The wind didn’t blow as hard on day two of the U.S. Open, but that didn’t keep scores from soaring at Shinnecock Hills.
But even as the scores of some U.S. Open hopefuls blew as hard as the wind—Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar and Sergio Garcia were among those not seeing the weekend—there were some red figures by a few players who seem to have figured out the treacherous greens at Shinnecock.
Those making sense of Shinnecock include Dustin Johnson, who previously won the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Johnson shot 3-under to hold the two-round lead at 4-under par. Johnson said he enjoys playing a course where even par is a good score.
“You’ve got to play really good golf if you want to shoot a good score, and I like where par is a good score on every hole no matter what club you got in your hand, what hole it is,” he says. “A par is a really good score. Around here, the fairways are fairly generous, but with crosswinds on every hole, they’re still tough to hit. Even though you’re in the middle of the fairway, a lot of times with a wedge you’ve still got to hit a good shot just to give yourself a 15- or 20-footer.”
Tiger Woods, who played alongside Johnson and Justin Thomas, praised Johnson’s play on another difficult day.
“Dustin was in complete control of what he’s doing,” Woods said. “He’s hitting the ball so flush and so solid. I know it’s windy, it’s blustery, it was raining early, but he’s hitting right through it.
It was good to see because I watched a little bit of it last week and he was doing the same thing down there, but he’s brought it up here and is doing it under these conditions, and he’s got beautiful speed on the greens. Every putt looked like it was going to go in. Even though it didn’t, it just had that look and that pace.”
Johnson is being chased by some of the game’s best—including a resurgent Ian Poulter, and past U.S. Open winner Justin Rose. But the round of the day among the leaders belonged to Tommy Fleetwood. The Englishman shot 4-under to vault near the top of the leaderboard.
Fleetwood praised the setup for the tournament, which he called “the ultimate test.”
“It tests your long game, short game, every aspect,” he said. “It tests you mentally, physically. If you’re going to win a U.S. Open, which is one of the biggest events in the world, it should be that kind of test. And, I mean nobody had played it like it did yesterday in practice. So, whatever you practice and you know it’s tough, it was nothing like yesterday. It was a completely different golf course. I don’t think anybody was fully prepared for that.”
But even playing well, and with a slight lead, Johnson admitted anything can still happen at this U.S. Open.
“There’s still a lot of golf left,” he said. “There’s still 36 holes left no matter what position I’m in. Going into tomorrow, I’m going to stick to my game plan, stick to trying to play the holes how I have the first couple days and see what happens.”
Tiger Woods’ return to the U.S. Open faltered on the first hole of the opening round, and never really got back on track. That said, in true Tiger fashion he put up a fight until the end, making birdies on the last two holes to make it interesting. But at 10-over par, he fell just outside the cut line, meaning he could head to his boat, docked nearby, and leave Long Island.
“I didn’t play the first and second hole very well—how about that?” Woods said when questioned about his struggles. “It was tough out there early. Wind was blowing. It was raining a little bit, and I was kind of hanging in there until, unfortunately, first and second hole kind of derailed it. And then birdied last couple.”
What positives did Tiger take away from the experience? Not many, apparently.
“I’m not very happy the way I played and the way I putted,” he said. “I’m 10 over par. So I don’t know that you can be too happy and too excited about 10 over par.”
Three Canadians started the week at the U.S. Open, but none of them will see the weekend. Mackenzie Hughes finished at 11-over par, while Adam Hadwin and amateur golfer and full-time NHL referee Garrett both finished 18-over par.