Burns leads as Scheffler and McIlroy make US Open cut

Yahoo

8 hours ago

US Open round two leaderboard
-3 Burns (US); -2 Spaun (US); -1 Hovland (Nor), E Scott (Aus), Griffin (US); +1 Perez (Fra), Lawrence (RSA); +2 Koepka (US), Henley (US), Detry (Bel), SW Kim (Kor)
Selected: +3 Hatton (Eng); +4 MacIntyre (Sco), Scheffler (US), Morikawa (US), Rahm (Spa), Rai (Eng); +5 Spieth (US); +6 McIlroy (NI), Wallace (Eng), Schauffele (US); +7 Canter (Eng), Fitzpatrick (Eng)
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Cut: +8 Aberg (Swe); +9 Fleetwood (Eng); +10 Thomas (US); +14 Rose (Eng); +17 Lowry (Ire)
Full leaderboard
America's Sam Burns hit a sensational five-under 65 to seize the lead on three under on an attritional second day at the US Open.
Only three players out of a field of 156 are under par at the halfway stage with Burns making six birdies and just one bogey in a morning round that looked better as the day progressed.
Overnight leader JJ Spaun, who was the only player to go bogey-free in round one, hit a two-over 72 and is second on two under, while Norway's Viktor Hovland is one under after a 68.
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The glacial pace of play and arrival of a late storm meant 13 players were unable to complete their second rounds and will return to do so on Saturday.
The world's top two players Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were among those battling to make the weekend and both did enough to make the cut, which is projected to be seven over and will see the top 60 and ties play the final two rounds.
US PGA Championship winner Scheffler scrapped to a 71, mixing four birdies with five bogeys to finish on four over par, seven shots off the lead.
"With the way I was hitting it, it was easily a day I could have been going home and I battled pretty hard to stay in there," he said.
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"Around this golf course, I don't think by any means I'm out of the tournament."
As for McIlroy, he recovered from a nightmare start where he double-bogeyed two of his first three holes to shoot a 72, birdieing the last to finish at six over par.
Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau is heading home though after a round that included eight bogeys and a double bogey left him 10 over.
More problems for world's top two on difficult Friday
Three wins in his past four starts had seen Scheffler installed as clear favourite to add the US Open to his growing collection of major titles.
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But this tournament cares little for reputation – and the world's top ranked player has not won it since Tiger Woods in 2008.
Scheffler, who started at three over, holed a 20-foot birdie putt at his first (the 10th). But his day started to unravel with three bogeys in five holes.
He found a bounce-back birdie at the second (his 11th) but smashed his club on the ground in frustration after driving his ball into the huge 'Church Pews' bunker down the left of the third fairway.
So often admired for his relaxed composure, it was a further sign all was not right with the Olympic champion's game.
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However he did find birdies at the fourth and sixth in order to shoot one over par for his round, a score beaten by only 12 other players, before heading to the range for two hours to practice.
As for McIlroy, after plummeting to eight over par after just three holes, he flirted with the cut line for the rest of his round, draining a 32-foot birdie putt on Oakmont's hardest hole, the ninth, to stay afloat.
Another birdie from 20 feet at the 15th inched him to seven over par but frustration was never far away.
He threw a club in anger on the 12th fairway and after a ragged drive at the 17th, he destroyed a tee marker. But he made a three at the last, allowing a relieved smile to pass his lips, although he again bypassed speaking to the media.
Burns and Hovland make bid for first major title
While the field toiled on a day for golfing purists, Burns proved Oakmont could be tamed by making a mockery of its grisly challenge.
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Sensational from tee to green, he actually missed decent opportunities down the stretch to add to his 11 birdies over the first two rounds before holing a 22-foot putt to save par at the final hole.
If he continues with his usually reliable putting stroke - he is first on the PGA Tour this season for strokes gained on the greens - he will be well placed to fight for his maiden major title.
Another in that bracket is Hovland who, playing alongside Scheffler, lit up the front nine with some excellent iron play.
Ranked first for strokes gained around the green in round two, the 2023 Tour Championship winner reached three under with a majestic 55-foot chipped eagle from the rough on the 17th (his eighth).
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A slightly erratic back nine that featured two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey saw him post a 68.
South Africa's Thriston Lawrence, who stormed two shots clear on six under after three successive birdies early in his round, followed that with a run of six bogeys and a double bogey across nine holes as he dropped back to one over.
And just as he was standing over a four-foot par putt on his last hole, six hours and six minutes after he teed off, the horn sounded to suspend play.
'One of stupidest things I've done' - Oakmont rattles leading lights
Two-time US Open champion Brooks Koepka has shown glimpses of his impressive major-winning credentials but was scrappy in a round of 74 to drop to two over par.
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Two shots further behind, the 2021 champion Jon Rahm saw his challenge falter, having impressed on day one.
Starting the round three off the lead, he followed three bogeys on his first nine with a penal double bogey at the 12th to drop to four over par, with his sole birdie arriving at the fourth.
To compound his frustration, he saw a series of birdie chances slide by during his closing holes before a bogey at the last left him seven shots off the lead.
"I'm too mad to put it into perspective," he said afterwards.
At least Rahm made the cut.
DeChambeau was a shadow of the player who stormed to victory at Pinehurst last June as his title defence faded with a whimper.
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Sweden's Ludvig Aberg and England's Tommy Fleetwood are also heading home, finishing at eight over and nine over respectively.
And Ireland's Shane Lowry closed on 17 over par, after a round which featured a penalty shot for picking up his ball without marking it on the 14th green.
"Maybe my mind was somewhere else," laughed Lowry when recounting the bizarre incident to BBC Sport. "It's one of the stupidest things I've done."
Six-time runner-up Phil Mickelson, who suggested this may be his last US Open, missed a birdie putt on the last to to end up on the wrong side of the cut line.
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Meanwhile, France's Victor Perez had a hole-in-one at the par-three sixth and a triple-bogey eight in a level-par 70 that kept him at one over and inside the top 10.