It was no day for scoring -- unless your name was Jason Gore or Peter Hedblom. Hedblom shot 4-under 66, the best US Open score ever at Pinehurst -- to stand at 3-over for the tournament. Not bad for a guy who lost his clubs on the way over from Sweden.
"You come up here some weeks and everything is perfect; you feel good and you shoot 75," Hedblom said. "And then today, I didn't feel that good, but every shot I tried to hit was the simplest shot for me."
This isn't the first time Jason Gore has led at the US Open.
Seven years ago at Olympic, he holed out from about 60 yards for a birdie on the first hole, and since he was in the first group, his name went to the top of the leaderboard.
This time, though, it's a little sweeter: He's there after 36 holes.
The 31-year-old veteran of the minor US Nationwide Tour shot a 3-under 67 on Friday in the second to tie defending champ Retief Goosen and Olin Browne. They have a one-shot advantage over K.J. Choi and Mark Hensby.
He eventually missed the cut in 1998, his only previous Open. During two brief stints on the US PGA Tour, Gore has a best finish of 18th in the 2001 Las Vegas Classic.
CAMPBELL'S BEST
Michael Campbell's season started terribly in Europe. He got back on form in time for a trip to the US Open.
The 36-year-old New Zealander put together a morning round of 1-under 69 in the second round to move to even par for the tournament, tied for sixth and just two strokes off the lead.
"I teed off at 7:30 in the morning and it was very benign conditions and not much wind around, and the greens were pretty receptive out there, so you could attack them a little bit more," Campbell said. "Two shots easier today, definitely."
After missing the cut in his first five European Tour events, he has four top-15 finishes in his past seven, including a tie for third at the Johnnie Walker Classic. This is Campbell's best showing in the Open since 2000, when he tied for 12th at Pebble Beach.
Of course, that's the year Tiger Woods blitzed the field by 15 shots.
FORE
Nick Jones' first trip to the US Open was sure to be memorable -- even before he made a strange triple bogey at the 18th hole.
On his approach shot, he and caddie Andrew Pfannkuche miscalculated the yardage a bit -- OK, a lot -- and the ball flew well over the green, struck the grandstands and bounced onto the roof of the stately clubhouse.
Because his ball caught the metal stands first, he was forced to play from the other side of the green in the heavy rough, with very little green to work with.
"It's just an unfortunate break," he said.
Jones finished with an even-par 35 on his final nine holes, completing a 75.
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