BROOKLINE, Mass. — It took a colorful scorecard, with five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey scattered across 18 holes, but Jordan Spieth — thanks to a clutch final few holes — made the weekend cut at the U.S. Open at The Country Club on Friday.
Spieth, the 2015 U.S. Open winner, shot an even-par 70 and made the cut by two strokes, and is tied for 40th at 2-over par. But even late into his second round, it didn’t seem like he’d see a third round with that much room to spare.
After an even-par first nine holes (Spieth started on the back) with three birdies and three bogeys, he stumbled on hole three with a double bogey. He took three shots to get onto the green, on the 496-yard par four, as he zig-zagged across the fairway with his first two shots. He two-putted for a double and dropped to 4-over par, which was the eventual cutline.
But thanks to clutch birdies on the par three fifth (thanks to an 8-foot-3 birdie putt) and par five seventh (thanks to a 207-yard approach shot which landed 15 yards from the pin), the Jesuit graduate clawed back to 2-under par.
Like Spieth, Will Zalatoris surged late. The Dallas resident, who started on the back nine, shot an even-par 70 thanks to back-to-back birdies on holes eight and nine. He ended round two at 1-under par, tied for 16th place with
The 25-year-old has now made the cut at all three of this season’s major championships. He tied for sixth at the Masters in April, and finished runner-up to Justin Thomas at last month’s PGA Championship.
Morikawa leads group of stars in contention
Collin Morikawa, twice in his career, has opened a major championship with a round in the 60s.
And both times — at the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 British Open — he went on to win.
Collin, your thoughts?
“That’s such a terrible stat,” he said Friday. “I mean, I’ve played 11 majors. It’s not a big enough stat to really make anything out of it, but hopefully. I would love to make it three for three. Why not?”
After shooting a 1-under 69 on Thursday, the 25-year-old fired off a 4-under 66 in the second round — so far, the best score of the tournament — and climbed to the top of the leaderboard at -5. He’s tied with Joel Dahmen for first place.
The world’s seventh-ranked golfer, Morikawa carded five birdies to just one bogey on Friday.
“Today I thought a couple under was going to be a really good score just based on what the wind forecast was going to be like, but we got lucky,” Morikawa said. Friday’s afternoon groups were expected to battle thunderstorms, though Brookline was spared by any inclement weather. “I finally got a good side of the draw, and it kind of calmed down a little bit on a couple holes, especially when we made the turn on to the front side.”
In total, 15 golfers are within three shots of the lead. That group includes world No. 3 Rory McIlroy (-4, tied for third), world No. 2 Jon Rahm (-4), world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (-3, tied for eighth) and world No. 9 Sam Burns (-2, tied for 13th).
Two Texas amateurs make the cut
Texas junior Travis Vick and Texas A&M senior Sam Bennett will both play the weekend at their first major championships.
Vick, a Houston native, followed his even-par first round with a 1-under 69 on Friday. Bennett, a Madisonville native who also shot even-par on Thursday, carded a 3-over 73 on Friday but made the cut by a single stroke. Vick, the lowest scoring amateur so far, is tied for 16th. Bennett is tied for 55th.
“I was really excited to get here and tee it up this week in my first major,” Bennett said. “My game is feeling good. I’m coming off of a good round, final round at nationals, and I played pretty good at qualifying for here. I felt good out there. I’ve played in three Tour events, so yeah it’s a major, but it’s really nothing new to me.”
