Oakmont, Pennsylvania – We spent two days at Oakmont Country Club, with only three players still under the dominance of the 156ers field: Sam Burns, JJ Spaun and Viktor Hovland.
How about the US Open?
With the third major championship of the year turning to the weekend, this is what we learned in the second round (not over yet, there are 13 players who need to finish their own rounds on Saturday morning) and what to expect in the final game.
How far do you think you are still fighting for?
Mark Schrabach: History shows that Sunday’s champion will be one of the top five golfers currently, but I’m not sure it will be true at Oakmont Country Club.
According to Erias Sports Bureau, 11 of the last 12 U.S. Open champions have entered the top five after 36 holes. The exception is Matt Fitzpatrick.
In the 125-year history of the U.S. Open, only three champions are in the top 20 range after 36 holes: Lou Graham in 1975 (27th), Larry Nelson, 1983 (tying 25th) and Webb Simpson in 2012 (tying 29th).
Just as difficult as Oakmont’s game, there are some great rounds, which proved in JJ Spaun’s 66-66 on Thursday and 65-year-old Friday.
A four to five shots, or even more, might assemble two stable rounds. When our Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley was asked if there was a possibility of 65-shot 5 over the weekend, he said: “If it rains.”
The sky is open before 14 golfers finish their second round on Friday night.
Paolo uggetti: If it’s 5 or even 6, Saturday’s race is a bit of a run, especially when the lead score is around or even par, but the real answer is 4, which doesn’t shock me because that’s where Scottie Scheffler is.
Scheffler fought on Friday, despite showing a lot of frustration as he couldn’t get any foundation on the top of the board. 71 wasn’t his idea, but he still didn’t get seven shots behind Burns at 3. Oakmont is a shooting player’s route, and no one is better than Scheffler.
“At the U.S. Open, I don’t think you’ve ever been in the game,” Schffler said. “After two days, I’m probably ranked 25th or 30th after today, and like I said, that’s by no means an exit from the tournament.”
The world’s No. 1 player descended onto the driving range after the game and was frustrated when working with his long-time swing coach Randy Smith. If there is any doubt about Schefller, it is that he seems to be fighting his swing. But like in the PGA Championship, the meeting with Smith unlocked him and I could see that he figured it out quickly. This brings trouble to the rest of the field.
What are the forecasts for the weekend and what impact will the weather have?
Uggetti: As the second round approached Friday night in Pittsburgh, the sky poured heavily on the golf course for more than an hour, sure to change the way Oakmont plays Saturday and beyond.
There will be more rain overnight and thunderstorms on Saturday. Currently, forecasts require 90% rain on Saturday and 70% on Sunday. There is no real wind – at least not very impacting the camera – it seems that those layoffs may get softer this weekend in Oakmont.
But if you are still looking for high scores, don’t worry. The tough tough will be healthier and tougher, and the USGA should be able to play with more pins and green speeds that can still keep this game tough despite the wet conditions.
“Unless it’s lightning, or a tornado, I’m going to play with anything,” said Ben Griffin, who was sitting there. “It’s more annoying than anything. But, from a swing standpoint, I don’t mind playing in the rain, obviously it will soften most weeks. This might make it a little easier, or maybe we have to start thinking about the rotation control of the wedge if it’s really raining. What’s the rain tomorrow? Is the rain steady?
Who do you think you like the most now?
Schrabach: I think there may be 10 to 15 golfers to win at this point. Sam Burns struggled in the profession until he finished ninth in the U.S. Open last year, which was surprising for someone who won five times on the PGA Tour.
Maybe this week is his time. He is one of the best putts in the world, requiring only 55 putts in the first two rounds. His iron performance this week was excellent (he got over two strokes in nearly two close to two), and his short match was helpful (he got about two strokes there).
Burns has won 11 birdies in two rounds, which Dustin Johnson owned when he won the 2016 U.S. Open in Oakmont.
“I think sometimes [I was] “Trying to be too perfect on the main golf course, I think especially here, honestly, it kind of forces you to take medication because a lot of the time, it’s your only option. I think for this golf course, you really just have to release it. It’s too difficult to try to guide it here. You’re going to hit a little bit in rough situations, you’re going to hit a little bit in some bad attractions, you’d better do it under authority. Yes, it’s going to be a fun weekend.”
