The halfway point of the U.S. Open is here, which means half the field is heading home.
Oakmont Country Club brought the carnage as there were just five players at even par or better through 36 holes.
There were only seven under-par scores in the second round alone, with a few players still having to finish up on Saturday morning.
Sam Burns set the tone for the day with his historic 5-under 65 to get to 3-under overall. Max Greyserman and Jason Day each signed for 3-under 67s.
Viktor Hovland shot a 2-under 68 to get to 1-under overall. He is in solo third and is two shots back of Burns.
These guys had to minimize the mistakes to break par at Oakmont, and very few did.
Oakmont flexed its muscles and sent home a lot of top-tier talent despite many of them being considered among the favorites.
The cut line ended up being +7, and among those who made it by the skin of their teeth was the No. 2 ranked player in the world.
Rory McIlroy let his emotions out on Friday by throwing his club and eventually destroying a tee marker. The Northern Irishman rallied and closed with two birdies in his final four holes to sign for a 2-over 72 and to sit at +6 overall.
Biggest names to miss the cut at 2025 U.S. Open
After 36 holes, it is wild to see the big-time names headed home with their tail between their legs.
Let’s look at the guys who will not get a part of the $21.5 million purse awarded by the USGA.
— Ludvig Åberg (72-76) +8
— Wyndham Clark (74-74) +8
— Phil Mickelson (74-74) +8
— Min Woo Lee (75-74) +9
— Tommy Fleetwood (74-75) +9
— Bryson DeChambeau (73-77) +10
— Sepp Straka (78-73) +11
— Justin Thomas (76-76) +12
— Justin Rose (77-77) +14
— Shane Lowry (79-78) +17
Five European Ryder Cup players could not get anything going at Oakmont, which could be good for Team USA. Bethpage Black and Oakmont are slightly similar, being two of the most challenging golf courses in the world.
The most surprising players on this list, though, have to be Shane Lowry, Ludvig Åberg, and Bryson DeChambeau. Lowry led for 54 holes in 2016 at Oakmont, and Åberg started the tournament with a decent score on his first nine. However, this venue gave them both fits and challenged them to their limits.
DeChambeau, the reigning U.S. Open champion, struggled with his new irons. He shot a 7-over 77 on Friday. The Crushers GC captain was among the favorites this week.
These guys are not even all of the popular names headed home early. Some honorable mentions that also missed the cut are Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, 2016 Oakmont US Open champion Dustin Johnson, Akshay Bhatia and Nick Dunlap.
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