Carnage.
The only word to describe the way Oakmont Country Club eviscerated even the best golfers — just three finished under par after 36 holes.
At the top of the group is Sam Burns, who finished 3 under par. Following him in the No. 2 spot is first-round leader J.J. Spaun, who notched a 2-over-par day to finish his first two rounds 2 under par. Rounding out the above-par golfers is Viktor Hovland, whose 3-under-par round leaves him at 1 under par.
With the near-end of the second round of play for the U.S. Open comes the most dreaded word in golf — the cut.
As the second round began to wrap up, the cut line became clearer, and those surrounding the cutline began to garner more attention. At the U.S. Open, the cut line includes the top 60 golfers, plus anyone tied at No. 60. The cut — at the end of the second round — was 7 over par.
Notables to miss the cut
Wyndham Clark needed to make par on hole No. 9 to retain his score of 7 over par and make the cut, but he missed the mid-range putt and was below the cutline after the completion of the last hole.
Ludvig Åberg was quite close to carrying on to the weekend. He was 10 inches away from a birdie on his final hole, but he settled for par to keep his score at 8 over par, just outside the cut.
Notable players who were just outside the cut include 2024 U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson, Joaquín Niemann and longtime golf great Phil Mickelson in what is likely the last U.S. Open appearance of his career.
Notables to make the cut
Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, birdied hole No. 18 to safely make the cut by scoring 6 over par, with by far the biggest crowd late into the evening.
Tony Finau’s four-birdie and four-par day kept him even par for the round, meaning his 6-over-par score from the first round will keep him playing through the weekend.
Patrick Reed — who notably had an albatross on the first day — began with a rough start but birdied hole No. 17 and made par on No. 18 to keep him within the cut line.
Other players who made the cut are Jason Day, Keegan Bradley, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler. All made the cut comfortably, with Morikawa and Scheffler carding the highest out of that group at 4 over par.
A look ahead
The clear favorites for winning the tournament are the three above par, but Adam Scott and Ben Griffin trail close behind, both at even par. Scott has now played two rounds of even-par golf, while Griffin began the day at 1-under-par and had a bit of a back-and-forth round before finishing 1 over par on the round.
With the rain that helped bring the second round to an early close, the course should play much softer and therefore easier for the final two rounds of the weekend. This could favor less powerful drivers and bodes well for players such as Burns and Thriston Lawrence, who finished in the top 10 heading into the weekend despite a bogey-filled second round.
Shot of the evening
Thomas Detry, who has occupied a spot atop the leaderboard within the top 20 since the beginning of his first round, made a tough shot for eagle on hole No. 14 to bring his score from 1 over par to 1 under par. Detry would go on to finish his round 2 over par.
Rain Delay
With just four groups remaining on the course, a rain delay was called at Oakmont. Three players in this group can make the cut. Lawrence is set to make it regardless if his 4-foot putt for par is made or missed, but his putt will determine his pairing for the third round so he must finish his round regardless.
Philip Barbaree is looking at a 28-foot putt for par on his second-to-last hole of the day and currently holds a score of 6 over par. He only has one stroke to give over his final two holes. Chris Gotterup has a lengthy putt on the final hole for birdie but stands at 5 over par and would need to four putt to miss the cut.
One longshot to possibly make the cut tomorrow morning is Jinichiro Kozuma, who would need to make a 190-foot shot from the right-side rough on hole No. 9 to finish his round at 7 over par.
The post Course wreaks havoc on seasoned veterans, delay looms large appeared first on The Pitt News.