Here’s Ewan Murray’s report of the second round from Oakmont: That’s the end of coverage for the second round. The action is not quite over but only Thriston Lawrence has holes to play of the main contenders. It was a tough day, one Sam Burns rose to, one JJ Spaun was a match for. Only that pair and Viktor Hovland are in red numbers. Rory McIlroy ailed, so did Scottie Scheffler and to a lesser degree Jon Rahm. But they all play at the weekend unlike Bryson DeChambeau. Thanks everyone for reading and emailing. Join Scott for the weekend action – it should be a good one! -3 Burns (F*) -2 Spaun (F) -1 Hovland (F*) E Scott (F), B Griffin (F) +1 Perez (F*), Lawrence (16*) There are big names set to miss the cut as the players begin to fret about a potential thunderstorm klaxon. They include Phil Mickelson whose birdie putt at the 18th slipped by the hole. +8 Ludvig Åberg, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Cameron Smith, Phil Mickelson +9 Min Woo Lee, Tommy Fleetwood +10 Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann, Bryson DeChambeau +11 Sepp Straka +12 Justin Thomas +14 Justin Rose +17 Shane Lowry The importance of the scoring heading into the weekend? 27 of the last 30 US Open champions were tied sixth or better after 36 holes and 19 of them were tied second or better. Eight of the nine winners at Oakmont were tied seventh or better. “I’d like to think I play my best golf on tough courses,” Cameron Smith said two years ago. “But my US Open record isn’t that great. The driver gets me in trouble.” He’s ranked 119th Off the Tee this week and, despite four back nine birdies, needs another at 18 to have any hope of making the cut. He’s missed the fairway and can only thrash the ball to the fairway, 48 yards from the hole. Michael Meagher, unofficial fairway spotter for Rory McIlroy today, emails: “Final update: -3 on holes where he drove on the fairway/green. +5 on the holes where he didn’t. Put it in the fairway Rory!” Phil Mickelson makes double bogey at 17. Add it to the double bogey he made at 15 and he needs birdie at 18, plus unlikely help from the field, to make the weekend. He’s +8 for the week and T74th. The galleries appear as exhausted by today as the players. There’s not a lot of noise or energy. Adam Scott on heading into the weekend three shots off the lead: “Hopefully I can use my experience … coming here for a third time was definitely less overwhelming.” On his longevity: “I’m chasing the never-ending dream. I work hard. My body has held up … if anything my desire is growing because time is ticking away. I don’t know how many more weekends like this I’ll have.” Shot of the day from Rory McIlroy. A 124 yard approach to 18 catches a slope and finishes inside 5 feet. He drains the birdie putt to get to +6 for the week and inside the cut mark. He enjoys a laugh with playing partners Justin Rose and Shane Lowry – the first sign of smiles all day. Ben Griffin is quite a story. Just a few years ago he quit tour golf, fed up of the grind and frightened by a $17,000 balance on his credit card. He went home to North Carolina and started work as a mortgage loan officer. A wealth management executive persuaded him to give it another go with the promise of a multi-year sponsorship deal. He made the Korn Ferry Tour, graduated, grew comfortable on the PGA Tour, and this year is a two-time winner. He’s also now heading into the weekend at the US Open with the chance to achieve something utterly remarkable. A nightmare run for Thriston Lawrence. After bogey at 2 and 3, he adds a double bogey-7 at the 4th. The South African is now +1 for the week and only three men are in red. Ted Rogers would like this leaderboard. (And no birdie at 17 for Rory McIlroy.) -3 Burns (F*) -2 Spaun (F) -1 Hovland (F*) E Scott (F), B Griffin (F), Detry (16*) JJ Spaun on his second round and his position in second place on the leaderboard: “Today was more like US Open and Oakmont showing its teeth ... I’m glad to keep it together and have a shot at the weekend ... My game has been in good shape all year. So many close calls ... There’s a long way to go. I’m super happy to be in contention … The Players Championship [when he was second] was the most pressure I’ve been under, a great learning experience.” Rory McIlroy hits the 17th tee. It’s a short par-4 (302 yards) and he takes aim at the green with driver. It’s not his best - he’s frustrated, dispirited, fed up. Not for the first time today he lashes out. He’s in the greenside bunker. Up and down for birdie could get him in the weekend. Does he want that? You suspect the answer to that is both yes and no. Michael Meagher has followed my advice and headed over to Wikipedia to view Thomas Detry’s profile picture. “That’s hilarious,” he emails. “The caption of the photo says “2009 KLM Open” so that would make him 16. He’s now 32. LoL!” By the end of this round he might be looking 82. He’s just followed his double bogey-6 at 5 with a double bogey-5 at 7. He’s now +1 for the championship. Change at the top. JJ Spaun cannot secure a par after his tough break at 18. He completes rounds of 66-71 for a -2 halfway total of 138. Sam Burns is alone at the top. Thomas Detry and Thriston Lawrence are looking a bit punch drunk, too. The Belgian has just hit a chip about 18 inches. His race might be run. -3 Burns (F*) -2 Spaun (F) -1 Hovland (F*), Detry (14*), Lawrence (12*) A series of tricky moments at the top end. Thomas Detry four putts the 5th for double bogey to drop out of the lead and almost out of the red. Thriston Lawrence can only bogey 3. And JJ Spaun’s hack from the rough pulls up short of the slope he was seeking to catch. He’s likely to make another bogey. You need a lot of luck in golf. JJ Spaun has just hit a perfectly fine shot into 18 but it caught a downslope and has ricocheted into the back rough. He was entitled to expect a putt, now he’s faced with playing a pitch with his fingers crossed. He has a decent poker face, however, and doesn’t look flustered. “Praying for a good lie,” says TV’s Andrew Coltart. “Even with a good lie it’s not easy,” adds Nick Dougherty. Thomas Detry has had an up-and-down major championship career. His first six featured no top 30. He then tagged three top 20s in a row (T13th in the 2023 Open, fourth in the 2024 PGA Championship, T14th in the 2024 US Open). This year he’s missed the cut in the Masters and PGA Championship. It’s worth going to his Wikipedia page. The profile photo seems to be one that would have worked in the pub quiz I went to earlier this week (22.35). He looks about 13. Snakes and ladders at the top. Thriston Lawrence finds tangly greenside rough at 11 and drops a shot. Then JJ Spaun drains a 23-foot birdie putt at 17. And Thomas Detry joins the party with a birdie-4 at the 5th. -3 Burns (F*), Spaun (17), Detry (13*) -2 Lawrence (11*) -1 Hovland (F*) There’s a good chance that this is the final US Open appearance for Phil Mickelson. He desperately wanted to win his national championship, of course, and was a six-time runner-up. But victory always eluded him, often in excruciating fashion. He’s doing everything he can to extend the farewell into the weekend. He’s +4 for the week, level-par through 13 holes today, and playing the easier back nine. He’s on track to spend Saturday and Sunday in Oakmont. We have a winner of the imaginary US Open cap (see 22.35). Dave Bowers identified a young Alan Rickman. That’s the actor, not the Canadian golf instructor of the same name (thank you Google). Movement at the top. JJ Spaun completes a second bogey in as many holes. He’s back to -2. Meanwhile, Thriston Lawrence leaves himself only 22 inches for birdie at the 