Dustin Johnson powered through two punishing rounds at Oakmont Country Club on Friday to seize a share of the lead at the weather-disrupted US Open Golf Championship.
World No. 6 Johnson carded the first bogey-free round of the tournament with a first-round 67 that put him one shot behind unlikely first-round leader Andrew Landry.
He grabbed a share of the lead with a second-round 69 as some half the field tackled 36 holes on the demanding Oakmont course due to weather delays that knocked the tournament off schedule on Thursday.
Photo: EPA
“I am in pretty good shape, so the physical part is no problem, but definitely mentally, you have got to make sure you stay sharp all day, because you cannot go to sleep on any shot out here,” Johnson said.
His four-under total of 136 had him atop the leaderboard with Landry, who hit just one shot on Friday, but made it count.
Landry was standing over a 10-foot birdie putt at his final hole, the ninth, when play was halted for the day on Thursday.
The 28-year-old Texan, ranked 624th in the world, calmly knocked it in then took the rest of Friday off, and was to start his second round yesterday morning, with those that make the cut to then start the third round.
However, for Oakmont’s fiendish greens, firming up despite the torrential rains of Thursday, Johnson could well have supplanted Landry.
He missed a string of birdie attempts from the 10-foot range, but said he could not be unhappy with two birdies and a bogey in the second round.
“They are so hard to putt,” Johnson said. “No matter how close you are to the hole, they are tough to putt. I hit so many good putts today that I thought were going in and burned the edge or lipped out. That is just how it goes. I mean, these greens are tough.”
The leaders were chased by England’s Lee Westwood, who was three-under after one round.
Scott Piercy and Spain’s Sergio Garcia were in the clubhouse on two-under 138, both carding even-par second rounds, while Ireland’s Shane Lowry was two-under through his first 18.
American Daniel Summerhays notched a remarkable seven birdies in a five-under 65 that put him in the clubhouse on 139, leading a group of seven on one-under.
Rory McIlroy, the 2011 US Open champion, bogeyed the last three holes of his first round for a seven-over 77 that left him 11 shots off the pace.
World No. 1 Jason Day did not start the first round until Friday, but once he did, his misery lasted twice as long as McIlroy’s.
The Australian’s first-round 76 included a double-bogey at the par-four seventh, where he was in two bunkers and needed two attempts to get out of one of them.
He had managed to regain some ground with three birdies and two bogeys leaving him five-over for the tournament with three holes remaining when play ended.
Phil Mickelson was seven-over with two to play at the end of the day.
Jordan Spieth, aiming to become the first player to successfully defend the US Open title since Curtis Strange in 1989, was two-over after one round.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was