DeChambeau Staying Close in Early Rounds of U.S. Open as Favorites Fade

Shooting under par both days keeps former Mustangs' golfer near top of leaderboard after second round

Former SMU golfer Bryson DeChambeau lines up a putt on the third hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Pinehurst No. 2. on Friday. / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

DALLAS — Former SMU golfer Bryson DeChambeau is doing what is typically the case to win at the U.S. Open — he's staying close to the top through the first two rounds at Pinehurst, N.C. He's near the top on the leaderboard with golfers still on the course.

It wasn't a particularly good start for DeChambeau on Friday after a three-under 67 on the first day Thursday. That was good enough to be in the top five, tied with Mattheu Pavon behind Ludwig Aberg, Rory McElroy behind leader Patrick Cantlay, who had a first-day 65.

A nifty approach on 18 by @b_dechambeau sets up a birdie and wraps up the morning coverage.

The afternoon wave is LIVE now on @NBC. pic.twitter.com/0HRiAyDaFT

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 14, 2024

DeChambeau opened with a bogey and had three more on a course that is proving to be a challenge with the typical listtle hills and mounds that can created some interesting bounces. He countered that with five birdies on the par-70, 7,569-yard course.

Scottie Scheffler, the clear odds-on favorite coming into the championship, had blown up. He's 9-over through the first two rounds, shooting just one-over on Thursday, but about everything went wrong on Friday. A 4-over there put him at 5-over through the first two days and in clear danger of not being able to make the cut. The projected cut line is 4-over, which would knock the guy everybody had as one fo the favorites out.

DeChambeau came in as the fifth or sixth-favorite of the tournament and now he'll be one of the featured groups on Saturday, when just about every major tournament really starts. He'll be solidly in the field as the cut line wavered between 3-over and 4-over at various times Friday.

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