Sam Burns, golf's best putter, 1 of few to tame Oakmont in brutal 2nd round at U.S. Open

The PGA’s best putter rolled in a 21-footer for birdie and later a 22-footer to save par, so Sam Burns obviously learned a thing or two about Oakmont Country Club greens this week, right?

Right?

“Other than they’re extremely difficult, not really,” Burns said Friday after carding six birdies in a 5-under-par round that has him leading the U.S. Open after two rounds. “I think a lot of times you have putts from 15 or 20 feet where you’re not really trying to make them, you’re just trying to get the speed right and hope that it snuggles up next to the hole.”

The famously fast Oakmont greens — accompanied by some tough pin placements — left many in the field feeling frustrated Friday.

But not everyone.

A 28-year-old from Shreveport, La., Burns carded birdies on four of his first nine holes en route to a 65, the lowest round of the tournament so far, moving him into the outright lead at 3-under.

He was one of only three golfers under par after two rounds.

“The greens we play (on the PGA Tour) are pretty quick,” Burns said. “But the speed of these with how much slope is in them, that’s what makes them very difficult.”

Heavy rain halted the second round at 8:15 p.m. Friday with 13 players still on the course. The USGA planned to resume play at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. The third round will be played in groups of two from the first tee, with the first group set to start at about 9 a.m.

But it’s already clear that six previous U.S. Open champions did not make the cut, including two-time winner Bryson DeChambeau, leaving the leaderboard with few major champions near the top.

First-round leader J.J. Spaun is 2-under and trails Burns by one shot. Spaun bogeyed three of his final four holes in Friday’s round for a 2-over 72.

Norway’s Viktor Hovland is third at 1-under.

The 27-year-old Hovland finished third at last year’s PGA Championship, his best in a major. He pushed his score to 4-under at one point Friday in an up-and-down round that included an eagle, four birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey.

Tied for fourth at even par were Ben Griffin and 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott of Australia, while France’s Victor Perez and South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence were 1-over. Lawrence, who finished fourth at last year’s British Open, was one short putt short of finishing his round Friday.

Among the top 10 players on the leaderboard, only Scott and Brooks Koepka (2-over) have won a major championship. Koepka, a five-time major winner, won the U.S. Open in 2017 and ’18.

This is the first time since 2021 that there are no former U.S. Open champions among the top five after 36 holes, according to Elias Sports.

“At the U.S. Open, I don’t think you’re ever out of the tournament,” said world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who’s 4-over and tied for 23rd. “Put together two decent days. I may be in 25th or 30th place or something like that after today, and like I said, by no means is that out of the tournament.”

The cut line was 7-over, leaving defending U.S. Open champion DeChambeau (10-over) on the wrong side. Two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas also missed the cut at 10-over, along with six-time major winner Phil Mickelson at 8-over.

Burns’ 5-under round Friday was exceptional on a day when most numbers on the leaderboard quickly turned from red to black. But his success on the greens shouldn’t be surprising.

He leads the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained Putting at 1.056 over 52 rounds. No golfer has finished above 1.0 since Jason Day in 2016, according to PGA stats.

The next highest this season are Harry Hall (0.796), Brandt Snedeker (0.760), Danny Willett (0.757) and Sam Ryder (0.749).

“I try to keep it very simple,” Burns said of his approach. “I think if you look at putting, the ball is rolling on the ground. There’s a lot of imperfections on grass. There’s a lot of different lines the ball can go in, depending on the speed. If you try to be too perfect with putting, it can drive you crazy.

“So, I just try to really read it, put a good roll on it, focus on the speed and hope for the best.”

Burns finished ninth at last year’s U.S. Open, his best showing in a major. He has five career PGA wins and lost last week in a playoff at the RBC Canadian Open.

“He’s like me in a sense that he’s a hyper-competitive person,” Scheffler said. “I think you always dream of having a chance to win these tournaments. He’s put himself in position a few times at majors, and he’s in position again. I’m sure going into the weekend he’s right where I would want to be on the leaderboard.”

With another day of sunshine and 80-degree weather, Oakmont’s greens were living up to their fierce reputation. Groundskeepers double cut and rolled all greens before the round.

The USGA said speeds were measuring between the high 14s and low 15s on the Stimpmeter.

“The greens are firming up nicely as well here,” said Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, who’s 3-over. “I felt like already (Friday) morning they were firmer than (Thursday) afternoon. Then with the pins being more tucked, it’s definitely more challenging. You have to hit fairways, and even when you put it on the green some of those putts you’re going to have are really fast.”

Count major winner Jon Rahm among those who were more than frustrated with Oakmont’s greens. The 2021 U.S. Open champion was 5-over after a round Friday with four bogeys and a double bogey.

“Honestly, I’m too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective,” said Rahm, when asked to reflect on his score. “Very frustrated. Very few rounds of golf I played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn’t sniff the hole, so it’s frustrating.”

Denny McCarthy, who tied for eighth at the PGA Championship last month, said it’s not just the speed of Oakmont’s greens that caused trouble. Players don’t commiserate much about them, he said, but believed most everyone saw them similarly.

“Obviously they’re really slopey, undulated greens,” McCarthy said. “It’s just kind of the common theme. Everyone seems like they’re exhausted when they come in off the course just because it’s a punch in the face. Even if you’ve played OK and grind it out and shoot a couple under to a couple over, it’s still just a grind. It just takes a lot out of you.”