1st. Lawrence rejoins Burns at -3 for the tournament and in a share of the lead. Spaun is now one behind. Miles back in the scoring Shane Lowry picks his ball up without marking it and calls a penalty on himself with a resigned sigh/laugh. He’s +15 for the week, thinking of Royal Portrush. Michael Meagher likes his theme emailing: “Update! Rory’s opening thirteen holes: 10 drives in the fairway/green: 9 pars and a birdie. Longest par putt 6ft 3in. 3 drives not in the fairway: 2 double bogeys & a bogey. I do think the 14th is going to mess with this though! Prediction: drive to the rough resulting in par.” Update to the update: McIlroy has found sand at the par-4 14th. A little bit of pressure for JJ Spaun. He knocks a 25 foot birdie putt at the 15th fully 7 feet past and misses on the way back. That was sloppy. It must be very easy to become mentally tired with the relentlessly tough nature of Oakmont. Talking of quizzes, I was at a pub quiz this week and was gifted an easy point in the ‘Guess the famous person when they were young’ round. Nice to see Rory with a smile on his face given today’s general sense of despondency. An imaginary prize (US Open cap) to anyone who knows bottom right. Bogey for Thriston Lawrence at his 9th (18). He’s still in red but there are only four other men with him. JJ Spaun continues to impress and has found the green at 15. -4 Spaun (14) -3 Burns (F*) -2 Detry (11*), Lawrence (9*) -1 Hovland (F*) Quiz question: What do JL Lewis, Jason Gore, Olin Browne, Ricky Barnes, Richard Bland, and Joel Dahmen have in common? Answer: They’ve all been halfway leaders in a 21st century US Open. It’s perhaps worth remembering that we’ve forgotten them as we near the 36 hole mark. Their ghosts might have spooked Thriston Lawrence because he’s in trouble at 18 (his 9th). He has 49 feet for par and to avoid a fourth bogey in five holes since he threatened to join the ranks of those unlikely championship pacesetters. “He was going so well,” says TV’s Wayen Riley. “Until I turned up.” The putt pulls up short and there’s meat on the bone. Camera angles can be cruel. TV has just given the impression that Adam Scott has missed an absolute tiddler. It looked nasty but official scoring reveals it was actually 5’4” which is far from appalling, of course. Seconds later: “Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy …” sighs Paul McGinley as Rory McIlroy hoicks (there’s no other word for it) his approach to the par-5 12th miles left of the target. You might be wondering about the background of JJ Spaun, even if you do recall him finishing second to Rory McIlroy in the Players Championship in March. He won the 2022 Texas Open, one of his 10 top three finishes on the PGA Tour (three have been this year alone). This is only his ninth major championship start and his previous best was T23 in the 2022 Masters. He’s 34, married to Melody, and a Leo. Michael Meagher emailed a plea: “Put it in the fairway Rory!” He added: “Rory’s opening nine holes: 7 drives in the fairway: 6 pars and a birdie. Longest par putt 6ft 3in. 2 drives not in the fairway: 2 double bogeys. See: it’s easy!” McIlroy is currently +8 for the week through 11 with the par-5 12th to come. Thriston Lawrence has found the high grass. His eyes lit up at the 305-yard par-4 17th. He took aim at the green and has been caught in the fescue. Andrew Coltart, Paul McGinley and Nick Dougherty on TV all feared for him and … he’s popped it on the green. Funny old game. If Thriston Lawrence likes thin air (see 21.31), what about clubhouse leader Sam Burns? The Lousiana man is a Bible Belt specialist. Nothing to do with the good book and everything to do with the states in the south-east of the USA. He’s got two PGA Tour wins in Texas, two in Florida, and one in Mississippi - and his Korn Ferry Tour win was in Georgia. He’s never won anywhere else. So if the air in Oakmont is not quite thin enough for Lawrence it might not be sufficiently sticky for Burns. Hmm, a gnarly lie for Thriston Lawrence beside the par-3 16th green (his 7th). It comes out with no pace and pulls up short. He grimaces and then two-putts for bogey. Back on the 12th the new solo leader (again) JJ Spaun is on the par-5 green in three but has a long, long, long, long birdie putt. He knocks it close. Should be par. And finally Belgium’s Thomas Detry - he’s made birdie at 18 to get it to -2 for the week. A bust few moments at the top end. Three and a half hours ago Russell Henley finished his round of 72 with three late birdies. He is +2 for the week and that had him T17th when he signed his card. Slowly, while nowhere near the course, he’s creeping higher up the leaderboard. He’s now T11th and there’s a good chance he’ll be top 10 by the end of the day! Thanks Scott. I spent a little of my break investigating the altitude Oakmont Country Club sits at. Not the obvious US Open question, you might think. But it’s all about the pace-setting Thriston Lawrence. You see, he has four DP World Tour wins and look where they came (and at what elevation): 2021 Joburg Open - Johannesburg at 1,753m, 2022 European Masters - Crans at 1,495m, 2022 South African Open - Johannesburg at 1,753m, and the 2023 BMW International Open - Munich at 520m. So ... Google tells me that Oakmont Country Club is about 305m above sea level. Not quite sure that is sufficiently thin air for Thriston but time will tell! Thriston Lawrence’s three-stroke lead has disappeared in short order. From the centre of 15, he only just finds the fringe of the green. The collar interferes with his putting stroke, and he clumps a dismal first putt nine feet past the hole. He can’t make the par saver coming back, and there goes that advantage over the chasing pack. Meanwhile birdie for Thomas Detry at 17 and he’s back to where he started the day. To repeat: there’s a good chance Sam Burns will be leading this tournament come the end of the day’s play. -4: Spaun (11), Lawrence (6*) -3: Burns (F) -1: Hovland (F), B Griffin (10), Detry (8*), Stevens (6*) E: Scott (11), S Kim (8) … and with that, I’ll pass you into the loving arms of Matt Cooper, who will see you right as the witching hour approaches. See you tomorrow for Moving Day! Sam Stevens sends his approach from 172 yards at 15 to four feet. It’s a magnificent shot by the 28-year-old from Wichita … but his putter can’t stand the strain. He pulls it and has to make do with par. He remains at -1. Still on the line. Meanwhile any wild dreams of Phil Mickelson completing his career slam at the grand old age of 55 (give or take a day) are pretty much gone. Back-to-back bogeys at 7 and 8, and he’s +5. Now to concentrate on making the cut. Thriston Lawrence makes his first mis-step of the day. Three putts from 27 feet on the short par-four 14th, and his run of three birdies is halted by a careless bogey. And within seconds, a three-shot lead is reduced to one, because on 11, JJ Spaun nails a fairly straight 11-footer for a bounce-back birdie. It’s all happening, this way and that, and there’s still a fair chance of Sam Burns leading by the end of the day. -5: Lawrence (5*) -4: Spaun (11) -3: Burns (F) -1: Hovland (F), B Griffin (9), Stevens (5*) E: Scott (10), S Kim (8), Detry (7*) Bryson misses the birdie putt on 18. Bah. He shakes his head over the lost opportunity. He tidies up for his par and turns in 37. Meanwhile over on 10, Adam Scott steers in a big right-to-left curler for a birdie that brings the 2013 Masters champion back to level par. The genial 44-year-old Aussie really should have more than one major to his name – that collapse at Lytham in 2012 will always haunt him – but he’s putting himself in position to right that