A roasting round-two recap: Taking in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst
Blistering. Carnage. Tough. The best words to describe the second round of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst on Friday. A scorching Carolina June sun quickly replaced a comfortable Friday morning and with it came scores climbing like the mercury on the thermometer. We pulled out of Raleigh around 5AM and made it to our parking lot by 6:40. A quick and efficient 15 minute shuttle ride and we arrived at the main entrance. It didn’t take long for the crowds to grow, and grow they did. The sweltering heat didn’t keep anyone home. And Pinehurst was ready to welcome as many patrons as possible to its well manicured grounds.
The big group going off early was Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, and Scottie Scheffler. Rory entered as the co-leader with Xander and Scottie needing a decent Friday to stay in the hunt. It’s hard to imagine that the reigning PGA Champion would play third fiddle in any grouping, but that’s exactly what it looked like early on. That was until Xander turned in the best score of the three and put himself solidly in contention. Scheffler, on the other hand, saw his scores slide like his feet on the tee box. Somehow Pinehurst was tough enough throughout the day to keep Scheffler inside the cut line, making it right on the number at +5. Our few holes of following this group watched them hit incredible iron shots into tricky pins, only to see the putters fall silent for McIlroy and Scheffler while Xander was heating up.
We also made our way to follow Bryson DeChambeau, Max Homa, and Viktor Hovland. Another big-named group that witnessed only one player in contention and the others struggling to make the weekend. Much will be said of how DeChambeau went from PGA villain to possibly one of the most popular players in the world. He’s my pick to win this weekend, and I’m sticking with him. I think part of the rise in popularity is his willingness to share so much of his talent with fans and is making a huge effort to interact with the kids at the majors. Homa is still one of the most likable people in the world. Unfortunately the second round ended his chances of sticking around and the golf world as a whole will miss him being inside the cut for the weekend. Hovland, also a pick by many for the trophy at Pinehurst, saw his chances crash after the second round wrapped up.
Wake Forest, NC resident Akshay Bhatia kept his first major title alive on Friday and is well positioned heading into the weekend. His solid play kept him hovering right around the top 10 all day. This was an important position for the other person making the Pinehurst trek with me - he had a prop bet that Bastia would finish inside the top 10 at the end of the second round. He is paired with Xander Schauffele for the round on Saturday and both are looking to carry momentum through the next 36-holes.
The afternoon found us staking a spot along the fairway on number 8 in hopes of getting a good glimpse of Tiger Woods. We patiently waited for several groups to play through, including Cameron Smith, Lucas Glover, and Si Woo Kim. It was easy to know when Tiger was approaching. If you’ve never seen him play in person, then I cannot begin to adequately describe the crowd that follows the man known as Big Cat. The wave of patrons flowed from the 7th green to the 8th tee and along to the fairway. Will Zalatoris, playing in Tiger’s group, dropped his tee shot into the wiregrass about ten yards to our left. After we cleared his lane and he played from the rough, we hurried back to the ropes to watch a single approach shot from Tiger. And as soon as the crowd had gathered all around us, it dispersed towards the green to continue following Mr. Woods. Unfortunately, Tiger went +3 in his second round to miss the cut by two shots. In his post-round presser, he stated he has one more start in him this year at The Open Championship in July. After that, he is a bit more unsure as to how many more tournaments he has in the tank. If, in fact, this was his last U.S. Open (which I think he has a couple more left) I’m glad we were able to witness him in a competitive round at this historical course.
Tiger waits patiently before playing his second shot in the second round of the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst
As the sun started getting lower in the sky, so did the crowds actually walking along with groups. A wooded strip between the fourth and fifth fairways served as our shady spot to watch Sergio Garcia, Koepka, Fowler, Mickelson, Thomas, and Morikawa, amongst others, play through their second round. Finally, we made our way back up to the 18th green to watch Tony Finau and Dustin Johnson end their round. Both missed the fairway to the left and had difficult approach shots which ended up well short of the green. It demonstrated the importance of finding the fairway at Pinehurst as both players had lengthy par putts that eventually turned into bogeys. Finau’s bogey dropped him into a tie for fifth heading into the third round, while Johnson’s weekend hopes had long faded earlier in the day.
The third round is well underway, with only a handful of groups left to begin their third round. The third hole is drivable today, playing only 316 yards thanks to a well advanced tee box. Corey Conners just knocked in the first eagle on the third, which could be pivotal in helping the leaders get low out of the gate. They’ll need as much help as they can get today - it’s hot, the course is dry, and the pin placements are borderline diabolical. Welcome to the third round of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
