting his ball out of the hole is cumbersome. If it was not a major championship, he probably would have pulled out by now. But Day is in a four-way tie for the lead at the US Open and has every chance to better his second places finishes of 2011 and 2013. It will be a nervous watch tomorrow as the golfing world hopes that he does not get dizzy again at the worst possible moment. His performance so far brings back memories of great US Open performances through adversity in the past – Ben Hogan’s win in 1950 sixteen months after he was told he may never walk again, Ken Venturi’s battle through heat exhaustion to win in 1964 and Tiger Woods’ win in 2008, hobbling with a cruciate ligament injury.

There is still a long way to go for Day and he would remain an outsider to win it because of his sickness but also because of the quality of his co-leaders. Dustin Johnson has put on a pure driving exhibition this week that has been a joy to watch. Long and straight off the tee is hard to beat. Jordan Spieth is playing so well this season and has a knack for holing more 20-25 footers than anyone else in world golf at the moment. He is also perhaps the best strategist as shown by the fact he missed a short putt on the last hole to go into the lead yesterday despite not playing particularly well.

Two South Africans, Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace have a good chance as well as Irishman Shane Lowry. It has been by far his best major tournament to date. The Offaly-native struck the ball excellently yesterday and never seemed to be in trouble. A 70 was the worst his round could have been and he is well in the hunt for his first major championship at only three shots off the lead. Unlike a significant number of players this week, Lowry actually likes the challenge of nativigating around this unique course which can only hold him in good stead tomorrow. Lowry is enjoying the slopes that are somewhat comparable to some of the links courses in Ireland.

In fact, it seems as though the quality of the leaderboard and the quality of the golf is saving this tournament as Chambers Bay has been possibly the most hated US Open course in history due to its bone dry, bumpy greens – ‘like putting on broccoli’ according to Henrik Stenson, the gimmicky nature of its slopes – ‘Mickey Mouse golf’ according to Patrick Reed and its aesthetically unpleasing appearance – ‘the worst course I’ve ever seen’ according to former US Open champion Gary Player. At the very least, the US Open will return to the brutal but somewhat fairer and more orthodox test of Oakmont Country Club next year and it is unlikely that Chambers Bay will see major championship action again for quite some time.