wrong. Like all good showbiz stars, Bryson DeChambeau knows where the cameras are. He’s ankle-deep in thick rough down the right of 18, 147 yards out. He lashes as hard as he can through the filth, ending up spinning around and hopping on one leg during his follow-through. His ball nevertheless enters the front door of the green and rolls towards the flag, ending pin high, 12 feet to the right. Some players would struggle to advance that 50 yards. Bryson’s set up a birdie chance. He turns around, looks down the lens, throws open his arms and, with a smile beginning to play across his face, mouths in cheeky disbelief: “What was that?!?!” They say Bryson is polarising, but come on, everyone should love him. He’s great fun to have around. Thriston Lawrence is on fire! A tee shot into the centre of the par-three 13th. He leaves himself a 20-foot left-to-right slider … and guides it in beautifully! That’s three birdies in a row, and he wanders off with barely a flicker of emotion. A little thumbs-up as he walks to the next tee, but no semblance of a smile. Having missed seven cuts in nine PGA Tour appearances this year, he’ll know full well not to get ahead of himself. But he’s three shots ahead of JJ Spaun, who three-putts 10 for his second bogey in four holes, and his third of the day. Thriston Lawrence, though! That unexpected near miss in the Open last year suddenly no longer looks a flash in the pan. -6: Lawrence (4*) -3: Burns (F), Spaun (10) -1: Hovland (F), B Griffin (8), Stevens (5*) E: S Kim (7), Detry (6*) Bryson DeChambeau gives himself a little wriggle room. He puts an end to his run of three bogeys with birdie at 17, getting up and down from a bunker to move back to +5. Two clear of the cutline. Thriston Lawrence has to wait an absolute age to play the par-five 12th. There are three groups ahead of his on the hole. Eventually the snarl-up clears, and it’s worth all the hanging around. A no-nonsense birdie, set up with two big hits down the middle of the track, and last year’s Open Championship nearly-man leads the US version! Meanwhile your Hole-By-Hole report hack is beginning to feel very guilty about acknowledging Ben Griffin’s form and chance of winning. He’s already dropped one stroke at 7 since being given the big talk; now he sheds another, punishment for missing the green at the par-three 8th. Apologies to Ben and all of his friends, family and fans. -5: Lawrence (3*) -4: Spaun (9) -3: Burns (F) -1: Hovland (F), B Griffin (8), Detry (5*), Stevens (4*) +1: Perez (F), Scott (8), S Kim (6), L Griffin (5*) Bryson DeChambeau’s dreams of consecutive US Opens is beginning to enter Pipe territory. Bogeys at 14, 15 and now 16, and the reigning champ is now +6. The projected cut remains +7, so he’s got one shot to play with. But he’ll not fancy missing the cut on his defence. Work to do. Age can’t wither Phil the Thrill’s spirit. He very nearly drains a 30-foot birdie putt across 5. Just a par, but the old boy’s not turning this in yet. He remains at +3. Meanwhile Sam Stevens chips in from the back of 12. The 28-year-old from Wichita, who shot 71 yesterday, has already birdied 10 this afternoon, and so joins the select group in red. Can you hear him through the whine? -4: Spaun (9), Lawrence (2*) -3: Burns (F) -2: B Griffin (7) -1: Hovland (F), Detry (5*), Stevens (3*) … so having given Ben Griffin the big one, he short-sides himself in a bunker at 7 and drops his first stroke of the day. He’s back to -2. And here’s how quickly the picture can change, because over on 14, Thomas Detry, who had started sluggishly if erratically – double bogey, birdie, bogey – holes out from 140 yards! One big bounce on the green, one small one, a click into the flagstick, down and in! It’s his first-ever US Open eagle, and he joins the small group in red figures for the championship. Sixty seconds ago, four shots separated Griffin and Detry; now it’s just the one! -4: Spaun (8), Lawrence (2*) -3: Burns (F) -2: B Griffin (7) -1: Hovland (F), Detry (5*) JJ Spaun doesn’t find the green with his tee shot at 8. And he doesn’t get too close with his chip. But he rolls in the 10-footer that remains for par with a staunch calmness. That’s a brilliant putt in more ways than one, because it avoids back-to-back bogeys and maintains his share of the lead at -4. Phil Mickelson has famously finished runner-up in his national championship on six painful occasions. And so the US Open remains the one big gap on his CV. He turns 55 on Monday, so you’d assume his chance to fill it has long gone. Especially as he’s never been the most accurate with the big stick anyway, and you can’t get away with driving like a wild-eyed loon at Oakmont. However, look-see here! Having shot 74 yesterday, he starts his round today with three pars … then wedges his approach into the par-five 4th from 104 yards to kick-in distance. The birdie takes him to +3 and … he couldn’t, could he? No. Nope. No. Realistically, no. But he could, too! Just imagine. If he somehow did it, every roof in the Oakmont area would blow sky high, even if they were made of solid Pittsburgh steel. Hey, dreaming is free. We’re allowed. Ben Griffin sends his tee shot at 6 to 15 feet and clatters the putt into the centre of the cup. The birdie takes the 29-year-old from Chapel Hill, North Carolina into a tie for second at -3. Griffin had no record to speak of either on the PGA Tour or in the majors until three months ago, when he won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Andrew Novak. He’s since won his first solo Tour title, the Charles Schwab Challenge, and finished tied for eighth at last month’s PGA Championship. Additionally he was runner-up to Scottie Scheffler at the Memorial a fortnight ago. There are few players in better form … just in time for major season! -4: Spaun (7), Lawrence (2*) -3: Burns (F), B Griffin (6) -1: Hovland (F) JJ Spaun leaves his third into 7 well short of the flag. He nearly drains the 30-footer that remains, but it’s a bogey that always looked on the cards when his tee shot found the second cut. Meanwhile a second bogey of the day for Kim Si-woo, this time at 4, and he drops to level par. Just five players under par now. Given three of those have a combined 41 holes to play between them, and the course is getting ever firmer, there’s a fair chance there will just be two by the end of the day. -4: Spaun (7), Lawrence (2*) -3: Burns (F) -2: B Griffin (5) -1: Hovland (F) E: Kim (4), Detry (2*), Stevens (2*) +1: Perez (F), Scott (6), Schauffele (5*), MacIntyre (4*), Harman (3), L Griffin (2*) A backward step for Bryson DeChambeau at the short par-four 14th. He gets a bit too cheeky with his wedge in from 70 yards, taking on a pin tucked behind a bunker and watching in horror as his ball lands one yard shy, disappearing into the lush rough draped across the bunker’s shoulder. He can’t get up and down and that’s his second bogey of the day, following the one he made at 10. They neatly sandwich that birdie at 12, but he’s in arrears for his day’s work so far. He’s +4. Thriston Lawrence curls in a 25-foot right-to-left swinger on 11. He moves to -4 and could soon be tied for the lead, because JJ Spaun is in a spot of trouble at 7, having found the thick stuff from the tee and been forced to chip out sideways. Meanwhile up on 12, Robert MacIntyre chips in from the back of the green to repair half of this afternoon’s damage. He’s back to +1 and his unfazed expression speaks of a man ready for the challenge. There’s a famous Scottish football manager who had a name for that. Rory McIlroy can’t get particularly close with his splash out of the bunker at 4. He does well enough to scramble his par, but