US Open golf 2024: second round – live | US Open

Tiger’s chip up the slope to the right of the 9th green suffers a fate we’ve seen numerous times this week: it lacks pace and rolls back to his feet. And the same thing happens to joint-leader Patrick Cantlay at the 8th. Well, at least they’re not Scotland, who are 3-0 behind and down to 10 men at half-time against Germany. In fact, Cantlay now has a 12-footer for double bogey but he avoids the huge number with a gutsy putt that dribbles in. Two shots gone though and young Åberg leads on his own by two with Pavon giving one back at 6. Tiger, despite sweating profusely in the hot North Carolina sun, calmly gets up and down with his second attempt to limit the damage at 9 to bogey. Now +5, he probably needs to play the inward nine in even par to make the cut.

-6: Åberg (7)
-4: DeChambeau (F), Detry (F), Cantlay (8), Pavon (6)
-3: McIlroy (F)

What of Brooks Koepka, the back-to-back winner of US Opens at Erin Hills in 2017 (-16) and Shinnecock in 2018 (-1)? The five-time major winner can’t find a change of gear today and six pars and a bogey from the 10th, his opening hole, see him at +1 and seven off the pace.

Tiger did manage to clean up for par at 8 but at 9 he’s in trouble. His tee shot takes what on first glance seems a favourable bounce off the apron to the left of the flag but it’s actually more of a fling and his ball hurtles away and off the other side of the green.

Tiger putts from downtown on the treacherously difficult 8th green. It’s pretty well judged but only travels 61 feet of the required 65 so there’s still a little meat on the bone. If he wants to make the weekend, these are must makes. At the 15th, Sahith Theegala is about 20 feet off the green but has a bunker between him and the flag which stands away in the distance. He opts to skirt around the sandy obstacle with a little bump and run, a sensible taking-your-medicine play. Except as it trundles up the slope and onto the green, his ball starts curling towards the hole. It can’t, can it? It can, dying into the hole at a right-angle for one of the craziest birdies of the week. No wonder Theegala gives it the big one, punching his arm repeately as he walks onto the green. It’s a great showreel moment, sure, but the popular American is now actually -3 for his round after six holes. From looking a certainty to miss the cut after a 7-over 77 yesterday, he’s back inside the cut line at +4.

Åberg cosies his long-range putt at the 6th to kick-in range, nods to the crowd and that’ll be a par 3 for the strolling Swede. Paul McGinley, in commentary, notes that Åberg does everything well and most of his stats support that analysis. In the Strokes Gained categories, Åberg is 2nd Off The Tee, 6th Putting, 10th Tee To Green and 11th Approach. If there is something he could tidy up it’s short game as the 24-year-old is only 87th Around The Green. Cantlay is 3rd in that same category.

A couple of pars for Tiger since his frustrating bogey at the front nine’s only par 5. He stays at +4 and still the right side of the cut line. And, erm, sorry to say if you’re a Scotland fan, a couple of goals for Germany in the first 20 minutes in Munich. Wirtz and Musiala on the scoresheet.

A double whammy of excellence at the top as Åberg and Cantlay both make birdie to move two clear of the field. We can’t exactly equate this to a Tour de France breakaway but reserve the right to do so if they pull four or five clear of the peloton. Åberg gets up and down, holing from 10 feet to birdie the fifth and Cantlay joins him straight after when draining a 21-footer for his two up at 6.

-6: Cantlay (6), Åberg (5)
-5: Pavon (3)
-4: DeChambeau (F), Detry (F)
-3: McIlroy (F)

As it stands, there are 15 players under par but that number is dwindling, down from 17 around 15 minutes ago. They include amateur Neal Shipley, who won the Low Amateur at the US Masters in April and was all of us when looking fantastically awkward during the toe-curling ceremony in the Butler Cabin.

Temperament is a key ingredient of a US Open winner. Retief Goosen, the winner in both 2001 and 2004, wore that switched off demeanour better than most, displaying his inner Steve McQueen best of all when winning in brutal conditions at Shinnecock 20 years ago. Ludvig Åberg is perhaps the modern-day equivalent, that air of cool making him a perfect fit for this event. He’s just hit a towering approach to the par-5 that bounds off the back of the green. No worries though. He strolls along the fairway, casually taking his glove off. The Swede is leading the US Open but you wouldn’t know it.

