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Pinehurst No. 2 Is Winning, But Aberg, DeChambeau, Detry and Cantlay Are Surviving -- So Far

Pinehurst No. 2 Is Winning, But Aberg, DeChambeau, Detry and Cantlay Are Surviving -- So Far


VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. -- As a general rule, no one wins the U.S. Open. Most years, they give the trophy to the last man standing.

There have been exceptions. Jack Nicklaus shot a 65 at Baltusrol on the final day in 1967, and set a 72-hole scoring record with 275 to beat Arnold Palmer by four shots. In 1973, Johnny Miller shot a major tournament-record 63 at Oakmont and won the Open by a stroke over John Schlee with a 279. The USGA was not happy about that 63, and the next year, it made sure there would be no 63s at Winged Foot. Hale Irwin won the 1974 championship with a 72-hole total of 7-over-par 287.

This year's Open is being played at the iconic Pinehurst No. 2. In the most memorable U.S. Open that's been played there, 1999 -- one of the most memoralbe Opens in history -- Payne Stewart made a 15-foot putt for par on the 72nd hole to beat Phil Mickelson by one shot. Stewart shot 70 (even par) that day and finished the tournament at 279 (minus 1). Vijay Singh, who tied Tiger Woods for third at 281, was the only player to break par on the last day. He shot a 1-under 69.

The one time the Open has been played at No. 2 since then was 2014, and Martin Kaymer shot 65 in each of the first two rounds that year, on his way to the title. He ended up 9 under par at 271 and won by eight shots.

The USGA has no intention of letting anyone go 9 under par this year. So far, after two rounds, a few players have been under par, most notably the spectacularly talented Swede Ludvig Aberg, and he leads the field after a second-round 69. But he's only 5 under so far, and it looks as though the winning score won't be much lower than that. Aberg opened with a 4-under 66 and got to 6 under for the tournament on Friday with birdies at the 508-yard, par-5 second hole (remember when 500-yard holes were always par 5s?), and the 582-yard, par-5 fifth. But he was 1 over from there, with bogeys at the 486-yard, par-4 eighth and the 523-yard, par-4 16th, and a birdie at the 489-yard, par-4 12th sandwiched in between.

So he's at 135, and one ahead of three players at 136 -- Bryson DeChambeau (67-69), Thomas Detry (69-67) and Patrick Cantlay (65-71).

Rory McIlroy is another shot back, tied for fifth at 137, along with Tony Finau and Matthier Pavon, after a 72 on Friday.

Of those six players, Cantlay looks like a threat to Aberg, but not as much of a threat as DeChambeau or McIlroy. McIlroy is a three-time major champion, although he hasnt won a major since the 2014 PGA. The massively long-hitting DeChambeau (even by modern standards) has one major title, the 2020 U.S. Open, but he finished sixth in the Masters this year, and just missed claiming another major title at the PGA Championship, where he finished second to Xander Schauffele (and won over a lot of new fans with the class he showed in defeat that day).

Two Minnesotans made the cut, but not necessarily the two you might have expected. Erik Van Royen, the former University of Minnesota star who has won twice on the PGA Tour, followed first-round 75 with a 73, and the resulting 148 missed the cut by three strokes. Tom Hoge, the former two-time Minnesota State Amateur champion (2009 and '10) from Fargo who has turned into an Instant Cash Machine on the PGA Tour in recent years (he's made more than $20 million in official money) also shot 148 (75-73).

But Frankie Capan is in contention. The former Minnesota State Amateur champion from North Oaks (and Phoenix), ranks No. 12 on the Korn Ferry Tour money list this year, with $213,704, and seems well on his way to moving up to the PGA Tour in 2025. (The top 30 on the Korn Ferry points list at the end of the year graduate to the PGA Tour.) He shot 71 at Pinehurst No. 2 on Thursday, and was 1 under for the tournament Friday morning, after making birdies at the par-4 third hole (389 yards) and the par-5 fifth, but he made a double bogey at the seventh (par 4, 436 yards). A birdie at the 619-yard, par-5 10th got him back to 1 under for the day and even par for the tournament, but he bogeyed the par-3 15th (206 yards) and wound up with a 70 on Friday. The resulting 36-hole total of 141 has him in a tie for 21st at 141.

The other Minnesotan punching his ticket for the weekend was Gunner Broin, the former Minnesota Junior PGA champion from Shorewood (Minnetonka). Having just finished his college career at the University of Kansas, Broin remains an amateur, but he beat a lot of the best players on the PGA Tour on Friday by shooting 68. Broin started on the back nine and parred the first seven holes. He birdied the the 213-yard, par-3 17th, and after making the turn in 1-under 34, he birdied No. 1 (400 yards, par 4). At that point, he was 3 over for the tournament, but he doubled No. 2 (508, par 4) and bogeyed long par-4 fourth (528 yard). Suddenly, he was 6 over par, and on the wrong side of the cut number, which wound up being 5 over 145.

But he birdied the 582-yard, par-5 fifth, and after a par at the sixth, he birdied the seventh and the 486-yard, par-4 eighth, thereby assuring himself of playing on the weekend.

Broin is tied for 37th place at 143, and is one of only three amateurs to have made the cut this week. The other two were Neal Shipley, the Ohio State Honorable Mention All-American - and 2023 U.S. Amateur runner-up -- who is tied with Broin at 143, after a second-round 73, and Luke Clanton of Florida State. Clanton was a first-team All-American in 2023-24, and he shot 76 on Thursday, but came back with a 69 on Friday to make the cut on the number at 145.

Also making the cut on the number was Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world. He shot 71 on Thursday and looked as though he'd make the cut with a couple of shots to spare on Friday -- until he doubled the 206-yard, par-3 fifth (his 14th hole of the day). He wound up with a 74 -- which put him into the 18-way tie for for 57th place.


2024 U.S. Open

At Pinehurst No. 2

Par 70, 7,569 yards

Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

Second-round results


1. Ludvig Aberg 66-69--135

T2. Bryson DeChambeau 67-69--136

T2. Thomas Detry 69-67--136

T2. Patrick Cantlay 65-71--136

T5. Rory McIlroy 65-72--137

T5. Tony Finau 68-69--137

T5. Matthieu Pavon 67-70--137

8. Hideki Matsuyama 72-66--138

T9. Tom Kim 71-68---139

T9. Tyrrell Hatton 68-71--139

T9. Xander Schauffele 70-69--139

T9. Akshay Bhatia 68-71--139

T9. Tim Widing 71-68--139

T9. Corey Conners 69-70--139

T9. Zac Blair 70-69---139

T21. Frankie Capan 71-70--141

T37. Gunnar Broin (a) 75-68--143


T57. Scottie Scheffler 71-74--145

Missed cut -- 145

Tiger Woods 74-73--147

Erik Van Rooyen 76-72--148

Tom Hoge 75-73--148





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