that’s a disappointment on a hole that has so far given up the joint-highest number of birdies this week (63, just like the 17th). He remains at +8, one outside the projected cut-line. Another birdie for the leader! JJ Spaun gets his reward for a lovely tee shot at the par-three 6th, a gentle draw to six feet. In goes the putt, and the Players runner-up now has a cushion at the top. Just the five players under par now. -5: Spaun (6) -3: Burns (F), Lawrence (1*) -2: B Griffin (4) -1: Hovland (F), S Kim (3) E: Schauffele (4*), Detry (2*), Stevens (2*) We might as well gorge on Rory McIlroy action while we still can. Because the way he’s going, he’ll not be around Oakmont too much longer. From the centre of the 4th fairway, he pulls his second into a greenside bunker on the left. He could do with a decent lie, because he’s short-sided, the pin’s tucked up in that corner of the green and there’s very little room to play with. He’s just fortunate that the ball didn’t snag in the thick rough, dropping into the trap instead. Then he’d be in real bother. Time for a bit of Rory magic. He needs some of it. It’s not been the best start for Robert MacIntyre. Scotland’s best hope of ending the old country’s 26-year major-championship drought – Paul Lawrie their last winner at the 1999 Open – bogeys 10 and 11 to slip back to +2. … but the 2011 champ can’t get up and down from the back of 3. Rory McIlroy, the latest member of the career-slam club, has opened 6-4-6. He’s +8 overall now, and with much work to do if he’s to hang around for the weekend. Oakmont Country Club, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, everyone! Bryson DeChambeau is on the apron in front of the par-five 12th green. He could chip, but elects to putt instead. He’s 123 feet away, and the putt has 30 or 40 feet of left-to-right break. He judges it almost to perfection, the ball swinging around on a glorious arc to three-and-a-half feet. What judgement, because these greens are getting harder and faster by the minute. That’s one of the putts of the week. He tidies up for a brilliant birdie. The defending champ is back to +3. It could be a long day for Rory McIlroy. A double-bogey at 1. A birdie chance passed up at 2. Now he drives into a fairway bunker at 3, then smacks his second into its face, and in gouging out from the rough he’s left himself in, sends his third scampering hysterically through the green and into more cabbage at the back. Bogey will be a good result here now. He’s currently trending towards the weekend off. Having just dropped his first stroke of the day, JJ Spaun responds by reclaiming the shot – and with it sole ownership of the lead – at the par-five 4th. Meanwhile a birdie-birdie start for Xander Schauffele at 10 and 11; birdie for Ben Griffin at 2; but an awful double-bogey start for Thomas Detry, who zig-zags his way down 10 and drops to +1 quicksmart. Throw in birdie for Adam Scott at 1, and bogey for Kim Si-woo at 2, and it’s time for a wee update. -4: Spaun (4) -3: Burns (F), Lawrence -2: B Griffin (3) -1: Hovland (F), Scott (3), S Kim (2) E: Schauffele (2*) Rory McIlroy has the chance to repair some of that opening-hole double-bogey damage. But his birdie putt from the fringe at 2 is always swinging off to the right. He leaves himself a tricky five-footer coming back, but makes it to at least stem the bleeding. He’s +6. We’ve already had one hole-in-one today, courtesy of Victor Perez at 13. That was only the second US Open ace in Oakmont history – Scott Simpson made the first on 16 back in 1983 – but in true London-buses fashion, we wait all that time and another nearly comes along in short order. Justin Hicks fires an iron straight at the very same flag. It’s rolling in, surely, but turns to the left at the very last moment. So close to a little bit of history. Hicks doesn’t have much else to shout about this week, having shot 84 yesterday and already made a bogey and double today. But that’s a birdie, a nearly moment, and he’s +16. Thanks Matt. Now then, Justin Rose. He’s currently right on the projected cut line of +7. He’s opened with a par, but he’s in all sorts of bother on 2, having flayed his tee shot into the trees down the right. Forced to take a drop, he then smacks his third off the trunk of another tree, going for a gap that clearly wasn’t big enough for him. The ball comically rolls back down a cart path, with punters jumping out of the way of it. It eventually comes to rest under the tyre of a mobility scooter that couldn’t shift into gear in time. A slow-motion, slapstick version of this … … and so he’s eventually wedging through a larger gap into the green. But he’s nowhere near the pin. Two putts later, and that’s a double-bogey fiasco. Rose has come second in two of the last three majors; he’ll not be getting anywhere near that this time. In fact he’ll now do very well to make the weekend. He’s +9. Time for me to hand back to Scott. What’s to come for the afternoon starters? The suspicion is that the greens will get faster and scoring get a little tough. -3: Burns (F*), Spaun (3), Lawrence -2: B Griffin (2), S Kim (1) -1: Hovland (F*), Scott (2), Detry The leader JJ Spaun drops his first shot of the week. He found the green at 1 in regulation, two-putted for par. He missed the green at 2, got up-and-down for par. At 3 he missed the green and couldn’t save par. A few nerves? He slips back to sit alongside Burns on -3. A tricky start for Bryson DeChambeau (bogey at 10) but he looks set to bounce back. He’s got 8 feet for birdie at 11. Rory McIlroy opens with a double bogey-6 after hacking out his chip and two-putting. “He’s waited all morning,” laments Laura Davies. “And then that …” Oh well, it’s Royal Portrush in a month … (Prove me wrong, Rory!) Rory McIlroy’s opening hole is turning nasty. After his drive found sand, his second blow found thick rough. He shoveled the ball forward knowing that the land would sweep it to the green. But it never stops. It was like trying to stop a ball on a downhill stretch of motorway. He’ll be chipping for par from yet more lush rough. Jon Rahm didn’t pull any punches after his 75 saying: “Honestly, I’m too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective. Very frustrated. Very few rounds of golf I’ve played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn’t sniff the hole, so it’s frustrating. I didn’t make a putt, that was the main difference. I didn’t play bad.” A 75 for Jordan Spieth today. A disappointment after his opening 70. He’s an honest fellow, though. “If I look back at all my history, the idea of winning the US Open would be the most difficult task for me and I somehow snuck it out on a course that’s not a normal US Open golf course.” He was talking of Chambers Bay in 2015 and his record since then backs up his thoughts - he’s yet to add another top 10. “One the tee, Rory McIlroy.” In an ideal world, he’d find the 1st fairway and ride the wave from his starting point of +4. Roryland (as a new biography terms it) is not currently ideal, however. He’s playing the tougher front nine first and he’s found sand with his opening drive. Scottie Scheffler is fighting for par at 9 (his 18th). He found deep rough from the tee, had to hack the ball out, and his approach leaves him 16-feet for a par-4, a par-70 and a fine recovery from a scrappy journey around the turn. The backdrop at 9 is quite cutesy with its clapboard clubhouse. Like a Dawson’s Creek location. Alas, Joey Potter sighs as Scottie’s par putt slips by. He’s shot 73-71 for +4. He’ll play the weekend but he’s seven back of his good friend Sam Burns. With him, Viktor Hovland hits halfway on -1 (71-68), currently good for a