In the US Open at Pinehurst, Rory McIlroy managed to stir up a sublime yet absurd performance that left him poised to secure his first Major win after 2014. Scottie Scheffler, his playing partner, anxiously held on, contemplating a first missed cut since August 2022, even as McIlroy wrapped his second round with 72, moving him a shot behind the early clubhouse trendsetters.
Following a poor round without a single birdie, pre-tournament hotshot Scheffler, who also happens to grace the Masters champion title, ended five over par with a score of 74, marking his first such happening in his last 169 play rounds. On similar terms, Shane Lowry from Ireland mirrored Scheffler’s 36-hole score after Friday’s commendably moderate 71, an over-par round that brought in a lone birdie while restricting him to two bogeys amidst challenging conditions.
Yet, not everyone had a difficult run. Bryson DeChambeau bagged five birdies and ended the day with an unexpected 69, leading the midway mark at four under. This included an 18th-round tap-in range birdie.
Meanwhile, McIlroy’s initial plans for taking advantage of pleasing conditions and untamed greens hit a roadblock when he bungled his birdie putt from a 12 feet range post a middling chip, kicking off with a par-five 10th. This marked his first par five of the week, following up with another shortly after when a slightly unlucky approach on 11th forced him back from the green.
Misfortune followed him to the 15h – a par-three where he bogeyed. However, things were about to slip even more when his birdie putt ricocheted off the 17th hole, but unfazed, he chipped in to bag a remarkable par.
At last, he got his first birdie of the day on his third attempt and followed up with a crucial save on the fifth, observing both Scheffler and Xander Schauffele collapsing to double-bogey sevens – a result of two fruitless efforts to mount the putting surface from the native region on the left of the green. McIlroy had also ended up in the same place but smartly avoided a similar fate with a safer third shot across the green and scored a par with a two-putt.
McIlroy’s chance at possessing a part of the leading position was dashed by a mistake at the ninth, and as the mercury soared past 90 degrees, warnings of impending weather disturbances popped up around the field. This predicament posed a greater challenge for those commencing in the afternoon.