It’s Moving Day in North Carolina, and we started with a U.S. Open rookie leading the way.
Ludvig Åberg entered Saturday with a one-shot lead over the field after his 1-under 69 on Friday at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. He’s playing in his first ever U.S. Open, and is just a few months removed from his first major championship appearance. If he can pull off a win this week, he’d be the first tournament rookie to do so in more than 100 years.
Åberg’s lead, however, didn’t last long. Matthieu Pavon, who held a share of the lead briefly on Friday before a couple of late bogeys hurt him, quickly overtook Åberg on the front nine on Saturday afternoon. Pavon carded three birdies on his front nine, nearly matching the low round of the day before making the turn, while Åberg held strong at even par.
There are plenty of big names behind both of them, though, including Bryson DeChambeau — who took the solo lead with his birdie at No. 10, which came after a ridiculous approach that he carried 278 yards with a 6-iron. He then pushed his lead to two shots with a second straight birdie at No. 11, which only came after he stepped into the woods to get work done on his hip.
Patrick Cantlay, Rory McIlroy and Tony Finau are all still in the mix, too.
Early on Saturday, Pinehurst was the big winner. Very few golfers were able to get under par, and the early scoring average was around 73. Collin Morikawa was the lone exception. He posted a bogey-free 66, which brought him back to even par. Depending on how the rest of the afternoon goes, he could be right up there on Sunday.
Scottie Scheffler, on the other hand, struggled once again. U.S. Open golf, he said, is like a “mental torture chamber.”
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6-iron from 278
Bryson DeChambeau just hit a 6-iron from 257-yards out on an already 630-yard par 5. A 6-iron from 257. Alas, he hit it only 256, a yard short of clearing the greenside trap.
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Finau’s shot at 9 so, so much better than McIlroy’s
Tony Finau hit a brilliant iron into the par-3 9th hole, using the slope to get within seven feet of the hole. It was a thing of beauty, one that Rory McIlroy simply could not match. Better luck next time Rory!
Both would drain their putts, McIlroy with the more difficult one, pushing him to 4-under and Finau to 5-under, one back of Pavon.
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Bryson to within 1
DeChambeau stole a birdie at the par-4 seventh to join Aberg at 6-under, just one back of Pavon.
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Bryson DeChambeau out there signing autographs
While pretty much every LIV player has turned into person non grata since moving to the rival tour, Bryson DeChambeau has managed to become one of the most likeable (and now popular) players on either tour. But signing autographs during a round? These guys don’t even like to give fist bumps between holes, let alone stop, grab someone’s pen and sign something, but apparently that’s what DeChambeau did earlier.
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Pavon into the lead
Three birdies for Matthieu Pavon, including one from downtown at No. 7, have the Frenchman into the lead by himself.
At 3-under on his round so far, Pavon is the outlier. Par is a good score today at Pinehurst. No one has gone lower than Collin Morikawa’s 66 earlier in the day.
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Aberg gives one back
Ludvig Aberg’s first slip came at the long par-4 fourth. After a decent drive, he missed the green well short on his approach, and couldn’t get it up and down.
That made it a three-way tie atop the leaderboard until Tony Finau bogeyd the sixth. So it’s Aberg and Pavon at the top.
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Pavon moves to one back
Matthieu Pavon has kept pace with Aberg, dropping a birdie at the fifth to get it to 5-under.
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Aberg gets a break and a birdie
Ludvig Aberg yanked his drive on the driveable third to the left, just enough that a grandstand was between his ball and his line to the green. So he got a free drop, chipped on and then promptly drained a 28-footer for birdie.
That should have given him a brief two-shot lead, until playing partner Bryson DeChambeau cleaned up a short 3 1/2-footer for birdie. Except … DeChambeau missed it.
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Tyrell Hatton with the eagle
You got to take advantage of the par 5s — there are only two at Pinehurst No. 2 — and that’s exactly what Tyrell Hatton did, reaching the green at No. 5 in two, then rolling in a 14-footer for eagle. That moves him to 4-under, in a group that includes McIlroy, Finau, DeChambeau and Pavon who are one back of Aberg.
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Rory, Finau just one back
Rory McIlroy moves to one back after a birdie at the third. That followed up playing partner Tony Finau’s birdie at the second to get him to 4-under and one back.
With the third playing just 316 yards, McIlroy’s second came from the greenside bunker
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Cantlay saves
Patrick Cantlay started his round with a bogey, dropping him two back of the lead, then faced a 21-footer to save par at the second. A bogey-bogey start has a way of derailing a round in a hurry, but Cantlay wasn’t having it, hammering the putt straight in the hole.
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