As the sun sets on the second round of the U.S. Open in Pinehurst, let's follow up on some of the players on our watchlist from Wednesday.
Scottie Scheffler - As mentioned before, as with the stock market “Don't fight the trend.” While this is usually true, everyone is bound to have a few bad days. Though Scheffeler has been on an unbelievable streak as of late, Pinehurst showed its teeth on Friday.
Greens and short game seemed to be areas that tripped him up on the holes where he was over par, carding bogeys on both par threes on the back nine as a result of some missed chips — notably on the 15th hole where he nearly rolled his chip over the green and into the greenside bunker on his second shot, only to be saved by the last slightly elevated hump of the green.
Scheffler also struggled — along with his playing partner Xander Schauffele — on the par 5 where, after going for the green in two, he proceeded to require three chips to get on the green and eventually double bogey the hole. After the conclusion of his round, he sits at +5 and will make the cut by one shot.
Brooks Koepka - After a hot 3 under start Thursday, Koepka ended his round bogeying three out of six holes to finish even for the day. Koepka was right in the middle of the pack to start the day but succumbed to the tough on-course conditions on Friday and ended up +5 when his last putt dropped for bogey. Many players will be owing Koepka drinks at the bar in the future as he ended up bogeying his final hole, which guaranteed all players at +5 for the day would make the weekend. Xander Schauffele - Schauffele ended Round 1 at even par having an exciting round with four birdies and four bogeys. Schauffele would struggle early in his round carding back-to-back bogeys on his first and second hole of the day before going on an absolute tear going 5 under over a nine-hole stretch in the middle of his round. As with Scheffeler, he would also struggle with the tricky green complexes on the par 5, where he would card a double. Schauffele is solidly in the mix heading into the weekend sitting at tied for ninth. Bryson Dechambeau - Dechambeau has not disappointed so far this week, drawing large crowds and becoming somewhat of a fan favorite around the Pinehurst campus. Dechambeau has been all over the leaderboard since the start of his round, jumping out to a two-under start quickly and putting him right in the mix. He has not dropped far from that spot and has been steady throughout both rounds carding a -3 Round 1 and -1 Round 2. Dechambeau is right near the top of the leaderboard sitting currently at T3. Tiger Woods - Crowds 4-20-plus deep at every corner of the golf course during Woods’ rounds Thursday and Friday. The energy around him this year in the U.S. Open is unmatched to anyone else on the course. People crowded into every nook and cranny. Hundreds of phones up and the loudest cheers I have heard on course all week. Woods carded a +4 round on day one and fought for his life on Friday as he was on or around the cutline from the time he teed off. I have yet to meet one patron who is not pulling for him this week. Though he finished the day outside, the cut chants of “thank you Tiger” and plethora of support and cheers could be heard as he walked up the 18th hole. He holed his par putt and waved to a raucous crowd and a standing ovation to send him off for the week. Luke Clanton - After appearing as if Clanton would make the cut, this week was severely in question after his first round 76. After his round on Friday, the amateur from Hialeah, Florida, strung together an impressive second round to put himself in position to possibly make the weekend. As the temperatures heated up Friday, so did Clanton’s game as he put together a -1 score of 69 to put himself right around the cutline projected to be around +4 to +5 by the end of the day. With four holes to play, Clanton put together an impressive stretch to get anywhere near the number and boy did he not disappoint. Paring the difficult 15th and 16th holes — which proved treacherous on Friday — and then making two clutch putts on 17 and 18 for back-to-back birdies to finish the round, Clanton ended his round -1 and sits at +5 overall. Clanton may have the most clutch finish of the week, birding exactly what he needed coming down the stretch to make the cut. His fellow Seminole Koepka boggied his final hole to help Clanton make it to the weekend. Clanton and Brooks played a practice round together on Wednesday and though it's probably not the way Koepka wanted to end his round, no doubt it will be exciting for his fellow Florida State competitor. Zachary Pessagno is a photographer and pro golf contributor to the RO. He lives in Aberdeen.
