Round 2 of the 2020 US Open, held on Friday, this week revealed the wicked ways of the Winged Foot we all expect. There were 21 golfers in total, and they started the day evenly, but only six finished in red because the course setup was suffocating on the field throughout the afternoon.
After a one-point bonus on Thursday (by US Open standards) only three golfers’ scores rose steadily with the round. As we move into the day, it’s Patrick Reid – after an equal round 2 under 4 overall – who sits on the leaderboard with 36 holes.
One stroke on Reid Bryson DiCambo and two strokes on Rafa Cabrera Bello, Harris English and Justin Thomas.
CBS Sports was with you on Friday, covering Round 2 of the US Open. Let’s look at the top of the leaderboard through 36 holes. Read on for highlights and analyzes from Friday.
1. Patrick Reid (-4): Friday set – tying the needles – did not scare Reid. He stayed on the offensive, aggressively hitting the needles and rewarding himself with some great matches. In round 25 his 25 puddings were tied to the lowest point on the field, and for the second day in a row, he had a stroke on the field around the greens. “Duck pins, ya kota attack,” Reid told the golf channel after his round. “The greens, they came fast. They were soft and harmless yesterday. It’s like they set it up to make it easier for us. They ‘re going to show us what it really is.”
2. Bryson DiCambo (-3): This is the potato of the day for Decombo, who finished with five boogie, five birds and an eagle. But overall, the fact that he trailed 69 in his first round with 68 in the second round is undeniably a net positive journey. He finished second on the field, he had a tea stroke and was in control of his driver, hitting 50% of the second straight fair ways. “A lot of things felt like they were working well for me,” he said after the round. “I was driving it well. My iron play was sinful. When I got into trouble, [I] I couldn’t get out of it yesterday either, but when I was on the fair track I was able to attack and take advantage and finish well today. “
D 3. Justin Thomas, Harris English, Rafa Cabrera Bello (-2): A U.S. golfer on Thursday said no golfer was dramatically more face-to-face than JD on Friday. After recording an Open Round 1 record low of 65, he came out flat and hit four of his first eight holes. But Thomas marched late, starting with a bird on the 18th and continuing ahead with a double brush at No. 1. None of that was particularly elite-level golf, but it was the kind of round that would shatter his controversial chances – instead he scored 73 for 3 to survive another day. English and Cabrera Bello ended up equalizing for the best round of the trio.
D 7. Matthew Wolf, Sander Schaffel and three (c): 64 After scoring two fewer fair tracks (4 in 14) and two fewer greens in order (9 out of 18) in the opening round 4, Wolf drove frantically in the opposite direction with 4 overs 74 in round 2. Keep the ball well and fix it, but after the round he said he needed to clean up the little things to compete in a scoring and meaningful way over the weekend. Three pages from the front he should have a chance to do. Shaffel, on the other hand, took advantage of the situation before things went awry, capturing 72 in the second round. He finished his final five holes in 3 overs, slowing down some of the momentum he had built up throughout the round.
D 12. John Rahm and four others (+1): All-round tour back to Rahm, despite five boogie days, dares to enter conditions in 2 overs. He finished the Birdie-Birdie-Boji to get the final nine points at the Clubhouse, and the second one day, he was the longest on the field since Tees. The combination of his power, ball strike and control tea complements his strength in such a gruesome course, and he is going to be one of the non-leaders to watch the moving day meticulously.
D22. Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and four others (+3): McIlroy had everything that worked in green from Raw 1 to Tea, the first place in the strokes went to Tea and with Potter in the top 25 in that category. Butter and the short game did not work the same way for him on Friday, when he topped the list again in the stroke he suffered on Friday. He continued to turn to the bogeys, and on a normal day the easiest puddings for him were grinded in round 2. He’s not completely out of it, but between Thursday and Friday he will have to find happy media – do it consistently – – to win his second U.S. Open. Meanwhile, Johnson saved his best work (so far) on Friday and finished with a bounce back 70. He was working for Putter and was long and confident from Tees, setting him up to win the third tour of his last four events.
D 73. Gary Woodland (+8): U.S. The Open champion, who suffered an injury, missed the cut with 74 Fridays following his opening round of 74. He explained that he had a torn labia in his left hip and was ready to see a specialist on Monday because he “could not get around the pain”.
T90 Tiger Woods (+10) | D119 Bill Mickelson (+13): Sometimes the best storylines don’t come out, what can we say? In a return to a nostalgia for Winged Foot for the old guard of the game, Woods and Mickelson both missed the cut, indicating that they both missed it at the same US Open after 20 previous events where they played together. Woods went under 2 of his final three, but finished in 7 overs that day, while Mickelson – with 74 in the second round – failed to beat 79 in the first round since Thursday.
