Key events

The cut is +4. Among the big names who will miss the weekend are: +5 Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed; +6 Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay; +7 Sepp Straka, +8 Adam Scott, JJ Spaun; +10 Brooks Koepka

A reminder of a stat we mentioned earlier: 28 of the last 30 winners of the US Open were within three shots of the lead at halfway. And Wyndham Clark, of course, leads by four shots.

But we also noted that Clark led by four at the 2024 Players Championship and couldn’t convert. Mixed messages and, from our (that is a spectator’s) point of view, we’d quite like it not to be a cakewalk for Clark.

To Tom Kim on 18. The last man with the potential to change everything at the top. He has a sliding 35 feet putt down the slope. It’s never quite high enough and finds late pace to slip away from the hole. A nasty 5 foot par putt to come … and he makes it. Rounds of 70-67 for him and he’ll have a very late tee time tomorrow.

Playing partner Alex Fitzpatrick completes a par to hit the weekend on level-par.

Rounds of 77-71 for JJ Spaun. His defence of the title is over, but the pride surely lingers and the memories will take a long time to fade. In its own way, this week must have felt very special.

Scottie Scheffler can’t find any late magic. A regulation par at the 9th and he completes rounds of 72-68. Like Harman he needs help from Clark from here on in, but he is more likely to have a dart at the lead at some stage over the weekend. He’ll need a spark though – it’s all been a little like a barbecue that doesn’t want to light so far.

2023 Open champion Brian Harman completes scores of 69-71 to sit level-par. A solid effort, but, like so many, he’ll need help from Wyndham Clark to be involved late on Sunday.

It’s not been the 100th consecutive major championship appearance that Adam Scott would have hoped for. He misses a birdie chance on his final hole and will be leaving early because of his +8 36 hole total. On to Royal Birkdale for the popular Aussie.

It’s going to be a heck of a weekend for Mr and Mrs Fitzpatrick. Elder son Matt is tied for second and younger son Alex Fitzpatrick is T10 as he prepares to play the 18th hole.

Tom Kim bolts a 10 foot birdie putt at 16 and he’s now -3 for the day and the week. When he turned pro he thrilled crowds with his personality but has struggled badly over the last year. It would be great to see a sustained return to his best golf.

Rory McIlroy on his round: “I just kept hitting it long. It was tough. But I hung in there. Level-par is not bad. Just three shots off second, it’s just that Wyndham has gone clear. The draw bias will even itself out over the weekend. I just need to keep the bogey runs off the card. I feel I still have a good chance.”

Talking of Scottie Scheffler, he leaves a birdie putt in the jaws on the 7th (his 16th). He has two par-4s to come. Play them in -1 and he’ll sneak inside the top 10.

It has to be said that, just like last night, there are not many spectators out on the course. It looks beautiful out there, but oddly unpopulated. The World No. 1 is out there!

The last of the starters have five holes to play in the dying sun.

Rory McIlroy hits halfway on level-par

The Northern Irishman tickles his lag putt down to the hole side and completes par, but he’s seven shots back of the lead with 36 holes to play. Tommy Fleetwood’s birdie effort pulls up short. He’s +1 through 36 holes. And Ludvig Aberg’s par breaker hangs high. He also hits the weekend on +1.

Only 11 men are under-par as it stands:

-7: Clark (F)
-3: M. Fitzpatrick (F), Schauffele (F*), Stevens (F)
-2: Morikawa (F), T. Kim (15)
-1: Thomas (F*), Higgs (F), Burns (F), McNealy (17), Harman (15)

Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood of embrace on the 18th green after finishing their round. Photograph: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

To the 18th green. Ludvig Aberg has about 15 feet for birdie coming up after his approach. Tommy Fleetwood will show him the line from double that distance. And Rory McIlroy? 45 feet away. He’ll be wanting to save par rather than try to better it from there.

Sam Burns is quite the curio. From May 2021 to March 2023 he landed five PGA Tour victories and yet, throughout that period, he was consistently poor in the majors.

