– The longest putt Jon Rahm (+4) has holed in the first 36 holes of the US Open was just over three and a half metres (12 feet) which he sank on Thursday to save a great par on the 13th hole. Not even the eagle putt he made, also in the first round (4th hole), was longer (10 feet and some inches, just over three metres).
If you see it, you wouldn’t believe it, not even at Oakmont and in a US Open: Jon has only made two birdies in two rounds of golf, one per day (besides the eagle on Thursday, of course). It’s even harder to believe when you consider that the Barrika native has putted for birdie 22 times and nine of those from clearly under three metres and even two metres, converting only two: one from a metre and a half away and another from just half a metre…
The player’s own analysis after finishing the second round was as simple, blunt, and devastating as it was accurate. “You can analyse the game from tee to green all you want, but if you don’t make a putt, it’s impossible.” Indeed. Jon is currently one of the best in the tournament in the greens in regulation statistic (26/36, 72 percent), only four players have hit more than him, but he has also putted for birdie 13 times from less than 25 feet, that ‘key distance’ from which a player feels the chances of holing become more than interesting. Put simply: Jon hasn’t holed any crucial putts from four, five, six, or seven metres, the kind that really get you going in a tournament and are absolutely essential to compete for victory.
– Sam Burns (-3), the leader, could argue that he too has missed up to twelve birdie opportunities from under 25 feet. Fair enough, but Burns, in addition to holing a birdie from 45 metres on Thursday on the 3rd hole, has almost fully capitalised on the great opportunities. We mentioned that Jon only converted 2/9 of birdie opportunities from under three metres, while Burns has so far gone 7/8. Lethal. Not to mention that the American has also holed three putts from beyond 20 feet (six metres), two for birdie and one crucial one to save par on the last hole of his second round. The numbers speak for themselves.
– The good news, of course, is that Rahm is still in the tournament. Seven strokes off the lead is a lot, true, but with 36 holes to go, it’s not an insurmountable gap. And it’s not crazy to think that his conversion rates on the greens from certain distances will improve.
– Although there were still some players to finish their round yesterday, the cut for this US Open is already set. And the group of players who have made all the cuts in the Majors this year (Masters, PGA, and US Open) has been reduced to 22, with only the Open remaining. This week, several illustrious names have dropped out of this exclusive club we compile each year: DeChambeau, Fleetwood, Niemann, or Clark played the weekend in Augusta and Quail Hollow, but won’t do so at Oakmont. These are the 22 still in the fight, before the final cut in the list that will surely (oh, how ungrateful and complicated golf is) take place next month at Royal Portrush: McIlroy, Scheffler, Schauffele, Conners, English, Rahm, Hatton, Morikawa, Berger, Hovland, Rai, Michael Kim, Denny McCarthy, McNealy, Rasmus Hojgaard, Greyserman, Harman, Fitzpatrick, Poston, Burns, Spaun, and Tom Kim.
– J. J. Spaun gives us a glimpse of how he believes he is evolving as a player, after fighting well in a second round of 72 strokes. “A few years ago, I probably would have expected to play poorly today. But I knew it would be difficult to repeat a 4 under par without bogeys at Oakmont in the US Open. So I’m glad I kept my composure. I was even; in fact, I was 1 under par on the 5th hole, maybe 6th, so I kept hitting a lot of good shots, making a lot of good balls, and I’m glad I stayed calm,” he explained. No one is going to take away, for now, his place in the featured group on Saturday at a US Open in Oakmont.
– Scottie Scheffler admitted yesterday, after signing his card of 71 strokes, that his poor play from the tee could well have left him out of the cut (he only hit six fairways), so he was proud (and exhausted) of the way he fought. And throughout his not-too-lengthy media appearance, he repeated this three times: “I’m not in the position I’d like after two days, but I’m not out of the tournament.” Of course, he’s not, although he, like Rahm or Morikawa, and even Rory or Shauffele, who are coming from a bit further back, have no margin and need to close the gap with the leaders this Saturday. What an exciting third round awaits us.
– Koepka didn’t fare too well in a second round played with an open heart, where he signed six pars, four birdies, and eight bogeys. But with his total of +2, five off the lead, there are very few more serious contenders for victory.
– No kidding. All our recognition to George Duangmanee, who finished in last place after 36 holes with a total of +35 (rounds of 86 and 89) and without making a single birdie at the unforgiving Oakmont Country Club. This 23-year-old professional, an American of Thai descent, went through a local and a final qualifier to be in this US Open and had barely played three tournaments in his life that counted towards the world ranking. He doesn’t have a ‘contract’ to play on any reasonably competitive tour, but there he was, with a spot among the 156 qualifiers for this 125th edition of the US Open. Let’s remember that this year marks exactly a century since a Spanish player first competed in a US Open (Ángel de la Torre, 1925), and since then only twenty have qualified in one way or another to play it. George has nothing to lose.
