The American Russel Henley shares the controls of the 121st US Open with the Englishman Richard Bland, after the second round contested on the south course of Torrey Pines. The two French, them, will not play this weekend.
An unexpected duo is at the helm of the US Open, in the person of the American Russell Henley, 63rd in the world, and of the Englishman Richard Bland, even less known, 48 years old and 115th in the world, after the second round played on Friday in La Jolla.
The perfect shot
Already in the lead the day before, alongside South African Louis Oosthuizen, Henley thought he had hit the perfect shot when he landed his second birdie of the day on the 17th. The native of Macon (Georgia, USA), who has not won a PGA title since the Houston Open in 2017 and who never managed to rank in the top 10 of a Grand Slam tournament, then took the lead on his own. But it only lasted a moment, as he missed a putt in range on his last hole and committed his only bogey.
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“I feel good about my game. But I’ve never been in that position before in a Major. I just feel like I’m going to learn something, no matter what ”, declared the one who is still forced to share his chair as leader.
This time, with the surprising Richard Bland, this veteran that no one saw coming. Without making any noise, the one who won his first European Tour tournament last month, the Betfred British Masters, in 25 years of professional career, made the best card of the day (67), thanks to seven birdies against three bogeys.
“I’ll be home later”
“I feel pretty good about my game. My drive has been efficient for a few weeks now, which is the cornerstone if you want to be competitive for a US Open”, commented Bland, who could become Sunday the oldest winner in the history of this Major, in front of the American Hale Irwin who was 45 years old when he won in 1990. “I have a return flight (to Europe) scheduled for Sunday evening. I have to play in Munich next week. But I’ll take another one and come home later ”, he added with a smile.
Because the hardest part has only just begun for the improbable duo that he forms with Henley. They each total -5, and are suddenly ahead of Louis Oosthuizen who made a neutral card (71, -4), as well as the American Matthew Wolff. And there are two clients in ambush in 5th place, since the Spaniard Jon Rahm (3rd in the world) and the American Bubba Watson are two lengths (-3). The latter, double winner of the Masters (2012, 2014) also returned a card of 67 like Bland, to jump 36 places in the standings.
“I feel confident, I hit some nice shots”, welcomed Rahm, absolutely not physically affected ten days after contracting Covid-19.
DeChambeau believes in it
Among the favorites, defending champion Bryson DeChambeau reacted well after a delicate inaugural lap (+2), this time finishing at -2, to stay in par. “If I can be a little more comfortable with my irons and my drivers, I’ll have a good chance this weekend,” he warned.
In 14th place, five strokes from the head, also appear Collin Morikawa, excellent with five birdies and a single bogey, the day after his bad start, the 2nd world Justin Thomas, and Brooks Koepka who on the other hand got out of nine. ranks.
The day was still difficult for the world n ° 1 Dustin Johnson, who finished at +2, for the Japanese Hideki Matsuyama winner of the last Masters (+3) and for Phil Mickeslon who did little better than the day before (+3 ), compromising his dream of winning the only Major missing from his record. This second round was so complicated for the whole field, that the cut was lowered to +4. What allowed Jordan Spieth to save his presence for this weekend.
No miracle, however, for the two French competitors, Victor Perez (+8) and Paul Barjon (+9), are eliminated. The Tarbais (75-75) miss their third cut in a row in Major while the Bordeaux (73-78) leaves the US Open for the second time before the weekend.
For his part, suffering from sand in the eye after hitting the bunker during warm-up, Norwegian Viktor Hovland was forced to retire after nine holes.
Classification after the 2nd round (par 71):
1. Richard Bland (ANG) -5 (70-67)
. Russell Henley (United States) -5 (67-70)
Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) -4 (67-71)
. Matthew Wolff (United States) -4 (70-68)
6. Bubba Watson (United States) -3 (72-67)
. Jon Rahm (ESP) -3 (69-70)
Kevin Streelman (United States) -2 (71-69)
. Mackenzie Hughes (CAN) -2 (73-67)
. Xander Sc Chaudele (United States) -2 (69-71)
… etc
.
