By DOUG FERGUSON
OAKMONT, Pa. — Sam Burns is a birdie machine at Oakmont, a label not many anticipated at this U.S. Open. By avoiding one other sloppy end, Burns posted a 5-under 65 on Friday and set the goal for the late starters — and let Scottie Scheffler know the mountain he confronted.
Burns has made 11 birdies by means of two rounds, becoming a member of Viktor Hovland for many sup-par holes by means of 36 holes within the three U.S. Opens at Oakmont because it switched to a par 70 in 2007.
Burns wanted them to make up for Thursday’s tough ending, when he was one shot out of the lead till taking part in his last 4 holes in 5-over par.
This was completely different. He capped off a clean spherical — only one bogey — by holing a par from simply outdoors 20 ft to succeed in 3-under 137.
J.J. Spaun, the 18-hole chief after a 4-under 66, was amongst these taking part in within the afternoon in muggy situations that threatened to herald storms.
“I played really well yesterday other than the finishing holes. So I think today was just kind of getting mentally ready to come out and try to put a good round together,” Burns mentioned.
“It was unfortunate, but there was too much good to focus on the little bit of bad.”
Hovland twice holed 50-foot pictures from off the inexperienced — a putter from the collar on No. 10 when he began his spherical, and chipping in for eagle on the reachable par-4 seventeenth. He additionally chopped up the reachable par-4 second gap for a double bogey and wound up with a 68.
He was at 1-under 139. Burns and Hovland have been the one two gamers from the morning wave to complete 36 holes below par.
Burns is among the many prime putters on the PGA Tour, although he did miss a 5-foot putt to win a playoff within the Canadian Open final week and three-putted the fourth playoff gap to lose. This was extra about staying in place and eliminating as a lot stress as doable on a course that may be relentless.
All six of his birdies have been inside 10 ft. His greatest putt would possibly been an eagle try from over 100 ft on the par-5 fourth that he lagged to tap-in vary. However the end was huge. He tugged his drive to the left on the robust par-4 ninth right into a ditch, took a penalty drop, hit safely on the inexperienced and made it for par.
The stress shifted to the gamers making an attempt to hold on within the afternoon. Solely 11 gamers have been below par after the opening spherical, a quantity that was positive to shrink on Friday.
Scheffler was amongst those that had little room left for errors. He opened with a birdie on No. 10, however then didn’t discover one other fairway till he got here up simply wanting the inexperienced on the seventeenth, 50 ft away for eagle. 4 putts later, he had a bogey.
It was a grind all method, battling his swing and the tough, making numerous key par putts that stored the spherical from getting worse. He missed one other fairway on the ninth gap that led to bogey and a 71. Scheffler was at 4-over 144, seven behind Burns amongst those that completed.
“Mentally, this was as tough as I’ve battled for the whole day. There was a lot of stuff going on out there that was not going in my favor necessarily,” Scheffler mentioned.
“Overall, definitely not out of the tournament. Today was, I think with the way I was hitting it, easily a day I could have been going home. And battled pretty hard to stay in there,” he mentioned. “I’m 4 over. We’ll see what the lead is after today, but around this golf course I don’t think by any means I’m out of the tournament.”
Burns had the low spherical for the week, a rating that was posted 3 times when Oakmont final hosted the U.S. Open in 2016. There are probabilities on the market — Victor Perez of France made a hole-in-one on the sixth gap in a roller-coaster spherical of 70 — however punishment is all over the place.
Jordan Spieth began at even par, went out in 40 and needed to hold on to verify he was round for the weekend. Brooks Koepka, two out of the lead after the primary spherical, made solely six pars in his spherical of 74.
Jon Rahm went from crimson numbers to crimson within the face with a 75, leaving him in the identical spot as Scheffler. Rahm, who took 35 putts, was requested if his rating may illustrate how robust Oakmont was taking part in.
“Honestly, too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective,” he mentioned. “Very frustrated. Very few rounds of golf I played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn’t sniff the hole. So it’s frustrating.”
That’s not simply Oakmont. That’s most U.S. Opens. In that respect, Hovland was a curious contender. He has been far and wide together with his swing, his expectations, his confidence. He gained in the course of the Florida swing and is making progress. Maybe no expectations helped him.
“For some reason I’ve just been in a really nice mental state this week,” Hovland mentioned. “Both my rounds have been very up and down. I feel like a couple times if it would have happened at another tournament, for example, I could have potentially lost my mind there a little bit. But I felt like I kept things together very well.”
He has 10 birdies and an eagle. He additionally has 9 bogeys and a double bogey. However he’s below par at Oakmont going into the weekend, by no means a nasty place to be.