share of fifth. Justin Thomas will miss the cut after two rounds of 76. He currently ranks T134th so there’s a good chance he’ll be outside the top 100 at the end of play. A missed cut is a missed cut, you might say. But it’s a third missed cut in a row at the US Open and he was outside the top 100 in the previous two as well. That’s poor for a golfer of his quality – and it will hurt him more than anyone else, of course. A potentially awkward finish for Sam Burns is transformed by a good putt. His drive finds the left rough at the 465-yard par-4 9th. He has to take a penalty drop and then bunts his approach into the heart of the green. He has 22-feet for par and makes it! A wonderful round of -5 and a good chance he’ll head into the weekend as the championship leader. A quietly useful finish for Russell Henley who made five unanswered bogeys in his first 14 holes but closes with three birdies in four holes to add a 72 to yesterday’s 70. He was seventh in this championship at Pinehurst last year. He was also seventh with 18 holes to play at Erin Hills in 2017 (when T27), the first round co-leader at Shinnecock Hills in 2018, and the co-leader through 54 holes at Torrey Pines in 2021. Sneaky good, then. He’s +2 for the week and T17th on the leaderboard. Here goes the leader. JJ Spaun was bogey-free in the first round and now he steps up to the 1st tee in a slightly gaudy shirt. A touch of 1970s curtains about it. Thursday’s effort was his seventh PGA Tour first round lead. He’s yet to win from such a position but he’s heading in the right direction: 34-27-47-42-5-2. The latter was this year’s Players Championship when Rory McIlroy bettered him in extra holes. More frustration for Jon Rahm. He did, indeed, set up a makeable birdie putt at 17 (from inside 7 feet) but it catches no more than the edge of the hole. He dips his knees, looks askance, wafts his hand at Dame Fortune, looks to the skies, and mutters darkly. As absolute treasure trove of golfing torment. At the par-3 8th (his 17th) Sam Burns hits his tee shot fully 301 yards. Yes, you did read that correctly. The 299-yard hole is a bit of a monster. The sort of thing to make course traditionalists tear out their hair like Viktor Hovland taking aim at a shot settled deep into this week’s rough. Burns shrugs and sets up a 13-foot birdie look which will see him join JJ Spaun in top spot … but it slips past. Daniel Berger played the back nine in a bogey-free -3. But we know the front nine is much more difficult and he’s sort of proved it by writing 5-3-8-6-3 on the card (bogey-birdie-quadruple bogey-bogey-birdie). “Pop a one on the end of that,” says David Howell on commentary, “and you’ve got my telephone number.” Most endearing was the way even he realised it was a naff joke and ended it in a bit of a mumble. An anguished cry from Jon Rahm at the short par-4 17th. His ball veers to the right and finds sand. He’s short-sided himself but could still make birdie. The cry, and the furious swipe of the club that accompanies it, feel more like modern-day Rahm frustration rather than the fuel in the belly anger that we saw when he won this championship in 2021. He’s +3 for the week so far from out of this. Among the big names labouring to make the weekend are: Joaquin Niemann (+7), Dustin Johnson (+9), Justin Thomas and Sepp Straka (+10) – all of them currently out on the course. Meanwhile, at the other end of the leaderboard it looks like this: -4: Spaun -3: Burns (15*), Lawrence -2: Hovland (15*), S Kim -1: Neergaard-Petersen (11*), B Griffin, Detry Want to see Victor Perez’s ace?!? Wait no more! “Major league chest bump,” cries the announcer. A 6-foot par putt at 9 for backmarker George Duangmanee. He needs it for a first par of the day. He’s 12-over through the 8th after yesterday’s 86. Come on, George, make the turn in style! The Virginian earned his spot through Final Qualifying so he’s no mug. He’s very inexperienced at this level, however (just his second start on the PGA Tour). He makes it! Push on George! Dustin Johnson appeared on screen just now, more for nostalgic reasons than anything to do with his scores. He carded 74-73 at the Masters and 78-76 in the PGA Championship. He opened with a 75 this week and is +2 for today through 14, in a fight to make the weekend. So is Scottie Scheffler but on +4 he’s more likely to play post-cut (he’s currently T40th). “What’s happened to Daniel Berger?!” emails Sam Henson. He’s become a bit of a smashed Berger is the corny answer, Sam. He was -1 for the week through 11 holes today but has just scratched an 8 at the par-4 3rd. He criss-crossed the green so often the graphic on the official scoring looks like someone has made an etch-a-sketch with their eyes closed. For a long while Sam Burns struggled to turn his winning PGA Tour form into anything substantial in the majors. He went 16 of them without recording a top 10 but was then ninth 12 months ago at Pinehurst in this championship. He got a bit lucky at Royal Troon, carding a third round 65 in nice conditions before watching the leaders tackle the back nine in filthy weather while he warmed his toes in the clubhouse. He ended Saturday in second but made a mess of the final round (an 80 for T31st). He was also T19th in the PGA Championship last month. He makes par at 5 to remain the pacesetter out on the course. Birdie for Sam Burns at the par-5 4th. As Scott mentioned earlier this week, he was defeated in a play-off on Sunday in the Canadian Open so is in good form. The man who defeated him, Ryan Fox, had a nice way of describing the slightly underwhelming extra holes. “We had a bit of a pillow fight there,” he admitted. Burns is looking good today. -4: Spaun -3: Burns (13*), Lawrence -2: S Kim -1: Hovland (12*), Berger (11*), Neergaard-Petersen (9*), B Griffin, Detry Oh-la-la from the Frenchman. Two or three bounces and then it scuttled down the hole like a hamster that had spotted a cat. A 192-yard blow and he now has a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and an 8 on his card today. He’s level-par for the day, +1 for the week, and currently T13th. Very un-Koepka-like US Open golf from Brooks Koepka at 4. It started well with a 322 yard drive to the fairway. But he found the right rough with his approach and, four shots later, he’s made a bogey-6 which is a fourth dropped shot in his last five holes. From contention to frustration in an hour. He’s +3 for the round and +1 for the week so far from out of it. Justin Thomas really struggles with keeping a big score off his card in the majors. Ahead of this week, he’d carded one round of 75+ in eight of his last 10 starts in them. It just puts him snug behind the 8-ball time and time again. Even when that didn’t happen in last month’s PGA Championship, he still missed the cut. The other exception in those last 10 majors was, however, a potent reminder of his quality: he won the 2022 PGA Championship. What did he score yesterday? You guessed it: a 76. Unfortunately, he’s on track for a repeat today at +4 through 12. Good info here. Note that the only four players on the course and under-par for the tournament have just, or are about to, hit the front nine. “Gosh, dang it!” cries Scottie Scheffler after he drags his tee shot at 3 into the church pews. It’s not quite Tyrrell Hatton levels of profanity, but on the Scheffler scale it counts as a potty mouth. A sign that he’s feeling the pressure? Maybe he’s human, after all. He can only lay up from Oakmont’s famous sand trap. How bad can it get around Oakmont? Ask (or maybe don’t, not at least until tomorrow morning) George Duangmanee. He carded a first round 86 and is currently +7 through four