Tiger’s last U.S. Open? Diabolical conditions

Welcome to GOLF.com’s “Seen & Heard” video collection, wherein we offer you an inside take a look at golf’s largest occasions by means of the eyes and ears of our onsite crew. On deck this week: the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Let’s go!

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We have hit the midway mark on the U.S. Open the place a number of the recreation’s finest have risen to the highest of the leaderboard, whereas others are going house early.

While all three of them made the reduce, a lot of the drama Friday morning surrounded the U.S. Open’s “Super group” of the top-three gamers on the planet, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler.

All three bumped into hassle on the Par-5 fifth throughout Round 2, the best gap. Scheffler and Schauffele tried to hit miracle flop pictures and failed, resulting in double bogeys. McIlroy, from the same place hit a low working shot and made a nine-footer for par. Our James Colgan known as the chip a “most fascinating shot.”

“That back left hole location on 5 is pretty treacherous,” mentioned McIlroy, whose 72 left him at three beneath, two off the lead. “If you miss it left there at all, obviously you saw what Xander and Scottie did. After sealing their two attempts, I was pretty happy with mine just to get it over the other side of the green and get it up-and-down for 5.”

Elsewhere, Josh Berhow was following Tyrell Hatton, who on Thursday, went viral for a few of his feedback about his mindset within the U.S. Open.

After finsihing the opening two rounds at one beneath, good for a tie for ninth, Berhow requested Hatton for his tackle why the remark went so viral.

“I think everyone knows me well enough by now to know what I’m like on the golf course, that I’m pretty honest,” Hatton mentioned. “I’ll just say it how it is.”

Deep within the “bowels of the Pinehurst clubhouse” Alan Bastable sought out the person who triggered fairly a stir on social media Thursday: Anthony Montanez . He’s higher identified resident U.S. Open barber this week and the man who gave Scheffler his recent reduce earlier than Round 1.

“The funny part about it is, everyone keeps calling it the ‘high and tight,’ which as barbers makes us crack up because it’s only a 3 on the sides,” Montanez mentioned. “It’s nowhere near a ‘high and tight.’ Just the tapered back makes it look like that.”

In case there was any debate, Montanez felt good in regards to the reduce.

“We delivered,” he mentioned.

Back within the media heart, Sean Zak requested Bryson DeChambeau, who fired a 69 Friday to get inside a shot of the lead at 4 beneath, how he felt in regards to the followers seemingly rooting for gamers to battle at U.S. Opens.

“I just saw when we were on 10, Sepp Straka made a hole-in-one, right? Right behind us,” DeChambeau mentioned. “That was a excessive, tremendous excessive, and it was actually cool to feed off that power. Then I see guys ping-ponging it across the greens out right here, and it’s like, I don’t need to watch that.

“So for the fans it’s great. It’s super entertaining. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of it, albeit it’s going to happen a few times out here.”

But Friday can be about who received’t be round for the weekend and that features the largest identify within the area: Tiger Woods.

Woods began Round 2 robust, with a birdie on the 4th to climb two pictures contained in the cutline, however he stumbled house to a 73 and missed the reduce by two pictures.

Then he admitted he wasn’t positive if this week was his last U.S. Open.

“As far as my last Open Championship or U.S. Open Championship, I don’t know what that is,” the 48-year-old three-time U.S. Open winner mentioned. “It may or may not be.”

But the 36-hole chief this week is Ludvig Aberg. Aberg has appeared like something however a participant making his U.S. Open debut this week, however he has performed Pinehurst No. 2 earlier than, in a U.S. Amateur. He known as it essentially the most difficult course he’s ever performed.

And it’s solely getting more durable as Sean Zak factors out, the course is changing into utterly baked out from sunshine. Green speeds are working north of 13 on the stimpmeter already.

The weekend on the 2024 U.S. Open is upon us

To atone for all of the GOLF workforce’s actions at Pinehurst, try the total Seen & Heard playlist under — and keep tuned for extra Seen & Heard all through the week.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She can out-hustle them within the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily answerable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular tasks, comparable to GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview collection, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each within the journal and in video type on GOLF.com.