[ad_1]
Richard Bland has never won a grand championship. He has never even won an event on the PGA Tour. And yet, the 48-year-old Englishman will be in the middle of the 2021 US Open after two rounds of play when he shot second round 67 on Friday, when he became championship leader Russell Henley moving to Moving Day at. Torrey Pines.
Henley almost took the lead on Saturday before the final hole ruined an unspoiled round of golf. He turned 1-under 70. Both Henley and Bland continue the 3rd lap under five, keeping a one-stroke edge with Louis Oosthuizen.
A successful 36-hole sprint doesn’t come easily to Bland or Henley in the unforgivable terrain of Torrey Pines, especially not at this mega-stage This in the field. Adding pressure from Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson (both in one stroke back), Jon Rahm lurks two punches behind and Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa lurk in a striking distance.
It should make for one fascinating weekend. So far, here is the result from the scoreboard after round 2.
T1. Richard Bland, Russell Henley (-5): Two career wins – one on the European Tour earlier this year and another on the Challenge Tour in 2001 (!) – Bland’s barely rising Scoreboard Friday is a story that could develop into one of the most amazing stories in golf. This is Bland’s second show at the US Open (after the drops were missing in 2009), and he will be able to win his first career in the biggest championships of the PGA Tour full of stars. Golf! Henley began his tour with eight pairs and birds before making the turn. He then continued for another seven pairs of pipes before dropping the bird and finally closed with obedience – thanks to a failed two-legged Putin – to reach 70. Sour taste aside from the last hole, it was an overall great round of golf to support the first round 67.
T3. Louis Oosthuizen, Matthew Wolff (-4): Tied to the lead through Round 1, Oosthuizen remained tight in Round 2, 1 front to front and 1 back. His putter wasn’t quite as hot as on Thursday – he was in the top ten rounds on the field – but he only had two strollers around the round and took a total of 26 putts, quite a bit better than the field average. Wolff was a big surprise here. After taking two months off from racing, his first round 70 was a nice story, but it didn’t seem sustainable. He backed 3-under 68 on Friday, playing his last 12 holes under-4. Wolff is a martial art with a ferocious swing – a mix of talent and mox on a high-end tour – so getting him on the chase on Saturday is a fantastic story.
T5. Jon Rahm, Bubba Watson (-3): The rising and low start to the day for Rahm, who was a pre-tournament betting favorite, finally leveled off on Friday afternoon after he hit par-4 in the 14th hole bunker. The only area of the game he lost punches to on the field was his driver, who was Thursday (and typically always) a strength. The fact that he managed one less than a lap despite this tells you how loud Rahm is playing right now, and he’s exactly moving into a moving day in the hunt. Watson had one of the best rounds of the week in Round 2 to finish in the red coming Saturday. He finished 4-under in his 67 series with seven birds and only achieved his fourth all-time doubles in the 42nd US Open round of his career. Justin Ray.
T7. Xander Schauffele, Kevin Streelman, Mackenzie Hughes (-2): A pretty quick start to the day for Schauffel with vertebrates, when stroller No. 1 made him send the number, of course. He then turned 2 under, but he played the last nine over 1, eventually failing to take advantage of good driving positions. He has been at the top of the PGA tour this season with the hits achieved by the hit, but Friday marked the second consecutive round in Torrey that he lost his shot to the field with a putter.
T14. Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas (E): DeChambeau, the 2020 US Open winner, didn’t have the best stuff in Round 1, but he found his better form on Friday at 2-year-old 69 to get into the tournament. He survived four racks with four birds and a memorable eagle par-5 18. After the round, he said some answers to his problems came to him in the middle of the night. Really. DeChambeau’s budding rival Koepka sent an unforgettable 2-over 73 round in the 2nd round. His putter wasn’t an eraser eraser, it was Thursday, and he hit just eight of the 14 fairways in the round, well below the field average. A lot of it was great after a strong start, when he took the pace from Round 1. He lingered five strokes away from the lead, he still has a chance to claim the third US Open in the last five years.
Morikawa, the 2020 PGA champion, turned in a low lap on Friday thanks to 4-under-67s thanks to nine birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie goals ahead. Morikawan putter gave him a few more attacks, but he got punched on the field. When he’s able to do it and combine it as a fighter as a ball striker, it makes sense why he was able to climb back to this – and why he’s a challenger arriving this weekend. Thomas had a similar brilliant round as Morikawa, who quietly turned 2-under to 69. He leaned on his putter in a big way and was able to mark together amazing iron bags, including an opening from the par-bunker. 3 Day 16.
T21. Rory McIlroy and nine others (+1): The Rory roller coaster ran at full speed on Friday. His first nine holes had four bogies and three birds. It continued its journey as he invaded 2, 4, and 5 before he grabbed birds 6 and 9 when he returned home. It was once again a full broadcast from him on Tuesday Friday that paid him dividends, but he had too many misjudged putts – be it pace or slope – that really ate up every chance he had to move on the table.
[ad_2]
picture credit