Oakmont (United States) (AFP) – South African Thriston Lawrence reeled off three consecutive birdies to grab the US Open lead from American J.J. Spaun in Friday’s second round, with Sam Burns seizing the clubhouse lead. Back-nine starter Lawrence sank a 25-foot birdie putt at 11 to equal Spaun, then made a birdie putt from just inside seven feet at the par-five 12th and a 19-footer to birdie the par-three 13th to reach six-under par. When Spaun made bogey at the 10th, the South African’s lead was suddenly three strokes over Spaun and Burns, whose five-under 65 matched the third-best US Open round at Oakmont as all three chased a first major win.
“It felt like I played really well. Today was really nice,” Burns said. “There’s obviously a lot of golf left on a very tough course.” Burns was on three-under 137 after 36 holes, with Norway’s Viktor Hovland on 139 after shooting 68. Only two US Open rounds in Oakmont history were lower than Burns’s 65, Johnny Miller’s final-round 63 to win in 1973 and a 64 by Loren Roberts in the third round in 1994. “Super impressive,” Hovland said of Burns. “It just feels like you have to play absolutely perfect and have some good breaks going your way, as well. But it’s definitely doable.”
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World number 22 Burns sank a 22-foot par putt at the ninth hole, his last of the day. He drained a 21-foot birdie putt at 11, a six-footer to birdie the par-three 13th, and back-to-back short birdie putts at 17 and 18. Burns answered a bogey at the first with a five-foot birdie putt at the second and reached the green in two to set up a tap-in birdie at the par-five fourth hole, then parred into the clubhouse. “It’s really difficult,” Burns said. “Sometimes the best thing is just to take your medicine.” Burns, who shared ninth at last year’s US Open for his best major finish, last won at the 2023 WGC Match Play, but he fired a Sunday 62 before losing a Canadian Open playoff last week. “I felt like my game was in good form coming in here,” Burns said.
Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka made eight bogeys and four birdies to shoot 74 and stand on two-over 142. France’s Victor Perez aced the par-three sixth hole from 192 yards, hitting the 54th hole-in-one in US Open history but only the second ace at a US Open at Oakmont. Perez shot 70 to stand on 141. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler fired a 71 with five bogeys and four birdies to stand on 144. “Felt like me getting away with one-over today wasn’t all that bad,” he said. “It could have been a lot worse.” Spain’s Jon Rahm was on 144 after a frustrating 75. “I’m too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective,” Rahm said. “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.”
With few exceptions, Oakmont was delivering blows to golf’s top talent. “Everyone seems like they’re exhausted when they come in off the course just because it’s a punch in the face,” American Denny McCarthy said. “It just takes a lot out of you.” World number two Rory McIlroy, who won the Masters in April to complete a career Grand Slam, made double bogeys at the first and third holes to reach eight-over, putting the five-time major winner just beyond the projected cut line to the low 60 and ties. South Korean Im Sung-jae, who opened on 68, fired a 77 to stumble back.
© 2024 AFP