He’s not added to his win tally since the end of that period, but he has become a regular contender in the majors - in the 2024 Open, in last year’s US Open, briefly in this year’s Masters, and now this week.

A three-putt at 18 has marred his day. 71-68 leaves him -1 for the week.

Rory McIlroy saves another par at 17. A birdie at 18 would get him to -1 for the tournament and within six of the lead – but within two of second.

Tom Kim is sneaking up the leaderboard on -2 through 14 holes and -2 for the week. He was T23 on his US Open debut in 2022, T8 in 2023, T26 (when top 10 through 36 and 54 holes) in 2024 and T33 last year. And, after some wretched long term form, he was T6 in early May, tied the first round lead in his penultimate start and T15 in last week’s Canadian Open.

At the 593-yard par-5 5th Scottie Scheffler gave himself a 25 foot look at eagle. Given his week it’s not exactly surprising that it pulls up short and low, but the birdie gets him to level-par for the week. He’s grinding.

The par-5 16th is eating up the European super group. Tommy Fleetwood has found the putting surface in three blows but nearly ran to his ball to mark it before came back to him. His birdie putt is tentative and short but he’ll take the par. Ludvig Aberg hit a duck hook second into the face of a bunker and could only nudge it into rough like a bored builder of a sand castle. He hacked it out from there, pitched to around 8 feet and makes bogey. McIlroy pulled his second into thick grass, the ball nestled against a stick. He half-knifed it out and through the green. But his fourth shot is delicate enough to guarantee his par.

16 very hard won shots between them.

The two-shot penalty handed to Joaquin Niemann yesterday has caused a fair amount of furore on social media. Here’s what he had to say: “I hit it two times out of bounds on the right, two bad swings. Then got pretty frustrated. I’m not someone that like to be in that behavior. I’m the first one to judge myself when I don’t behave on the golf course.

“That was a misbehave from my part. I felt like a little bit extra penalized with two-shot penalty, but I think it is what it is. I think I’m going to learn from it. It definitely kind of helped me a little bit to have a better round today.

“I was looking around. There was no people, obviously. No one there. I’m not proud of it, but yeah, I mean, sometimes, you know, all the expectation of trying to play well and things doesn’t go your way, you get frustrated, and that was me there.”

“Scheffler is starting to look better and better,” says Paul McGinley as he look as a 20 foot birdie putt to get him to level-par for the week. Commentator’s curse. Scheffler stands up on it almost immediately and it never nears the hole. It is a fact, however, that the World No. 1 could make two birdies and be a feature this weekend.

Harry Higgs, who has just made his first PGA Tour cut of the year, has just made a big reveal on TV: “I very nearly quit the game in the qualifier for this event.” He’s a great personality. Fun and honest. Here’s hoping for a great weekend for him.

Rory McIlroy is not finding momentum. He’s discovering flux. His back nine now reads: 3 x bogey, 2 x birdie, 1 x double bogey. The 15th kicks him in the guts. He finds rough from the tee but not the long grass. The green is fiendish to hold and he doesn’t. His pitch runs through the green into sand. He splashes out and two putts. Ouch.

Sam Stevens is nearing the end of his round. He opened his lap with a birdie, but then quickly gave two shots back to the card. Since the 5th, however, he’s added 11 pars and two birdies. He’s got 6 feet for par at 18 and makes it. He hits the weekend at -3.

Time for a leaderboard update – Rory McIlroy is back on the first page.

-7: Clark (F)
-3: M. Fitzpatrick (F), Schauffele (F*), Stevens (17)
-2: Morikawa (F), Burns (14), McIlroy (14)

Robert MacIntyre is hovering on the cut line right now. He’s +4 but probably watching the football. Unfortunately, Scotland have conceded in the 2nd minute.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy has drained his birdie putt at 14, which he was trying to lag, from 42 feet. Ridiculous. He laughs at the absurdity of it. Since the turn he has gone bogey-bogey-bogey-birdie-birdie.

Harry Higgs hits the clubhouse on -1 for the week. His 68 was a really good effort and he’s the kind of player for whom a top 20 will have a big impact on his year and, potentially, career.

