Rory McIlroy recovered from a nightmare start to his second round to sneak through to the weekend at the US Open as defending champion Bryson DeChambeau suffered a shock early exit.
The Masters champion looked in danger of missing the cut after following an opening-round 74 with two double bogeys in his first three holes on Friday at Oakmont Country Club, only to battle back – in tricky scoring conditions – to scramble a two-over 72.
McIlroy remained outside the projected cut until two birdies in his final four holes saw him progress on six over, leaving him nine strokes behind halfway pacesetter Sam Burns on a leaderboard where just three players remain under par.
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McIlroy launched his club down the fairway in anger and smashed a tee marker during a frustrating second round
Burns fired a round-of-the-day 65 to jump to three under and grab a one-shot advantage over overnight leader JJ Spaun, with Viktor Hovland two strokes back in third, while world No 1 Scottie Scheffler sits on four over as he chases back-to-back major victories.
McIlroy is joined on six over by Xander Schauffele, as two-time US Open winner DeChambeau headlined the big-name exits after a seven-over 77 – including five dropped shots in a five-hole stretch – saw him miss the cut on 10 over.
How McIlroy survived early US Open exit
McIlroy’s wayward drive at the first left him taking four shots to reach the green on his way to an opening double-bogey, with another double-bogey at the par-four third dropping him to four over for his round and below the projected cut.
The Northern Irishman failed to take advantage of the par-five fourth but ended a run of pars by holing a 30-foot birdie at the ninth, the hardest hole on the course, only to bogey the 11th after finding another fairway bunker off the tee.
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McIlroy made two double-bogeys in his first three holes of his second round at Oakmont
McIlroy launched his iron in frustration after a wayward approach into a par-five 12th, where he could only make par, then failed to capitalise on birdie chances over his next two holes to remain on eight over.
He rolled in from 20 feet at the 15th to keep his hopes alive of making it through, a week on from missing the cut at the RBC Canadian Open, before he fired a wedge to within five feet at the par-four last to set up a closing birdie.
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Rory McIlroy made a birdie on his final hole of the second round to guarantee a spot for the weekend
McIlroy didn’t speak to the media for the second successive day, with the 36-year-old needing to improve over the weekend to extend his record of six consecutive top-10 finishes at the US Open.
Burns jumps ahead as DeChambeau heads home
Burns set the clubhouse target after a brilliant second-round 65 on Friday morning, carding six birdies and one bogey, with several of the afternoon starters briefly overtaking him but all unable to match his total.
Sam Burns is looking to claim a maiden major victory this week in Pennsylvania
Last week’s RBC Canadian Open runner-up raced to the turn in 31 and recovered from a bogey at the first – his 10th hole of the day – to birdie two of his next three holes, with a 22-foot par-save closing the best round of the day by two shots and giving him the halfway lead.
“I’m looking forward to the weekend,” Burns said. “It’s a 72-hole golf tournament, and if you can get a round under par out here, no matter if it’s one under, you’ll take it.”
Spaun was briefly two ahead but ended one behind after four birdies and six bogeys in his second round, with Lawrence temporarily three clear after a three-birdie run early in his second round.
Lawrence bogeyed four of his next five holes and dropped four more shots in a three-hole stretch after the turn, leaving him over par with one hole to complete when lightning saw play suspended at 8.15pm local time (1.15am UK time).
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Thriston Lawrence made three birdies in a row early in his second round at Oakmont
Thomas Detry also temporarily for the lead before three double bogeys over his next four holes saw him drop back to two over, with 22 players within six strokes of the halfway lead.
Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa are on four over alongside Scheffler, who insisted he is not out of US Open contention despite a one-over 71 keeping him seven strokes off the pace, while Phil Mickelson – in the last year of his five-year exemption – missed the cut on eight over after two double-bogeys in his last four holes.
DeChambeau shock missed cut after he made eight bogeys and a double-bogey during an erratic second round, while Tommy Fleetwood (+9), 2016 US Open champion Dustin Johnson (+10) and Shane Lowry (+17) also failed to progress.
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