BROOKS KOEPKA, Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood and Brian Harman share the 36-hole lead at the U.S. Open with all four seeking their first major title.
The quartet are seven under at Erin Hills after a Friday that saw Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama surge up a congested leaderboard with a stunning seven-under 65, while the world’s top-ranked players were unable to stage recoveries.
Koepka raced out to nine under early in his second round, but dropped two shots on his back nine on his way to a 70.
Despite having a huge power advantage over most of the field, and displaying excellent form with his irons, Koepka was unable to capitalise on a few good birdie chances.
Casey almost watched his U.S. Open hopes sink with a triple-bogey eight on the par-five 14th hole, and a bogey on the next that dropped him to two under for the tournament.
But the Englishman recovered magnificently with five straight birdies from the 17th, and a 71 left him sharing the lead.
Fleetwood (70) joined the group at seven under with a birdie on the par-five 18th, while Harman quietly shot a 70 to make a major cut for just the third time.
Overnight leader Rickie Fowler had people watching on the edge of their seats on Friday, but appeared to play far too conservatively.
After bogeying three straight holes on his back nine, his first dropped shots of the tournament, Fowler limped into the clubhouse with a 73 to fall to six under for the tournament.
Jamie Lovemark made a bomb for birdie on the 18th hole to shoot his second consecutive 69 and be tied for fifth, alongside Fowler and J.B. Holmes (69).
Matsuyama tied a second-round U.S. Open record in relation to par with his seven-under score, and his bogey-free 65 could have been even better. The Japanese star birdied six of his first eight holes Friday, finishing round two at five under for the tournament.
Brandt Snedeker, Players Championship winner Kim Si-woo, Xander Schauffele and amateur Cameron Champ are also two shots back at five under.
Chez Reavie matched Matsuyama’s 65 in round two to lead a group at four under. Reavie birdied five of his first seven holes, and eight in all Friday, to surge back into contention.
Reigning Masters champion Sergio Garcia headlines a group still in the hunt at three under.
But the world’s top three missed the cut – the first time that has happened at a major since the rankings began in 1986.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson (+4), Rory McIlroy (+5) and Jason Day (+10) will all miss the weekend after their struggles.
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
Sour grapes from Cheika. The knee on Conway was by far the worst incident in the game. Australians are always terrible losers though.
@Jim Demps: so are we to be fair
@domas1507: disagree! By international standards (us, English, Australia) we’re not too bad. Honest about how shite we are when we are if anything
@Jim Demps: Entirely agree… have seen this kind of cynical ‘tackle attempt’ a few times now and it’s clearly not intended to stop the score, but to injure the scorer.
These need to be picked up and sin-binned.
@domas1507: you definitely get off on self flagellation.
@Bruce Van der Gutschmitzer: wrong comment, wrong place.
@domas1507: I never get this. Everyone last week said Australia deserved to win, that they had our number and out played us. We also had justified complaints about some shoddy refereeing, but it wasn’t sour grapes, it’s just another element of the game you can dissect.
@Conor Paddington: some would say complaining about refereeing decisions after you loose, justified or not, is being a bad looser
@Conor Paddington: that’s nonsense, you can rationally dissect a game and be honest whether your team win or lose, and refereeing is a part of that. The ref was bad last week and that is not why Ireland lost amd Australia deserved to win. That is not sour grapes.
@Conor Paddington: I’m not talking about last weeks game exactly. It’s easy be a gracious in defeat when you clearly loose. The sign of a gracious loser is is accepting defeat when you think you should have won. Think ireland v new Zealand in Dublin and a certain French striker for examples of what I mean.
@Jim Demps: the knee? He was legitimately trying to stop a try , he was hardly just going to let him stroll in
@domas1507: @domas1507: well a blatant double handball and determined ignorance of fifa officials is fair enough to critique. Neglecting to give yellows for a knock out shoulder charge and a clothesline would wind you up too. In that case, I’m a sour c¿nt!
@Trevor Reilly: I think he was def trying to injure him… barely laid a hand on him but still dropped the knee into him. Sorry, but for me it was deliberate.
@Bruce Van der Gutschmitzer: don’t be harsh on yourself, you’re just a bad looser
@Jim Demps:
Every country have their whingers and complainers. Australians are no different to ourselves, England, Wales etc.
@domas1507: like true troll resentment feeds me!
@Trevor Reilly: There is nowhere on the field that you are allowed to tackle with the knee. If he was legitimately trying to stop a score why not try to get under the ball with his arms/body?
I like Australia. But they play some highly questionable rugby when it comes to legality. Cheika can do one if he’s going to complain about off-the-ball incidents considering there were a raft of Australian incidents both last and this week.
Cheika can F right off… his players were hitting Irish players off he ball and / or late all evening and getting away with it most of the time!!
Make no mistake. They know that deep down theyll never be able to force Ireland into infringement issues.
I see us getting it done in Sydney. #TeamOfUs
Again some awful referee decision even with TV match officials and touch judges. Hard to understand that they cannot get it right?
I know some will think it’s pedantic but can we stop with this ‘first win in Australia in 39 years’ business it’s not. It’s Ireland’s first away win against Australia. I saw Ireland win in Adelaide 15 years ago.
@Ted Od: first away win against Australia sorry in 39 years.
@Ted Od: it’s pedantic!
That ref was the Pitts … who let him on a pitch…. he was very 2 sided….well take the win .
@Sean Beirne: Two sided? Maybe one side too many? Or not…
Bloody whinging Aussies ( said in an Alf Stewart voice )
It was a shocking challenge
…definitely should be cited