A good break for Rory McIlroy on the par-4 14th. His drive is wild but find the edge of the gallery walkway. He then pops his approach on the green. Nothing special, but nothing daft.

Scottie Scheffler update: He’s -1 for the day and +1 for the week. Every time we see him on TV it seems that he is frustrated. Yet, as TV point out, he’s only four back of second place. Wyndham Clark has been an outlier through 36 holes. The rest of the field are finding this tough going. Not as tough as we might have expected, but tough all the same.

Another short iron, another Rory McIlroy error? No. At the 13th he stiffs his approach to tap in range. It’s not a gimme, but it is a gimme, if that makes sense. Paul McGinley tells us “they have a stat over here called bouncebackability”. I’d suggest almost everyone knows this, not least because Paul has been telling us about it ever since he first entered a TV booth. I’m not moaning though. I like McGinley’s habit of clinging to stats, momentum and bouncebackability like they’re toys only he got for Christmas rather than ones everyone found in their stocking. I like his enthusiasm.

“I got these toys called Action Man and Matchbox cars, and a game called Cluedo.” “Yes, Paul. Well done, Santa.”

Of course, the US Open is not the only sporting highlight taking place tonight. Scotland are taking on Morocco in the World Cup. Why not open a second tab, join John Brewin and keep up with all the action?!

There are short putts being missed as well as long ones. Max Greyserman three-putted from inside 4 feet earlier. Is the Poa Annua grass getting knobbly? Tommy Fleetwood holed his birdie putt on 12, by the way. He’s now -1. The 13th is 366-yards so, in theory, a birdie opportunity. Fleetwood finds the high grass, swears, and TV apologises. Rory McIlroy finds the short grass so now he has another pesky short iron ahead of him.

-7: Clark (F)
-3: M. Fitzpatrick (F), Schauffele (F*), Stevens (15)
-2: Morikawa (F), Burns (13)

Hmmm. Rory McIlroy’s third shot from the cabbagey grass at 12 was, not unexpectedly, hot when it came out. He’s got a shorter par putt than he had at 10 or 11, but it’s still 20 feet.

“Back when we played with a balata ball,” says TV’s Wayne Riley, “Rory’s ball would now look like a Rubik’s cube.”

His putt wobbles plenty and ducks towards to hole late on, but lips out.

Never mind his ball, the back nine is beginning to resemble a Rubik’s Cube. He’s now level-par for the week and seven shots off the pace.

Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood move on to the par-4 12th and are in need of a tone changer. Fleetwood’s approach has settled close to the pin. Now McIlroy. Oh dear. His approach lands with a thump and a big skid – and then it scuttles through into cabbagey grass. Another test to save par when he had a short iron in his hands – a third in a row. An ugly start to his back nine.

The 11th hole drama of Tommy and Rory: McIlroy has found the putting surface with his pitch from the swale. He took the safe option. The one that says bogey is better than double bogey. But he has 22 feet for par. Fleetwood extricated himself from a tricky position with calm and control, his ball settling near the flag, securing par.

McIlroy’s par putt turned away from the hole on its last few rolls, alas. Back to back bogeys and he badly needs to halt this nasty little run.

The question of who in the field might be Jay Gatsby has generated, err, mild debate. Bryson DeChambeau wins the poll but the voting patterns reveal the modern golf climate because Xs were scratched next to Rory McIlroy’s name also.

McIlroy didn’t want to repeat his mistake 10. The back of the par-3 11th is an even worse place to try and save par. But that’s where his ball has finished. A big test coming up. And for Tommy Fleetwood, too. His ball has snagged in the cabbage hanging over the front bunkers.

The difficulty of missing the 10th green through the back is revealed by Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood. Accidentally they’ve put on a tutorial, in fact. They were so far below the green it was above their heads. McIlroy is a little bold and goes 27 feet past the flag. His par putt pulls up short - he makes bogey. Fleetwood is more hesitant and only just keeps the ball on the green - he makes bogey when his 21 foot par putt misses.