Tiger’s tee-shot at the par-5 5th just misses the fairway and that creates a chain of events that ends in a disappointing bogey. Tiger back to +4 and even par for the day again. But maybe not for long as he’s hit an excellent tee-shot at the 6th, setting up a birdie opportunity from inside 15 feet. Talking of birdies, Pavon adds another at 2 and he’s now tied for the lead after those two gains straight out of the gate.

Sergio, in chili red trousers and white top, is flying the flag for Spain here after 2021 US Open champ Jon Rahm withdrew before the start due to a foot infection. And he’s going nicely too, setting up a nine-foot birdie attempt with a fine approach to 14, his fifth hole of the day. Knock that in and Sergio will be -2 for the tournament and tied seventh. If ever there was an example of a player climbing the mountain, finally planting the flag and then thinking ‘now what?’, it must be Garcia. Before he finally ended his wait for a major by beating Justin Rose in a playoff at the 2017 Masters, the Spaniard had racked up 22 top 10s at this level. Since then… zero. In fact, since winning the green jacket, he’s played 24 majors and missed the cut in 15 of them. His best finish in that stretch is tied 19th so he’s on track to beat that at least. And, who knows, maybe much more although that nine-footer doesn’t drop.

Did Rory miss a bit of a chance today to create some daylight? Kaymer followed his opening 65 here in 2014 with another but McIlroy was seven shots worse on Friday following his -5 lap of Pinehurst on day one. He drove it extremely well and is 1st for Strokes Gained: Off The Tee in today’s stats. The culprit was the flatstick, McIlroy ranking a lowly 130th for SG: Putting so far in round two.

It’s a birdie for Matthieu Pavon at his opening hole, the par-5 10th. Tres bien! That lifts the Frenchman to -4 and into a tie for third with Bryson DeChambeau and Thomas Detry, who are both done for the day. Pavon certainly seems to like these par 5s. There are only two of them at Pinehurst but he’s now -5 after three attempts at those long holes thanks to that birdie from sand just now and a pair of eagles yesterday. For wide-eyed, tell your friends context, Pavon has played the par 5s in seven shots fewer than Scottie Scheffler.

-5: Cantlay (3), Åberg (3)
-4: DeChambeau (F), Detry (F), Pavon (1)
-3: McIlroy (F)

Tiger! Woods shows that the whole point of towering an iron onto the green isn’t just for show; it’s so you can knock the resulting birdie putt in. And he does just that! A contender for loudest roar of the day as he sinks his 16-footer to return to -3. It’s worth noting that he played that same four-hole stretch in +3 yesterday. He’s four shots better over 1-4 today.

I’m sure many of you have manufactured some kind of twin TV set-up to keep an eye on both the golf and Germany v Scotland in Euro 2024. You can follow the Tartan Army on our live blog here. Martin Kaymer (+3) and Robert MacIntyre (+6) are both done for the day so can maybe share a cab somewhere to watch it all unfold.

A par-par-par start for Tiger and now he has 229 yards for his approach to the 4th. It’s a beauty, Woods producing a long-iron from his imperious pomp to set up a birdie chance from maybe 15 feet. Tiger is inside the likely cut line of +5 by a shot but you feel he’s walking a tightrope today. One bad hole and he flips the other side of it. We’re all pulling for him though, especially when you see shots like that.

A three-putt bogey for Detry at his penultimate hole drops him out of the lead and back to -4. He’s replaced at the top by Åberg, who drains a 30-footer for birdie at 2, the Swede giving the crowd a noncholant wave as he joins Cantlay in the lead on -5. Up at 3, Cantlay has the chance to pull clear on his own but his 11-footer slides by, as a lot of putts do on these super-fast greens.

It’s quite the international leaderboard as I scan my eyes over the top 10, with eight different nationalities on show. We have three American flags and one each from Belgium, Sweden, Northern Ireland, France, Japan, Canada and Spain. As the three three previous Pinehurst winners were from the United States (Payne Stewart), New Zealand (Michael Campbell) and Germany (Martin Kaymer), that seems quite appropriate.

Thanks Scott. Another superb shift. I’d say the equivalent of a 4-under 66 at Pinehurst today.

… and with that, I’ll hand over to David Tindall, who will take this thing home. I’ll see you again tomorrow for Moving Day. Enjoy, enjoy!

