That left him at four-under 136 and by the time the marathon second round concluded at Oakmont, he was one shot in front of PGA Tour rookie Andrew Landry, the surprise first-round leader.
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Spain’s Sergio Garcia and American Scott Piercy were in the clubhouse on two-under.
Lowry won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron past year, just 115 miles away from Oakmont, but came into the week on the back of a missed cut in the BMW PGA Championship and frustrated at failing to turn good opening rounds into good finishes.
McIlroy had moved within six strokes of midway pacesetter Dustin Johnson with a first-nine 31, only slide down the leaderboard after the turn and post his first major missed cut since the 2013 Open Championship.
Summerhays scored a tournament-best 65 in his second round Friday, two off the course record set by Johnny Miller in winning the 1973 U.S. Open. McIlroy made four birdies on his first nine that he desperately needed after a disastrous opening round that included eight bogeys and only one birdie.
The combination of a session on the range with coach Michael Bannon and a more aggressive approach then paid off for McIlroy on day three as he birdied the 10th, 12th, 14th and 16th and then drove the green on the short par-four 17th, only to three-putt for par from 80 feet. He ended with a 67.
And just like that, the 624th-ranked player in the world worked his way into the final group when Round 3 begins sometime around 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon. He holed a chip at the second and a full wedge shot at the fifth for an eagle two, his second hole out from the fairway in this tournament.
The big shock early on was that four-time major victor Rory McIlroy failed to make the cut for the first time at a major in three years.
Gregory Bourdy, of France, reacts to his putt on the 17th hole during the rain delayed second round of the U.S. Open golf championship at Oakmont Country Club on Saturday, June 18, 2016, in Oakmont, Pa. World No. 1 Jason Day has it even worse at five over after his second round.
“You start thinking about results, you’ll never play your best golf. but until I ultimately win this tournament, it will be my biggest thought, my biggest focus”.
Landry, who arrived at Oakmont ranked 624th in the world, stunned the 156-player field by shooting a 4-under 66 during a weather-delayed first round that took him almost 24 hours to complete. “I believe that I will”, 46-year-old Mickelson said. “I hit a few shots really close”.
Running out of steam: World No. 2 Jordan Spieth put a charge into the Oakmont gallery early in his third round, running off three straight birdies to reach 1-over for the championship, within five shots of the lead.
“Obviously, the second round was nice”, Day said. It’s been a really tough day around a very tough golf course.
However, Landry recovered at the end of Round 2 with birdies on Nos.
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The leader in the clubhouse when the day ended was Branden Grace, who past year at Chambers Bay was tied for the lead until he hit 3-wood onto the train track and out-of-bounds for a double bogey that cost him. I can just get out there and play my game.
