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, Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy — who is hunting for his first major win in nearly a full decade.
So far on Saturday, Pinehurst has been the big winner. Very few golfers have been able to get under par, and the early scoring average has been around 73. Collin Morikawa has been 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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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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Scottie Scheffler cannot buy a putt
The World No. 1 had three straight good looks at birdie at 12, 13 and 14 … and burned the edge each time. Then he had a par putt do the same at 15, dropping him to 6-over. He looks exasperated.
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Shipley is on a heater
The amateur carded another birdie, this time at No. 10. It’s his fifth birdie on the day (to go along with two bogies). This one was a curler.
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Here comes the amateur
Low round of the day so far goes to amateur Neal Shipley — remember him from Butler Cabin back in April? After a birdie at 9 — the first there of the day — he’s at 2-under on his round and 1-over for the tournament.
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The drivable No. 3
The USAG has shortened the third hole at Pinehurst No. 2 by 66 yards for Round 3, playing it at 316 yards. (It played at 382 in round 2). This makes the hole driveable … sort of. It takes threading the needle of two bunks to roll it onto the green, and so far only one player — amateur Neal Shipley — has managed to drive the green.
(USGA)
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