A disappointing opening par for Brooks Koepka at 10. A chip up from 35 yards to six feet looked to have set up birdie, but the putt’s never dropping. The two-time champion remains at level par.

Ludvig Åberg opens with a no-nonsense par at 1. The debutant – only the seventh player in history to shoot 66 or better in his first-ever US Open round – remains at -4. Meanwhile up on 2, Tiger finds himself in a bit of bother off the tee, in the scrub down the right, and can’t reach the green in two. But he gets up and down from 50 yards, a staunch 12-footer for par saving the day. He remains at +4.

Thomas Detry leaves a 50-foot birdie putt a good ten feet short on 7. Danger here, in the wake of the bogey at 6. But he gamely rattles in the par saver to remain in a share of the lead at -5.

Opening par for Patrick Cantlay at 1. Meanwhile up on 10, Sergio Garcia, wearing some retina-bothering bright red breeks, nearly holes out from the apron for eagle. The ball stubbornly refuses to drop, but he’ll be tapping in for an opening birdie that’ll take him up to -2, and … he couldn’t, could he? Far too early to go there, of course, and yet it’s very difficult not to start thinking about it.

Matsuyama shoots 66

Thomas Detry sends his tee shot at the long par-three 6th into the bunker on the left. He splashes out to ten feet, but can’t make the par saver, and that sole ownership of the lead didn’t last long.

-5: Detry (15*), Cantlay
-4: DeChambeau (F), Åberg
-3: McIlroy (F), Pavon

The joint 18-hole leader Patrick Cantlay pegs up for the first time today. An iron down the right-hand side of the 1st fairway. Meanwhile up on the green, Tiger crisply chips up to a couple of feet, and tidies up for an opening par.

Here comes another man of the people: Tiger Woods. After yesterday’s 74, he needs something “solid and boring” at the very least if the three-time champ is to survive the cut. Not the greatest start, however, as his approach bounds off down a swale to the right of the 1st green. The mood music of his afternoon may depend on the success of the upcoming scramble.

Bryson DeChambeau talks to Sky. “I made a lot of birdies which I was proud of … the two par-threes on the front nine was stellar … the par-fives, one over par, pretty disappointed, if I can clean that up it’ll ease a lot of the other holes … give myself a little bit of a cushion … great iron play … making a lot of putts … freeing up is key … the fans are awesome … they’ve been super nice to me … it’s fun feeding off them … I love it … I’ve learned a lot about myself in general … focusing on what makes me a better not just golfer but person … how I can be more entertaining … how I can give the fans what they deserve … there’s been a lot of stuff in the past that’s happened and I’m looking to right the ship … it’s going to be an interesting test of golf … let’s play some solid, boring golf … if I can do that, I’ll give myself a great shot.”

A mass of contradictions, but then aren’t we all? Such a likeable player, and so much fun to watch. Also, I’m pretty sure what he considers “boring golf” is wild fun for the rest of us, so it promises to be a great weekend. As some dude opined the other week: a man for the people.

Thomas Detry creams a fairway wood into the heart of the par-five 5th from 265 yards to 30 feet. He can’t make the long eagle putt, but leaves himself a two-footer for birdie that gives the 31-year-old Belgian – who has yet to win on either the European or PGA Tour, but recently finished in a tie for fourth at the PGA – sole ownership of the lead at the US Open!

-6: Detry (14*)
-5: Cantlay
-4: DeChambeau (F), Åberg
-3: McIlroy (F), Pavon

DeChambeau shoots 69

Rory McIlroy splashes out to ten feet, but his par effort is always drifting low to the left. That’s a 72, and he’s the new clubhouse leader at -3. Scottie Scheffler gets up and down from the sand, but that 75 will have him watching the afternoon play while keeping a nervous eye on that cutline. Chances are +5 should be enough … just … but nothing’s certain. Par for Xander Schuaffele too, and he signs for a 69. He’s -1 and despite not bringing his best stuff, is in good shape ahead of Moving Day.

Tyrrell Hatton ends the day with a one-over 71. Given his round threatened to spiral out of control towards the end – he was fuming after an awful ricochet off the flagstick at 13 turned possible eagle into bogey, which, with the mist descending, led to another dropped shot at 14 – but he’s parred his way home. And while he’s mooching off to the clubhouse muttering darkly, once he settles down he’ll be pretty happy with his position: in red figures after 36 holes at a US Open. He’s -1 and the joint clubhouse leader with Tom Kim.