Ludvig Aberg (-5) is the sole leader of the US Open after 36 holes. The Swedish express has made a stop at Pinehurst and seems very willing to leave here with a trophy tucked away in one of his carriages. His leadership is very straightforward to explain. His golf is being absolutely imperial. He has hunted 26 of the 28 streets and 30 of the 36 greens. A robot. He makes the mark of Terminator Kaymer look like child’s play, when ten years ago at this stage of the tournament he had picked up 25 streets and 35 greens. Simply spectacular.
Aberg has made four bogeys in two days. Interestingly, the first one he made this Friday, on hole 8, came on the first street he missed this week. The next one was 10, but he managed to save par. His error production is very low, but it makes all the sense when one constantly walks the streets and the greens. He is a sledgehammer.
We will see how he withstands the pressure. Certainly, it seems that it does not go with him. Today he moved like a fish in water in the card collection area and with the thousand and one interviews he had to do. The cap a little up so that the forehead can breathe and to comply with all the commitments without changing the expression. He is made for this. But of course, he is still the first European to lead the US Open alone since Kaymer and four younger than the last half century behind Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods. Almost nothing.
If he maintains this brutal level of control over his shots on Saturday and Sunday, it will be difficult to overthrow him. But there is still a lot of ground to cover ahead and the classification is very beautiful and very tight.
One stroke behind Aberg are Bryson DeChambeau, Thomas Detry and Patrick Cantlay, two behind are Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau and Matthieu Pavon and three behind is Hideki Matsuyama. We stop here because history says that among these should be the winner. Of the last 28 US Opens, on 26 occasions the winner was three strokes or less from the lead with 36 holes to go. By the way, not even the oldest ones remember having four Europeans among the top eight of the US Open at this point in the tournament.
As Tiger Woods said, the result of Thursday’s leader has been improved for now. It has been matched. It remains at -5, with the difference that yesterday there were two players and on Friday there is only one. The conditions have been very similar. There was no wind and the greens were still brave and hard, but minimally receptive.
This Friday there were 22 results under par, seven more than Thursday and 15 players remain under par after 36 holes, the same as Thursday. No one doubts that this figure will be smaller after the third round. We’ll see if ten hold up. Everyone expects a twist from the USGA, although the tournament doesn’t even need it. The show is being outstanding.