This is part of Burns’ lead in at least 36 holes on the PGA Tour. He won once in the first seven games, at the 2021 Valspar Championship.
Uggetti: Of the nine players who won the U.S. Open in Oakmont, seven of them were first-time winners, and I have been watching Viktor Hovland, one of only three players, is ideal for continuing this trend.
Hofland has two very different statistical rounds. On Thursday, he scored more than four shots on the court, but lost three of his putts. On Friday, he lost nearly half of his stroke on the court and scored nearly two shots with a putt. Still, I think it makes sense for him to represent the game in the game: he finished the top 15 from the tee, approach and short matches, and No. 111 got the game: putter.
This makes his task very simple: if his putter improves, he will keep it in it. He’s so good that the batsman isn’t there. Plus, despite the effort on Friday’s stadium performance that seemed to have broken the game by various players, Hofland was still calm.
When asked about his nearly lost his mind in one round, Hofland shrugged.
“I’m not really close,” Hofland said. “I put it together very well.”
It’s a huge asset in itself when you come to Oakmont on the weekend.
Are sleeper competitions on weekends?
Schrabach: Is it fair to call the former world number one and master’s champion for sleeper? If so, Adam Scott could be the second round of his second straight 70, entering the tie fourth.
As Scott, 44, said after Friday’s round, he was trying to play “the old man’s golf.” According to Elias, he is the fifth-largest player in the top five after 36 holes in the U.S. Open in the past 20 years.
“It’s hard there,” Scott said. “It’s hard to keep going when the guys run. It looks like they’re back.”
Scott did nothing spectacular in the first two rounds, but he avoided big numbers and covered up the taboo with birdies. He had five bogeys and five birdies in the first round, and then three in the second round.
The Australian averaged 313 yards from the tee and hit 17 yards in 28 fairways. He got about two strokes on his T-shirt on the court. He also scored more than two entry points, reaching 27 in 36 greens, ranking second in the field.
“I’ve been on the fairway on the tee so there’s not a lot of pressure in the round,” Scott said. “I think I’m playing well on the tee and the rest of the game can start from there.”
Scott has no top 10 in his 11 PGA Tour games this season. The 2013 Masters champion missed the Augusta National layoffs but joined Quail Hollow to tie for 19th place.
It seems his best golf is in the rearview mirror, or at least this is what I wrote earlier this week. Boy, I was wrong.
When Scott was asked to describe his windows to win the large Friday window, he replied: “Ajar.”
Uggetti: There is a player on this board who thrives and loves the setup, and it’s Brooks Koepka, who has only five shots and only eight guys in front of him.
Koepka almost wanted to control the game Friday morning, when he scored 35 shots in the back and even reached 35 at some point. The front is far less ideal as he lets the four bogeys put a damper on solid performance. But this is the U.S. Open, and Koepka has won two previous wins. No one is better at taking this type of test than Koepka.
As he explained Thursday, his recent work with coach Pete Cowen helped him get rid of bad habits and got back on track after missing the first two layoffs in this year’s Grand Slam.
“It started to feel good. It started to click,” Koepka said. “I started to see the ball’s flying development was a good little fade out and I didn’t miss it in both directions. It’s very stable now.”
Like Hofland, Koepka struggled around the green, losing his shots for both his short play and putt. If that improves slightly, he will be a factor this weekend.
The biggest disappointment?
Schrabach: Where did you start? There are a lot of high-profile golfers missing out on layoffs: Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith and Ludvig Åberg, 8; Tommy Fleetwood, 9. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau are ten years old; Sepp Straka is 11 years old. Justin Thomas is 12 years old. Justin Rose is 14 years old. Shane Lowry ended at 17.
It has to be Dechambeau, right? He is defending our Open and was involved in the final round of the PGA Championship held at Quail Hollow Club last month. However, he couldn’t handle Oakmont as he scored 77 points on Friday.
DeChambeau’s second round scorecard consists of eight bogeys, one double bogey and three birdies. He is usually one of the best putts on the field, but he lost about 1.5 on the green and requires 61 of 36 holes. He never seemed to have mastered the speed of lightning. He didn’t get off the tee accurately (13 of 28 fairways), and his new iron didn’t do well as he hit 20 of 36 greens.