holes. Ouch. Meanwhile, the World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has made birdie at the 2nd. He’s back to +4 for the week. Playing partner Hovland’s woes at the same hole end with a double bogey. Another ouch. No cut problems for Viktor Hovland and Sam Burns. They’ve both completed bounce back birdies in the last few minutes and are -4 for their rounds and sitting inside the top five on the leaderboard. At the 2nd, however, Hovland found rough from the tee and can only hack his second shot forward into more trouble in sand. An enormous divot flew almost as far as his ball. It gets worse – he can only hack his ball backwards so is staring a double bogey in the face. Scottie Scheffler holds the follow through after thrashing his ball down the second fairway. The TV commentators are worried that he’s flirting with the cut. He’s +2 for the day, +5 for the week and the stats suggest he’ll need to be +6 at the worst to play the weekend. Of course, he wants to contend, not merely play the final 36 holes. So he needs something very special between now and signing his card. Did you see this putt in practice?! Scottie Scheffler’s first putt at 1 was not much shorter after his 135-yard approach came up 84-feet short. He three stabs from there. Sky Sports commentators putting the blame on the approach on Scheffler’s caddie Ted Scott and a bad yardage. Yikes. Having made bogey at 18 and 1 (he started the round on 10), Brooks Koepka found rough from the tee with an iron on the 359-yard 2nd, sand with his approach, and could only stop his ball 36 feet from the flag with his third. A two-putt makes it three bogeys in a row. No double bogey, though, which is one of the two-time US Open champion’s mantras. Thanks Scott. Significant moves from Viktor Hovland and Sam Burns today (they are -3 and -4 for their rounds). As fearsome as Oakmont is - and it is, of course, very fearsome - it has also witnessed two very famous hot streaks. Johnny Miller carded a final round 63 to win the 1973 US Open and Larry Nelson closed 65-67 to win 10 years later (his 132 was a championship low for the final 36 holes). And in-between John Mahaffey recovered from an opening 75 to record 67-68-66 to land the 1978 PGA Championship. Viktor Hovland can’t make his 20-foot par putt on 18. But he got close. It’s a dimple or two shy of dropping. Scottie Scheffler tidies up for his par, though; that’s a great scramble after the errant tee shot. Such a lovely wedge in. Meanwhile there are a few players currently under par for their round and threatening to break into red figures for the tournament: Emiliano Grillo with birdies at 17 and 3, Daniel Berger picking up shots at 11 and 12, the aforementioned Corey Conners with his birdies at 11 and 14. So here’s how things are looking now … -4: Spaun -3: Lawrence -2: Burns (9*), Hovland (9*), S Kim -1: Koepka (10*), B Griffin, Detry E: Grillo (12*), Morikawa (9*), Conners (8*), Berger (7*), Neergaard-Petersen (5*), Scott, MacIntyre … and with that, I’ll hand you over to Matt Cooper, who’ll treat you real good for the next few hours. See you a bit later! Brooks Koepka pays for a couple of mistakes on 1. His tee shot finds a fairway bunker, then after chipping out, his approach finds the green but stops well short of the flag. He can’t make the 33-foot putt to save his par, and drops back to -1 overall. Meanwhile back-to-back bogeys for Jon Rahm, at 8 and 9, and he’s out in 38, three-over for his round. He’s +2 overall, and teetering on the edge of tanty. The first wisps of smoke coming out of the lugs, for sure. Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland take their medicine on 18. After hacking out, Hovland sends his 9-iron from 150 yards pin high. He’ll have a 20-foot look at saving par. Scheffler then lobs gloriously from 138 yards to four feet, utilising the ridge running behind the flag as backstop. He'll fancy his chances of saving par from there. And what a par save it’d be, following his flat-stick shenanigans on the previous green. … but Scottie really isn’t bringing his best stuff to the party, and now he finds a fairway bunker down the right of 18. Viktor Hovland meanwhile yells “Dammit!” as he sends his tee shot into thick filth. Meanwhile up on the green, Sam Burns makes yet another birdie, his fourth of the day, and he’s played the back nine in 31 strokes. He’s -2 and will be absolutely cursing yesterday’s 5-5-5-5 finish. Mind you, having said that, could his tournament be taking a similar shape to Rory McIlroy’s Masters? Rory made a royal balls of the closing holes on Thursday, before getting things going in style on Friday. Sometimes you need that wake-up call. … and Scottie completely misreads his long putt from the front of the 17th green. He sends it 12 feet wide left and a similar distance past. Then the one coming back lips out, and slingshots five feet past the hole. Then he misses again, and that’s a bogey out of nowhere. I’m pretty sure his tee shot stopped just short of the green. Because if it didn’t, and made it on, that’ll officially be a four-putt for the world number one. Scheffler slips to +4, and for the first time, you begin to question him this week. Too early for that, right? -4: Spaun -3: Hovland (8*), Lawrence -2: Koepka (9*), S Kim -1: Burns (8*), B Griffin, Detry Eagle for Viktor Hovland at 17! His tee shot at the drivable par-four bumbles through the fringe and snuggles into the thick rough. No matter! He chips out, landing his ball one third of the way to the hole, then rolling it out in the tramliner style. It hits the flagstick and drops. The gallery roars! That’s huge. That might have gone a fair old distance past had it not dropped. He’s -3. Over to his playing partner Scottie … Brooks Koepka carves his tee shot at 18 into thick nonsense down the right. He’s forced to chip out. He lobs his third over the flag, but the ball refuses to spin back towards the cup. He’s left with a 25-footer coming back, down a ridge with a huge right-to-left break. He almost has to set it off at a right-angle. He should make the one coming back, but he’ll be dropping to -2 again. We’re back to eight players under par! Sam Burns sends his drive onto the fringe at the short par-four 17th, from where he sets himself up a four-footer for birdie. In it goes, and he moves to -1. Then in the group behind, Scottie Scheffler batters a fairway wood onto the apron. He’ll have a great chance to get up and down for birdie. Scottie Scheffler doesn’t panic. His tee shot at 16 topples into the thick greenside rough, and this time his chip out is severely underhit. He’s left with a 12-footer to avoid back-to-back bogeys. He calmly sizes it up, and rattles it straight into the middle of the cup. He remains at +3, hanging on in there, waiting for his best stuff, which will surely come along sooner or later. Corey Conners had never made the cut at the US Open until last year. Five appearances, five misses, then a top-ten finish at Pinehurst. He’s clearly developing a taste for this tournament, as he shot 72 yesterday and has opened his round today with birdies at 11 and 14. The 33-year-old Canadian is level par. Another bogey for Im Sung-jae. He can’t get up and down from greenside sand at 5, and slips back to level par. There are now just seven players under par. One of those is Brooks Koepka, who makes an outrageous birdie at the drivable 17th. His tee shot ends up on a downslope in front of a greenside bunker. It’s covered in filthy rough. He’s chipping over sand, and shortsided, the flag tucked in a nook behind the trap. So he crisply whips over the bunker, his ball landing an inch shy of the fringe, then squirting out of the thick stuff and onto it. One more inch, and that would surely have been close, one of the shots of the week. It’s still pretty darn good, and from the fringe he delicately chips in. Sheer artistry. Brooks back to within a shot! -4: Spaun -3: Koepka (8*), Lawrence -2: S Kim -1: Hovland (6*), B Griffin, Detry … so having given Scottie the big set-up, he clatters a clumsy chip 20 feet past the cup. He was clinging to the side of a steep greenside bank, one foot planted high above the other, but the lie was decent, and you’d expect him to do so much better. He can’t make the putt coming back, and that’s his first bogey of the day. Pretty much what the drive deserved, if we’re being honest, but nine times out of ten you’d expect him to get up and down from that position and get away with it. He’s back where he started the day at +3. Golf Is Hard II. Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, slips mid-drive at 15. His feet slide all over the shop, his shoulders shudder, his arms jingle and jangle independently of each other. Legs kinked in both directions. A final baroque flourish with the hands, as though he’s trying to draw a treble clef in mid-air. Imagine Jarvis Cocker trying to play golf. Very strange. He’s lucky to find sand instead of knee-high rough, then sends his next shot into the heart of the green. Of course he does. It topples off the side, and he’ll have work to do to get up and down from the thick surround for his par, but that’s pretty much the best he could expect from where he found himself. Amazing how he can keep calm and reset so quickly. It Could Be Worse dept. Spare a thought for poor Will Chandler. The 28-year-old from Georgia made his US Open debut yesterday and shot 78. That eight-over struggle will feel like Salad Days today. He’s just played the front nine in 47 strokes, 12-over for his round. Two pars, four bogeys, two double bogeys and a quadruple. He opened 6-6-8-6. Adding insult to injury, he set himself up with a birdie chance on 9, sending an iron from 163 yards to six feet, only to miss the putt. He’s +20. Golf is hard. James Nicholas came in very late last night with a 69. Not too shabby a first-ever round in US Open competition for the 28-year-old from New York state. But he’s started scrappily this morning. A double-bogey six on 1, the result of finding sand off the tee, then a missed short putt. He’s +1 and now there are just eight players under par for the tournament. -4: Spaun -3: Lawrence -2: Koepka (6*), S Kim -1: Im (4), Hovland (4*), B Griffin, Detry Scottie Scheffler chips delicately out of the thick greenside rough at 13. Up to four feet, and he makes his par saver. Viktor Hovland can’t find the cup with his left-to-right birdie slider, though. He remains at -1. But some trouble for Brooks Koepka on 15, where his tee shot disappears into a penalty zone to the right of the fairway. He’s able to swipe it back out, mind, but can only send his approach to 20 feet. In fact he’s fairly fortunate his ball doesn’t topple back down the false front. In the end, he nearly drains the par putt, but that’s his second bogey of the day. Back to -2 for Brooks. Jon Rahm considers throwing a little tanty. A birdie chance on 4 from six feet. Having been given a good read by Jordan Spieth, whose ball kinks off to the left on its final turn, he learns nothing whatsoever, repeating the mistake but from significantly shorter distance. He batters the ground with the bottom of his putter but then takes a deep breath, and a moment to reflect, before tidying up for par. He remains at level par. Hey, he’s often at his best when he runs hot. Opening bogey for Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, meanwhile; the young Dane drops to level par and off our leaderboard. -4: Spaun -3: Koepka (5*), Lawrence -2: S Kim -1: Im (3), Hovland (3*), B Griffin, Detry, Nicholas In the group behind Burns: Viktor Hovland. And he’s started fast as well. He follows his aforementioned birdie at 10 with another at the par-five 12th. He’s -1. Now he’s sent a lovely iron into the heart of the par-three 13th to set up another birdie chance from 12 feet. Problems for his playing partner Scottie Scheffler, though; his tee shot doesn’t quite reach the green and sticks in the thick surround. That won’t be an easy chip. Sam Burns suffered a nightmare finish last night: 5-5-5-5, the last four holes played in five-over par. He signed for a 72 that had promised so much more. But last week’s Canadian Open runner-up has repaired much of the damage in short order, with birdies at 11 and now 13. He’s back to level par and suddenly looking much happier with life. Ryan Fox is having a rare old caper. Birdie, bogey, par, birdie, bogey, birdie. The last two holes illustrate the up-and-down nature of his round. On 14, he zig-zags up the hole and is left with a 50-footer for par. He races that 12 feet past the hole … then makes the one coming back to limit the damage. Then on 15, he sends a 200-yard fairway-bunker shot to eight feet, and tidies up for birdie. Up and down all right. He’s +1 and still high on life after his Canadian Open win and that 3-wood. Jon Rahm makes his par at 3, having visited the 4th fairway, then finds the same stretch of short grass again with his next tee shot. His partner Jordan Spieth meanwhile could do with finding a fairway or two: he sends his effort from the tee box into more oomska, and he’s going to run up quite the score if his driver keeps behaving like this. Probably shouldn’t have made such a big thing of Jordan Spieth’s street-fighting smarts. A scrambled par on 1, but having dropped a stroke back there at 2, he’s gotten wild off the tee again on 3, leading to another bogey. You can’t keep making mid-range par savers. He’s +2 and suddenly looks a little pensive. … so with that Brooks birdie, let’s update the leaderboard for the first time today. Im Sung-jae heads the other way, having come a cropper on the false front of the 2nd green, his ball toppling back down the fairway. -4: Spaun -3: Koepka (3*), Lawrence -2: S Kim -1: Im (2), B Griffin, Detry, Neergaard-Petersen, Nicholas Brooks Koepka finds the par-five 12th in two big bloots, then nearly makes the eagle putt from 26 feet. Not quite, but that’s back-to-back birdies for Brooks, a fine response to that opening bogey. He closes in on the lead at -3. But not such good news for his playing partner Justin Thomas, who three-putts from three feet and chalks up a double bogey. JT shot 76 yesterday, and surviving the cut is already looking like a pipe dream. He’s +9. Jordan Spieth can’t make his par putt on 2. He slips back to +1. Also heading in the wrong direction is his playing partner, the 2021 champion Jon Rahm. The 30-year-old Spaniard is busy rediscovering his major-championship form after some mixed experiences of late, and opened with a fine 69 yesterday. But his first shot this morning found a fairway bunker and led to bogey. He’s level par now, and has just hit another wild tee shot, this time so far left at 3 that he clears the Church Pew bunker and ends up on the 4th fairway. No real harm done there. Sheer brilliance from Scottie Scheffler on 11. His tee shot bounds towards a bunker down the left of the track, but sticks in the rough to its side. Standing in the trap with the ball way above his feet, he’s forced to take his medicine, clipping back onto the fairway. But then the cream rises. He sends his approach scampering past the hole, the ball screeching to a halt and spinning back, nearly dropping into the cup. Another 11 inches and it’d have been an outrageous birdie. It’s still a pretty amazing par. Kids, be like Scottie, keep calm and take your