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Masters winner Patrick Reed closed with a birdie to take a one-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau after the second round of the US Open on Friday at the suddenly formidable Winged Foot.
Windy weather, faster greens, more difficult pin placements, and dense rough sent scores above par just a day after the famous Mamaroneck, New York course, went 21 rounds below par.
“You knew today was going to be brutal,” Reed said. “You know, when those guys (from the US Golf Association) see you mistreat a course like yesterday, they were going to toughen it up.”
Reed, ranked 10th, hit just five fairways, but relied on an impressive short game to hit a level par 70 and stop at 136 holes, four below zero, after 36 holes.
Reed, who wore the green jacket in 2018, started at 10. He found the right rough from the ninth tee, then a deep bunker before shooting to six feet and making the putt for his fifth birdie off five bogeys.
“Going into that bunker set me up well and I was able to hit a good 57 (-degree) wedge there to set up the birdie for me,” Reed said.
Ninth-ranked DeChambeau posted a two-under-par 68, the lowest round of the day thanks to an eagle that closed at nine, to sit at 137.
“I drove it pretty well considering the wind conditions,” DeChambeau said. “It was not easy to do there. I did it when I needed it most. I felt really comfortable. “
DeChambeau followed the ghosts with birdies to the next hole four times in his morning round, which he closed at ninth par 5 driving 380 yards, shooting six feet and sinking his eagle putt.
“It was a fun way to finish in a US Open. It feels great, ”he said. “Confidence is at an all-time high right now.”
Spain’s Rafael Cabrera Bello and American Harris English, each chasing a major first title, shot 70 to share the third in 138 with American Justin Thomas, the 2017 PGA Championship winner that followed to 65, the lowest round of the US. Open at Winged Foot, with a 73.
Cabrera Bello opened with a 40-foot birdie putt on par 3 10, added a 26-foot birdie putt on 13 par 3, bogeyed five of his next 10 holes, and then birdied three of his last four holes.
“The wind picked up significantly. That has made it very difficult, ”said Cabrera Bello. “The greens got a little faster and a little firmer. The pins were a bit harder. I’m sure the weekend will be a great challenge. “
Thomas had a streak of four birdies over five holes in the last nine and a double bogey in the first.
“I was far from having good things,” he said. “That was a tiring day. I can’t drive it like this this weekend. “
American Jason Kokrak was sixth at 139, the only other player below par overall after a 71.
“Extremely tough,” Kokrak said. “This wind is very difficult. If you don’t hit the fairway, it’s hard to even get to the green.
The tournament was postponed as of June over coronavirus concerns that forced a spectator ban and wiped out the rankings, requiring an exemption system to determine the field.
Hideki Matsuyama from Japan, Thomas Pieters from Belgium and Americans Brendon Todd, Xander Schauffele and Matthew Wolff shared seventh place with 140.
“It’s definitely twice as tough as yesterday in the wind,” Pieters said. At nine the wind picked up. The conditions make it really difficult. “
Matusyama and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson shot 69 each, the only rounds below par other than DeChambeau’s 68.
“We will keep getting tougher and tougher,” Watson said.
Woods, ‘Lefty’ miss cut
Rory McIlroy, fourth-placed, four-time Major League champion, and England’s Lee Westwood followed 67s Thursday with 76s on Friday to share 22nd with 143.
World number one Dustin Johnson shot a 70 to join them at 143.
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, finished bogey-bogey-double bogey to shoot 74 and stand at one over 141.
Tiger Woods, 15-time Major winner, and five-time Major Champion Phil Mickelson missed the cut for the second time in the same event after last year’s British Open.
Woods shot a 77 to finish at 150 while Mickelson shot a 74 to finish at 153.
“It’s frustrating not being here for the weekend,” Woods said.
“I enjoy the challenge this field offers,” Mickelson said. “I am disappointed that I did not play better.”
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