Friday At The U.S. Open
Rickie Fowler has birdied half the holes he's played to take a one stroke lead into the weekend. Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Dustin Johnson lurk on a day when scoring calmed down at LA North.
At 1:29 p.m, Friday, June 16th the sun came out at Los Angeles Country Club. The unbreakable marine layer finally collapsed under the weight of multiple Golf Gods requests to cut out this dour nonsense that had the UK scribes longing for home and the course set up staff on hands and knees looking to the heavens.
Scoring was actually much less extreme early Friday and in stark contrast to Thursday’s lower-the-flags-to-half-staff end-times onslaught. A few trickier pins and a touch more bounce in the greens became evident. And nothing suggested John Bodenhamer and friends ordered up a middle-of-the-night rolling.
The turnaround in scoring made Thursday’s record-breaking day that much nore confounding.
Prevailing theories on site ranged from the obvious—no wind, gray skies, holding greens and manageable pins—to the indefinable urgency afternoon players may have felt after the pair of 62’s posted by Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler. The latter notion picked up steam when Friday’s early play only saw Wyndham Clark (64-67) and Harris English (67-66) get off to decent starts while most of the field plodded along. Rory McIlroy’s front nine 30 (his back nine) gave the afternoon wave more signs that birdies were out there.
Then as the clouds lifted and a typical breeze kicked in, the afternoon wave bogged down both in scoring in pace. The extra half hour for rounds and higher scoring (72.230) highlighted why the USGA erred on the side of caution with day one setup and eased their way into the week. But standing above it all is Rickie Fowler, who followed up his 62 with a 68 that leaned on scrambling and a confouding, astounding and absurd birdie-to-par ration. Even with less of a game than on display Thursday, he added to his record tally for the second day, this time tying the 36-hole U.S. Open scoring record set by Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst.
Fowler already has 18 birdies in 36 holes.
Yes sports fans, he’s batting .500 and it’s pretty safe to say he can hit .250 from here on in and own the the U.S. Open record set of 22 set by Brendan Steele at Erin Hills. A day after ranking 27th in strokes gained off the tee, 5th in approaching the green, 30th around the green and 1st in putting, he slipped to 53rd/32nd/48th/27th.
Heading into Saturday’s 3:40 p.m tee time with Clark, Fowler will have to hold off number of former major champions and the recent Wells Fargo Championship winner. Clark first saw L.A. Country Club last Tuesday with friend and L.A.C.C. member P.J. Fielding who is “a good player” and “really knows the golf course.”
“That 18 holes was the equivalent of probably playing 27 to 36 because I was able to -- he was telling me how certain putts -- how they break, how this one is faster than this, this plays this way. If you're here, you want to go -- he was spot on. So when I left that practice round on Tuesday I felt like I could have come here and not even played a practice round.”
That allowed Clark to ease into the week with nine-hole pracitce rounds. He made seven birdies and an eagle in Friday’s second round, using his 319.7 yard driving distance average to offset so-so iron play (73rd SG approach) and brilliance with the putter (SG 4th through two rounds).
McIlroy stands out as the most intriguing challenger given how well the course has fit his eye. Or, the front nine where he’s gone 30-30 with 11 birdies. It’s also the fourth time he’s opened the U.S. Open with two rounds in the 60s (2011, 2019, 2022, 2023), the most times of any player in
“The front nine gives you some scoring opportunities and some wedges in your hand, a couple of par-5s and the 6th hole,” McIlroy said. “The back nine is just a lot tougher. You've got a lot of -- those last three holes, 16, 17, 18, are playing tough even if it is pretty benign conditions out there. It feels like a sort of golf course where you try to make your score on the front and then try to hang on on the back.”
McIlroy said he was “didn't see the scores being as low as they are” and expects the course to “bite back” on the weekend.
“I think the overcast conditions yesterday combined with that little bit of rain in the morning, I think the course just never got firm at all. The conditions now, it's a little brighter, sunnier, a little bit of breeze. It's got the potential to get a little firmer and faster over the next couple days, which will make the scores go up a little bit.”
The other first round record holder looked destined for a traditional post-62 doldrums day. But Xander Schauffele recovered with birdies at the difficult 17th and 18th to finish with 70 and an 8-under-par total. The holder of ten top tens in majors without a win will tee off with McIlroy at 3:29 p.m.
As for the Saturday North Course conditions expect more of the same seen Friday with forecasters calling for mostly sunny skies, afternoon breezes and a winding down of the post-62/62 panic. Just ask Michael Kim, Cal grad after rounds of 73-74: