Collin Morikawa, best golfer in the tough second round at the US Open

Collin Morikawa showed encouraging signs at the right time and put up 66 (-4) to share the tournament lead over Joel Dahmen.

Morikawa, who is at -5 overall, is trying to win a big tournament for the third consecutive year, but he has one player in particular in his rear -view mirror.

Defending tournament champion Jon Rahm played alongside Morikawa and he did his best to keep up the pace. The Spaniard shot 67 and he was the headliner of a group of five golfers just one stroke behind the leaders.

The one-round leader, Canadian Adam Hadwin, shot 72 and slipped into a tie for 13th at -2. The only other Maple Leaf representative to evade the ax, Mackenzie Hughes (69), has a cumulative score of +1.

Rory McIlroy, returning from success at the Canadian Open, has never been more entertaining than the third hole.

He wanders the long lawn. He took a swing, and another, and on his third try, he finally found himself on the green. The Northern Irishman putt from a distance of over 7m to save the double bogey. The 3rd player in the world returned a 69 card and he was part of the group tied to Rahm.

We can’t ignore the performance of Scottie Scheffler, the latest Masters Tournament champion. The Texan played 67 and just two strokes from 1st place.

This is the US Open. Nothing is easy to lose in a win, Morikawa said. The last few days have helped a lot with my confidence entering the weekend and hopefully we can make some separation.

Morikawa, Rahm and Scheffler have won four of the last nine major tournaments. And there’s McIlroy, who has won four majors, but none since 2014.

I think it’s great for golf that the top players and the best golfers in the world go to the top of the rankings. Especially in a tournament where the best player actually wins.said Rahm.

You want to compete against the best and you want to get the best out of yourself, “McIlroy added. To see Collin, Jon, Scottie, Sam [Burns] and everything else on top, those are the major golf tournaments. That’s the essence of competition. I am excited to be part of this group.

The United States Open must identify the best players. Some of them have to slowly get used to the idea of ​​being in the race for a major title over the weekend.

Starting with Dahmen, a cancer survivor, who can never accuse herself too seriously even if she takes her game seriously. He twice thought of withdrawing from the 36-hole qualifier last week: before it started, then after the first round.

Because of his round of 68 on Friday, he will play in the final group of a major tournament for the very first time.

Also tied for third was Hayden Buckley, who studied in Missouri because he didn’t believe he could pay his bills as a professional golfer. He didn’t qualify for the US Open until he birdied in overtime to get the last available spot 11 days ago.

Phil Mickelson won’t be coming out this weekend and that’s not surprising. The southpaw took a four-month break following his inflammatory statements about the PGA Tour and the Saudi-funded Tour he is promoting.

Mickelson eventually joined the LIV circuit and returned to competition last week, albeit with poor results. The 52-year-old veteran did not dodge the ax after handing out cards of 78 and 73.