After a 338 yard drive, Rory McIlroy has only 79 yards to the flag. But it is to a raised green that is hard to hit - and the Northern Irishman proves it. He thins the ball and squeals “Oh no!” as his ball flies through the green. Just like that a birdie chance becomes a fight to secure par.

Justin Rose has been speaking with Mel Reid after his second round of 70 left him on +1: “I got home about 9pm last night and set the alarm for 4am. I managed four and a half hours sleep. I got some momentum going today but then had a sluggish back nine. They have to really protect two holes ou there and that determines how they set conditions. Yesterday it was soft but there was cloud cover and there is humidity. When the sune comes out here it gets tougher. I’d like to see it get tough from now on to help me get involved.”

Rory McIlroy approaches the turn. And potentially in style. He finds the fairway at the 9th and his approach dances around the pin. It’s long been noted, of course, that McIlroy bounces when he’s feeling it. He completes a shot, steps forward on tip toes, peers forward, and then trots on, chest out, give in his step, if he likes what he sees.

Tommy Fleetwood makes a birdie before McIlroy tries and gets to -1. Ludvig Aberg doesn’t break par – he stays -1. And now McIlroy from 5 feet … who he misses on the high side. Par and he remains -3, four back of the leader.

Daniel Neill asks: “If Shinnecock Hills is Gatsby country, who in the field is Gatsby?” A mysterious rich man, shady connections, contrived in manner, somewhat manipulative - you tell me, readers.

Scottie Scheffler can’t ride the wave of his birdie at 15. He labours to a par at the long 16th and remains +1 for the week. The Leaderboard:

-7: Clark (F)
-3; M. Fitzpatrick (F), Schauffele (17*), Higgs (13), Stevens (12), McIlroy (8), Greyserman (6)

To the 8th. Rory McIlroy has 18 feet for birdie, it’s dead straight and he finds the hole with a smooth strole. A lovely putt. He’s -2 for the round and -3 for the championship. Primed for an afternoon challenge.

Sam Stevens joins him on -3 for the week with back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12.

Wonderful drone footage highlights just how close Shinnecock Hills is to the sea. Located on Long Island, it has Shinnecock Bay close by, the Atlantic in sight, Great Peconic Bay nearby and Long Island Sound is not far away. It’s Great Gatsby country for literary folk.

Harry Higgs won’t be known to many. But he has an interesting CV. He won the Diners Club Peru Open - is Diners Club still a thing?! He also won the Visit Knoxville Open - a slightly hopeful-sounding sponsor. The nearest he’s been to PGA Tour success was play off defeat in the Myrtle Beach Classic - Myrtle Beach sounds like a minor character in the Golden Girls. But he was T4 on his major debut at the 2021 PGA Championship and T14 on his Masters debut in 2022. This is just his second US Open start (he missed the cut in 2024), he’s currently -4 for the day, -3 for the week and he’s just missed a 4 foot birdie try at the 13th.

Scottie Scheffler drops a 41 foot birdie putt at 15. It’s his sixth hole of the day and he’s now -1 for the day and +1 for the week with the par-5 16th to come. No-one would pretend he has looked good this week, but he finds a way of hanging around – and the last time he didn’t play four rounds was February 2024.

Here’s a factor to consider over the next four hours: 28 of the last 30 US Open champions were within three shots of the halfway lead - and 27 were within two. A nice stat for the current leader to consider.

The two exceptions were 5 and 6 shots back which gives this week’s chasers hope, not least because that 5 shot deficit retrieval was Brooks Koepka at Shinnecock Hills in 2018.

Thanks Dave. Looks like we have quite a long way to go. To celebrate the extended World Cup it feels like the pre-cut golf has been extended. The latest starters have finished just four holes of their second round.

And after that rather pointless stat, I’m being subsituted for fresher legs/minds. On comes Matt Cooper as I sit down on the bench while being handed a bottle of water.

Americans have won nine of the last 11 editions of the US Open. That dominance is being reflected at the top of the current leaderboard with 10 of the top 13 home US golfers.

