US Open day 2: Resurgent Fowler soaks up LACC pressure to maintain lead

Rickie Fowler brought home a 2 under 68 to retain top spot on the leaderboard after two days of the 123rd edition of the US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on Friday even as the chasing pack grew tighter with the weekend rounds to go.

The popular Californian, winner of the 2017 Hero World Challenge hosted in the Bahamas by Tiger Woods, led countryman Wyndham Clark (64-67) by one shot, with former winner Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and overnight co-lead Xander Schauffele sharing third place on 8 under 132s.

“Yes, I’m in the lead, but we’re only halfway there,” Fowler said after his Friday round. “Being in the lead is nice, but it really means nothing right now. I’m looking forward to continuing to challenge myself and go out there and try and execute the best I can.”

Fowler, who set a US Open scoring record on day one along with Schauffele, so far has cards of 62 and 68 for a 10 under aggregate 130 with the venue denying the field the sort of scores it had yielded over the opening 18 holes.

His 36-hole total though matched the tournament record set by Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst in 2014. That year, Fowler finished runner-up to the Germanm making for a neat statistical footnote.

Schauffele was tied for the lead at one point but two bogeys on successive holes on the back nine saw him drop back though he recovered with a closing birdie. “Just leaking some oil,” he commented later. “I bogeyed two holes I was supposed to have good birdie looks on. But I’m happy with how I finished.”

Added McIlroy, who won his last major nine years ago, “I felt like coming into this week that was going to be a key for me if I could put the ball in play. You can play from there and create some scoring opportunities. That’s really my game plan over the next couple days. Put the ball in play off the tee, and I think I’ll be just fine from there.

”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. We’ll see what it’s like at the end of the week.

“The course has played maybe a little easier than everyone thought it would, but wouldn’t be surprised on Saturday, Sunday to see it bite back,” McIlroy added. “It should be tough. It should be just as much of a mental grind out there as a physical one.”

Two time major winner Dustin Johnson had a see-saw round that included a quadruple-bogey, one penalty and a tap- but rebounded to being in a level par card with fellow LIV Golf stars Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau also still very much in the mix.

Missing out however, after the 36-hole cut that saw 61 golfers progress into the money rounds was birthday boy Phil Mickelson, who turned 53 on Friday. Joining him on the sidelines were a host of big names including past US Open winners Jordan Speith (2015), Martin Kaymer (2014) and Justin Rose (2013).

Day two also saw a third hole in one being recorded, this time by defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick of England, who aced the par-3 15th hole after Frenchman Matthieu Pavon and Sam Burns of the US had done so on day one.