Burns stands alone as big names crumble at Oakmont
Sam Burns' early charge Friday was enough to hold the 36-hole lead at the U.S. Open as the biggest names in golf fell apart during Round 2 at Oakmont.
Burns took care of business first thing in the morning with a scorching 5-under 65 to post 3-under before the afternoon wave teed off. That marks the third-lowest round ever shot in a U.S. Open at Oakmont and is Burns' best score in his career at the event.
That would end up being more than enough to lead, as only J.J. Spaun and Viktor Hovland joined him with under-par totals through two rounds.
| Place | Player | Round 2 score | Total to par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Burns | 65 | -3 |
| 2 | J.J. Spaun | 72 | -2 |
| 3 | Viktor Hovland | 68 | -1 |
| T-4 | Adam Scott | 70 | Even |
| T-4 | Ben Griffin | 71 | Even |
| T-6 | Victor Perez | 70 | +1 |
| T-6 | Thriston Lawrence | 74 | +1 |
| T-8 | Brooks Koepka | 74 | +2 |
| T-8 | Si Woo Kim | 74 | +2 |
| T-8 | Russell Henley | 72 | +2 |
| T-8 | Thomas Detry | 73 | +2 |
Burns made six birdies against just one bogey and now leads the tournament with 11 through 36 holes. He made all 16 of his putts inside 10 feet Friday - an impressive showing from the man ranked No. 1 on the PGA TOUR in putting.
The LSU alum has been a strong player on TOUR for a number of years, but he's yet to add a major victory to his resume. That could change this week at Oakmont. Burns is the ninth player since 2000 to hold a one-shot lead through 36 holes at the U.S. Open, per Justin Ray of the Twenty First Group. Two of the previous eight eventually won the trophy: Angel Cabrera and Dustin Johnson, both at Oakmont.
Hovland relied more on his improved short game, leading the field in Round 2 by gaining more than four strokes around the green. A number of those came on a deft eagle pitch on the par-4 17th.
Adam Scott and Brooks Koepka are the most accomplished chasers on the first page of the leaderboard, but the struggles of the top players in the world are as much the story from Oakmont as Burns' lead is.
Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm were both out in the morning group but failed to make up much ground and sit seven back at 4-over. While that duo sports the same score, they enter the weekend with significantly different vibes.
Scheffler painted a positive picture with two rounds to go, crediting his fight as the reason he's still within shouting distance.
"Overall, definitely not out of the tournament. Today was ... easily a day I could have been going home, and (I) battled pretty hard to stay in there," Scheffler said, according to ASAP Sports. "I'm 4-over. We'll see what the lead is after today, but around this golf course, I don't think, by any means, I'm out of the tournament."
Rahm opted for a different approach in a very quick interaction with reporters after his round.
"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, so it's frustrating."
That duo sits one ahead of Jordan Spieth and two clear of Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele with two rounds to play.
With the cut falling at 7-over, everyone who will be around on the weekend will be within 10 shots of Burns' lead and theoretically have a chance to make a charge. However, that won't apply to defending champion Bryson DeChambeau after he ballooned to a 7-over 77 to miss the number by three at 10-over. He's joined on the early departure list by Joaquin Niemann, Justin Thomas, Shane Lowry, and Ludvig Aberg.