Following a rain-plagued Thursday that saw only nine golfers complete their first round, the U.S. Open has widened its window for Friday’s play at the Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, and Fox Sports has altered its scheduled accordingly.
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Twice Masters champion Bubba Watson, after 14 holes, and New Zealand’s Danny Lee, after 12, are tied for second at two under.
“It’s obviously a frustrating day having to keep coming off (the course), but there’s nothing you can do about the weather”.
“They’re a good speed and they’re so ideal out there”, Landry said.
Westwood drove the green on the short 17th but three-putted from long range for par, missing from inside two feet for birdie to remain two under par. If Mother Nature cooperates – and the grounds crew can get the course in playing condition quickly – Round 2 is expected to begin around 1:45 p.m. Saturday’s third round would involve threesomes off split tees, in hopes of avoiding a Monday finish – aside from an 18-hole playoff.
The second suspension of play because of fast-moving storms – some with lightning bursts – sent players and fans scrambling for cover.
Technically, the leader in the clubhouse – the one with the best completed round – is Scottie Scheffler, a 19-year-old amateur born in Ridgewood, N.J. whose caddie is his sister Callie, a golfer on the Texas A & M women’s team.
The second delay interrupted the hot round of Andrew Landry, a PGA Tour rookie ranked 624th in the world.
“I can’t even describe it right now, but I didn’t really let the magnitude of what’s going on kind of get to me”, Scheffler said.
While some players sat out the delay in courtesy vans or temporary shelters, Englishmen Lee Westwood and Luke Donald managed to make their way to the nearby media dining area, pulling up chairs amid a pack of British golf writers watching the England-Wales soccer match in the European Championship…. “Massive, ” said Masters champion Danny Willett. Henrik Stenson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Brandt Snedeker, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Brooks Koepka, and the last Oakmont US Open champion in 2007 – Angel Cabrera. He had a birdie putt on his final hole to get to 4-under for his round, but the horn sounded once again on his walk up the fairway and play was suspended for the rest of the day.
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Landry led for most of the round, having birdied his first hole at No. 10, and made the turn in 33. Several players took part in a putting challenge at Oakmont’s spectators’ village and brought the Stanley Cup into the locker room during a rain delay. “It’s not easy to play from the rough and the bad spots around this course”. After 13 homes the world number three is four-over after five bogeys and a sole birdie. While overnight rains softened Oakmont’s fairways, and overcast skies kept them that way, the inch of rain did little to slow down the treacherous greens.