Tommy Fleetwood also made his birdie at the par-5 5th to return to even par for the day and even par overall. You get the sense that both he and McIlroy will want to be no more than five back from Clark when play is done. That would mean finishing at -2, where Rory is right now.

At 14, there’s a goalkeeper in the hole as Scheffler’s birdie putt somehow stays out. Talking of which the USA are leading Australia 2-0 as half-time approaches in their World Cup Group D clash at Lumen Field.

Scheffler needs to put his foot down after that bogey at 13. The good news is that he’ll have a birdie putt from 14 feet coming up at 14.

Meanwhile, Harry Higgs has just whipped up the New York crowds after holing a 75-foot putt from off the green at the par-3 11th. Higgs is -4 for the day and into a tie for second.

-7: Clark (F)
-3: M. Fitzpatrick (F), Schauffele (F), Higgs (11), Greyserman (4)
-2: Morikawa (F), McIlroy (5)

Rory launches his approach at the par-5 5th to just inside 30 feet so he’ll be putting for eagle. His left to righter looks set to break into the cup but holds its line and stays up. Rory looks somehat confused. The return putt needs some attention but in it goes and Rory has his first birdie of the day. At -2 he’s five off Clark’s lead.

Scottie Scheffler has to get a ruling as he crouches inside a greenside bunker at 13. He wants to remove a loose stone but is making sure it’s not some clumped sand doing an impersonation of one. After getting the all clear, he splashes out to 10 feet but can’t make the putt. Scheffler drops nine back again and in tied 36th. Not the place to be if you want to try and complete the Grand Slam of all four majors.

Scottie Scheffler hits from the bunker on the 13th hole. Photograph: David J Phillip/AP

If +5 is at least one shot too many, that means Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland will both be heading home early. The +6s slamming their trunks include Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay.

Barring a big turnaround, defending champion J.J. Spaun also won’t be around for the weekend. He’s +8 overall with 15 holes to play.

None of that should concern Rory McIlroy (-1) as he pummels his drive at the par-5 5th 393 yards down the middle of the fairway. He’ll have exactly 200 yards for his second.

McIlroy has to scramble for par at 4 after his wedge from 112 yards spins back off the green. Also pars for Fleetwood and Åberg at the same hole. Now to the first par 5 of the day.

Datagolf’s live cutline prediction suggests +4 is still the number (62%). However +3 (37%) is still a live runner if the wind stays down.

Ludvig Åberg has matched McIlroy’s par-par-par start to stay alongside the Northern Irisman at -1, currently good enough for tied seventh. Routine pars at 1 and 3 after finding fairways and greens in the right number although at 2 he had to knock in a nine-footer to keep a bogey away after leaking his tee shot into right rough. The Swede has put himself in great position in several big tournaments this year without finishing the job off. This would be the perfect place to end that frustrating run.

At 4, a 468-yard par 4, Åberg shows all that effortless power to blast a 361-yard drive into the middle of the fairway. McIlroy has a bit of a lean going but he also finds the short grass, as does Fleetwood.

Tommy Fleetwood paid the price for a missed green at the par-3 2nd hole and made bogey to drop to +1. At 3, his drive has skipped into the fescue, a “jumpy lie” according to Wayne Riley. Hands on hips, Fleetwood is undecided what club to pull and eventually tugs a 7-iron into rough by the left of the green. Another shot could go here but Fleetwood has a killer short game and bumps one across the green to four feet and saves par. McIlroy’s approach lands around 25 feet from the pin but he hits a fruity first putt to leave himself a testy one back. He makes it. A par-par-par start keeps the Masters champ at -1.

At 11, Scheffler is in birdie range again but his 12-footer doesn’t catch enough of the hole. He remains at +1 alongside Fleetwood.

McIlroy pulls driver at the 513-yard par-4 3rd hole and immediately reaches for his tee. Boom! Right down the middle. While Rory makes the 358-yard walk to his ball, Scheffler tickles in his birdie putt at 10 for an opening birdie that takes him to +1.

-7: Clark (F)
-3; M. Fitzpatrick (F), Schauffele (F)
-2: Morikawa (F), Higgs (7), Greyserman (1)