Collin Morikawa and Joel Dahmen are the 36-hole leaders of the U.S. Open after an entertaining second round at The Country Club on Friday, tied at five under.
Dahmen was one stroke off the lead after the first round, and he followed it up with a strong 68 in windy conditions. He is one of three players to shoot 68 or better in the opening two rounds. Morikawa came into the day at one under, and shot the round of the day as the only player to get around in 66.
One stroke back from the lead is a five-man group headlined by stars Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, along with American duo Hayden Buckley and Aaron Wise. Buckley and Wise were the two players along Dahmen to shoot back-to-back 68s.
Beau Hossler joined that group at four under thanks to a chip-in birdie on his final hole.
World number one Scottie Scheffler is part of the group at three under, and he shared the early clubhouse lead following a three-under 67. He is joined by Nick Hardy, Matthew NeSmith, Patrick Rodgers and Brian Harman to round out the top-10.
Overnight leader Adam Hadwin is a further shot back at two under with Sam Burns and Matt Fitzpatrick, while South Africa's M.J. Daffue – who was three strokes clear atop the leaderboard early in his round at six under – posted five bogeys and no birdies down the back nine to head into the weekend at one under.
Also at one under are hopefuls Xander Schauffele and Will Zalatoris, still well within striking distance, while Hideki Matsuyama and Brooks Koepka headline the group at even par.
Star-studded duo Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson are at one over, and the pair of Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau are at two over, one stroke clear of the cut-line.
Finishing right on the cut-line at three over was recent winner Lee Kyoung-hoon and Colombia's Sebastian Munoz, who has a pair of top-three finishes this season.
Plenty of big names missed the cut, with the international contingent of Spain's Sergio Garcia, Ireland's Shane Lowry, Chile's Mito Pereira and Canada's Corey Conners all one shot out at four over. Tony Finau finished five over, Cameron Smith was six over, and the pair of Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland were both at seven over.
Shot of the day
Cameron Young had a moment he will never forget when he conjured up a hole-in-one at the par-three sixth.
There were huge cheers after the American's dream tee shot at the 165-yard hole dropped in. Young was unable to make the cut – missing out by one stroke – but not without achieving a rare feat.
Player of the day - Collin Morikawa
Morikawa produced the round of the day to ensure he is the man to catch heading into the weekend.
The two-time major winner was not at his brilliant best, but five birdies and just the one bogey at the par-five fourth putting him in the lead.
Chipping in
Morikawa: "No one has taken it deep so far and kind of run away, but you know what, right now my game feels really good. The last few days is a huge confidence booster for me heading into this weekend, and hopefully we can kind of make some separation somehow."
Scheffler: "I've been number one in the world for a while now, and it doesn't really feel like it, so I kind of like just under the radar. I can show up and do my thing and then go home and rest."
A little birdie told me...
- Young's ace was the 48th in US Open history.
- Nick Hardy and M.J. Daffue emerged from the Springfield, Ohio qualifying. They both held a share of the lead on Friday.
- Scheffler is bidding to become only the second player to win this major while world number one since the Official World Golf Rankings began in 1986. Tiger Woods (2000, 2002 and 2008) is the only man to achieved that.
- Matthew Fitzpatrick is looking to emulate Jack Nicklaus by winning the US Amateur and US Open on the same course.
Scheffler swinging with confidence at Tour Championship despite seeing lead cut to four
Scottie Scheffler insists his swing is "in a good spot" despite seeing his lead at the top of the Tour Championship standings cut to four shots on the second day.
Scheffler, who is aiming to win his first FedEx Cup title, carded 65 in his opening round and entered the second round with a 10-shot lead.
However, the world number one saw American duo Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele close the gap during a weather-disrupted second round on Friday.
Scheffler carded a round of 66 to take himself to 21 under par, aided by two birdies in the final three holes to keep the chasing back at bay.
"I feel like my swing is in a good spot, and I've hit it nice the last couple of days," he said. "A lot of quality stuff out there, and in a good spot going into the weekend."
Morikawa is four shots off the pace after producing a superb eight-under 63, which was the best round of the day, and has surged up the standings to second place.
In an impressive round, he dropped just one shot on the 11th hole, but made amends on the back nine before closing with back-to-back birdies.
"He's going to continue to make birdies," Morikawa said about the possibility of catching Scheffler. "He's driving it really, really well here, and you're giving yourself enough wedges to make some scoring opportunities out there.
"For me, it's just about bringing energy and just staying alive out there."
Schauffele is in third, one shot behind compatriot Morikawa, after shooting an impressive second-round 64 to remain in the hunt for the $25million prize money.
There is then a four-shot gap until a group of three players, including Adam Scott, are tied for fourth place at 12 under, while Rory McIlroy is tied for 10th place on eight under.
'Still feel like I've got a chance', says McIlroy as Scheffler takes Tour Championship lead
Scottie Scheffler is in prime position to win his first FedEx Cup title after storming into a seven-shot lead at the Tour Championship.
The world number one, who started on 10 under due to the FedEx Cup's staggered structure, carded a superb 65 in the first round of the PGA Tour's season-ending tournament, after recovering from an early bogey at East Lake.
Scheffler's haul included seven birdies, with five of those coming from his last seven holes, as he bids to win a seventh PGA Tour event of the season.
His main FedEx Cup challenger Xander Schauffele is tied for second on nine under par, along with Collin Morikawa, while Rory McIlroy is three shots back in T10.
However, the Northern Irishman has not given up hope of applying pressure to Scheffler as the tournament goes on.
"I'm happy with how I hung in there and had a good finish," McIlroy told Sky Sports.
"When I saw Scottie had gotten to 14, I was like, 'Oh, got to try to just hang on to the coattails a little bit'.
"Still feel like I've got a chance, and it was nice to finish the way I did."
Scheffler, also speaking to Sky Sports, said: "Yeah, I'm pleased with the day.
"I tried not to think about any sort of lead or anything like that, my job was to go out there and execute and I felt like I did a really good job of that. I felt like I was doing some good stuff to start the day.
"I had the bogey on one but after that I felt like I played some really good golf."
Bradley in disbelief after moving into FedEx Cup contention with BMW Championship win
Keegan Bradley was in disbelief after putting himself in FedEx Cup contention by winning his second BMW Championship title on Sunday.
Bradley, who was appointed as the United States' 2025 Ryder Cup captain last month, edged out Adam Scott to claim a one-shot victory at the event near Denver.
Scott pulled level with Bradley at the start of his final round but later bogeyed three straight holes as the American won his seventh PGA Tour title.
Bradley, who also won the 2018 tournament by beating Justin Rose in a play-off, now sits fourth in the FedEx Cup standings, behind Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama.
Following his victory, the 38-year-old set his sights on another triumph at next week's Tour Championship in Atlanta, having only just squeezed into the 50-player field at Castle Pines.
"Oh, man, it just shows why you've got to grind it out every week because you never know how fast it can switch," Bradley said.
"Now I go to Atlanta with a chance to win the FedEx Cup. I can't believe it. I'm so excited.
"I'm in a bit of a state of shock because there was a time a week ago about this time that I didn't think I was going to be coming here.
"I had to have a lot of magical things happen for me to just play in this tournament, and when I got here, I was so grateful just to be here.
"I played with a real sense of calm all week, which is not the norm for me"
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