medicine. That stuff’s good for you. A bounce-back birdie for Brooks Koepka at the short par-four 11th. He’s -2 again. But back on 2, real trouble for Jordan Spieth, who takes a shy at the green from the thick rough down the right, but only manages to advance his ball a yard or so. The grass murderously throttling the hosel there. His second attempt is much more successful, and he finds the green, though he’ll need to sink a 25-footer if he’s to escape with par again. … and ah yes, there’s Spieth flaying his tee shot at 2 into deep trouble down the right. Oh Jordan. Good luck with that. Elsewhere, a couple of big early birdies. Viktor Hovland rakes one in from the fringe at 10, a huge swinging right-to-left 52-footer that earns a huge roar from the gallery. The popular Norwegian moves back to level par. And he’s going round with Scottie Scheffler, who makes birdie too, but in more traditional style, finding the centre of the green before steering in an uphill 20-footer. He’s +2 and here he comes! If anyone has the mix of street-fighting savvy and short-game magic to hold Oakmont at arm’s length, it’s surely Jordan Spieth. The 2015 champ has been showing signs of emerging from his recent slump, and shot 70 yesterday, a most acceptable start to his hunt for a second US Open. He’s started today in trademark style: a loose tee shot that ends up in the thick stuff, necessitating the taking of medicine. Once he chips out, he spins his approach from 100 yards to five feet, and tickles in the putt to save his par. If he can get the driver behaving – admittedly a big if for the Seve-esque wild man – he’ll be in with a shout this week. Conditions are very similar to yesterday. Warm but not oppressive; a little bit of moisture in the air to keep the course responsive; not much in the way of wind. On Sky Sports, David Howell suggests today’s scoring will be very similar too. So don’t expect too many of the lads ripping it up: only one player was bogey-free yesterday, the leader JJ Spaun, and his round was only the second bogey-free card in the last 1,037 US Open rounds at Oakmont. Scottie Scheffler was uncharacteristically sloppy yesterday. But then Oakmont can do that to a golfer, even the world’s very best. He’s far from out of contention after yesterday’s three-over 73, but he can’t afford the same again. His first shot of the day is a driving iron that splits the 10th fairway. Big couple of hours coming up for the world number one. The 2017 and 2018 champion Brooks Koepka finished strongly last night with birdies at 17 and 18. He’s not started so well this morning, however. His opening tee shot at 10 drifts into rough down the right. He can’t reach the green with his second, and though he gives himself a chance of redemption by wedging to ten feet, the putt’s missed, and the errant drive has cost him an opening bogey. He’s -1. Day one wasn’t exactly carnage – the course was relatively soft and receptive after rain earlier in the week, while there was little wind – but unless storms come at the weekend, something not yet certain, it’s not going to get any easier. And despite it all, there were only ten players in a field of 156 who finished the first round under par. -4: JJ Spaun -3: Thriston Lawrence -2: Kim Si-woo, Brooks Koepka, Im Sung-jae -1: Ben Griffin, Thomas Detry, Jon Rahm, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, James Nicholas However there are very few big-name players not on that list who have played themselves out of it. Not Scottie and Bryson at +3, nor Rory and 54-year-old Phil the Thrill at +4. But the margins for error are smaller now. Should make for a great Moving-into-Moving-Day Day! Actually, let’s not make that a thing. Here are the tee times (USA unless stated, all times BST, (a) denotes amateur). It’s on! Starting at hole 1 11.45 Will Chandler, Andrea Pavan (Ita), Takumi Kanaya (Jpn) 11.56 (a) Bryan Lee, Guido Migliozzi (Ita), Preston Summerhays 12.07 Max Greyserman, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa), Matt Wallace (Eng) 12.18 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Russell Henley, Nick Taylor (Can) 12.29 Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm (Spa), Jordan Spieth 12.40 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Sepp Straka (Aut) 12.51 Tom Hoge, J. T. Poston, Cameron Young 13.02 Michael Kim, Matthieu Pavon (Fra), Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 13.13 Nick Dunlap, Marc Leishman (Aus), Aaron Rai (Eng) 13.24 Matthew Jordan (Eng), Carlos Ortiz (Mex), Yuta Sugiura (Jpn) 13.35 Trevor Cone, Ryan McCormick, (a) Zachery Pollo 13.46 James Nicholas, (a) Tyler Weaver (Eng), Riki Kawamoto (Jpn) 13.57 George Duangmanee, Harrison Ott, Austen Truslow 17.30 Zachary Blair, Alistair Docherty, Scott Vincent (Zim) 17.41 Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa), Jordan Smith (Eng), Eric Cole 17.52 Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor), Taylor Pendrith (Can), J. J. Spaun 18.03 Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Adam Scott (Aus) 18.14 Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy, Andrew Novak 18.25 Shane Lowry (Irl), Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Justin Rose (Eng) 18.36 Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Si-Woo Kim (Kor) 18.47 Brian Harman, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith (Aus) 18.58 Brian Campbell, Justin Lower, Niklas Noergaard (Den) 19.09 Johnny Keefer, (a) Jackson Koivun, Davis Riley 19.20 James Hahn, Mark Hubbard, (a) Michael La Sasso 19.31 Chris Gotterup, (a) Mason Howell, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 19.42 Zachary Bauchou, Jackson Buchanan, (a) Lance Simpson Starting at hole 10 11.45 Sam Bairstow (Eng), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Frederic Lacroix (Fra) 11.56 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Joe Highsmith, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 12.07 Jacob Bridgeman, Victor Perez (Fra), Adam Schenk 12.18 Brooks Koepka, Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Justin Thomas 12.29 Sam Burns, Nicolas Echavarria (Col), Denny McCarthy 12.40 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler 12.51 Corey Conners (Can), Jason Day (Aus), Patrick Reed 13.02 Daniel Berger, Bud Cauley, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 13.13 Tony Finau, Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Chris Kirk 13.24 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), Stephan Jaeger (Ger), (a) Benjamin James 13.35 Laurie Canter (Eng), (a) Justin Hastings (Cay), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den) 13.46 Roberto Diaz (Mex), Emilio Gonzalez (Mex), (a) Frankie Harris 13.57 Joey Herrera, George Kneiser, Grant Haefner 17.30 Trent Phillips, Kevin Velo, (a) Matt Vogt 17.41 Chandler Blanchet, Alvaro Ortiz (Mex), Doug Ghim 17.52 (a) Evan Beck, Justin B. Hicks, Maxwell Moldovan 18.03 Keegan Bradley, Harris English, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 18.14 Jose Luis Ballester (Spa), Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele 18.25 Wyndham Clark, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Gary Woodland 18.36 Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Matt McCarty 18.47 Cameron Davis (Aus), Thomas Detry (Bel), Davis Thompson 18.58 Richard Bland (Eng), Lanto Griffin, (a) Trevor Gutschewski 19.09 Ryan Gerard, Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Sam Stevens 19.20 (a) Noah Kent, Thriston Lawrence (Rsa), Thorbjoern Olesen (Den) 19.31 Jinichiro Kozuma (Jpn), (a) Cameron Tankersley, Chase Johnson 19.42 Philip Barbaree, Brady Calkins, Riley Lewis
Author: Scott Murray and Matt Cooper