For Collin Morikawa, the last couple of months have been a search to regain the form that led to a pair of major titles. His five starts since a solo fifth at the Masters in April have resulted in no better than a tie for 26th. That stretch includes a missed cut at the Memorial Tournament and a T-55 in last month’s PGA Championship.
Those aren’t results that people are accustomed to seeing from the world No. 7.
Maybe all the affable Southern California native needed was a visit to Boston, and specifically The Country Club to cure his issues.
After a solid 1-under-par 69 in Thursday’s opening round of the 122nd U.S. Open Championship, Morikawa matched the championship’s lowest round – a 66 – on Friday to share the 36-hole lead with qualifier Joel Dahmen.
One stroke back are defending champion Jon Rahm (69-67), 2011 winner and four-time major champ Rory McIlroy (67-69), Aaron Wise (68-68) and qualifiers Hayden Buckley (68-68) and Beau Hossler (69-67), who holed out from a greenside bunker on the par-4 ninth, his last of the day, to cap a birdie-birdie finish. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (70-67) is among the group two strokes back at 3-under 137.
Should Morikawa close the deal over the next 36 holes, the five-time PGA Tour winner would become the quickest player in history to attain three major titles. This is only Morikawa’s 11th major-championship start since he turned professional after graduating from the University of California-Berkeley in 2019. Peter Thomson notched his third major title, the 1956 British Open, in start No. 12, while Lee Trevino (1971 British Open) and Ralph Guldahl (1939 Masters) needed 15 starts.
Of course, 36 holes remain, but if anyone has the temperament and skill to navigate those hurdles, it’s the seemingly always calm Morikawa.
And it looks like whatever issues had leaked into one of the most aesthetically pleasing swings in golf, have been at least temporarily resolved.
Last week, Morikawa spent time at his Las Vegas, Nev., residence trying to figure out what was going wrong with his normal left-to-right shot shape. Nothing seemed to click, so he has resorted this week to a 2-yard draw.
“I think what it proves is just you can play this game with many shots,” said Morikawa. “I remember the first time I played with Tiger [Woods], and he hit every shot that called for it. Pin is on the right; you hit a little cut. Pin is on the left; you hit a little draw.
“This is just going to hopefully make my iron play and make my game a little bit more well-rounded rather than just hitting a cut. But this week we're just going to work with what we have, and right now it's a little baby draw.”
Prior to his 36-hole final qualifier on June 6 in Powell, Ohio, Dahmen considered withdrawing and using U.S. Open week to rest for the remainder of the PGA Tour season. He didn’t think his game, which relies on precision over power, translated to major-championship setups. The Country Club isn’t a bombers’ paradise, however, and the Washington native has hit 28 of 36 greens to tie for first in the field.
“This is really cool, but it's really all for naught if you go lay and egg on the weekend,” said Dahmen, who owns one PGA Tour win since joining the circuit in 2016. “This is fun, but it would be really fun if I was doing this again Saturday and Sunday.”
McIlroy, bidding to become the first player in the post-World War II era to claim the U.S. Open a week after winning a PGA Tour event (RBC Canadian Open), rebounded from a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 third hole to get back into contention at 4 under.
Rahm used an eagle 3 on No. 14 to get his round going, and he offset a bogey on No. 1 with birdies on the 305-yard fifth and 547-yard, par-5 eighth.
What’s Next
The 64 competitors who survived the 36-hole cut will play Round 3 on Saturday, with the first tee time at 9:49 a.m. EDT. Peacock will stream live coverage from 10 a.m. to noon, with NBC picking up the coverage from noon until 8 p.m.
Notable
The cut (low 60 and ties) came at 3-over 143 with 60 professionals and four amateurs playing the weekend.
Phil Mickelson, a six-time U.S. Open runner-up, was among the luminaries who missed the cut. The 1990 U.S. Amateur champion and six-time major winner was joined by 2021 U.S. Senior Open champion Jim Furyk, 2012 U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson, 2021 U.S. Amateur champion James Piot, past Masters winner Sergio Garcia, Viktor Hovland, world No. 1 amateur Keita Nakajima, and local favorites Michael Thorbjornsen and Fran Quinn, at 57, the oldest qualifier in the last 40 years. Thorbjornsen, the 2018 U.S. Junior champion, rallied from an opening 77 to shoot a 69 on Friday.
Four amateurs made the cut after none made it last year at Torrey Pines. Travis Vick, a 2021 U.S. Amateur semifinalist, led the way at 1-under 139. The University of Texas standout was joined by 2021 U.S. Amateur runner-up Austin Greaser, Texas A&M All-American Sam Bennett and reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad.
Of the 64 players who made the cut, 23 were qualifiers, including three who survived both local and final qualifying: Chris Naegel, Sam Stevens and Chris Gotterup.
Cameron Young registered the 48th known hole-in-one in U.S. Open history when he aced the 165-yard sixth hole with an 8-iron. The last holes-in-one came in 2020 at Winged Foot by Will Zalatoris and Patrick Reed, both on the seventh hole in Round 1.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and his good friend, No. 9 Sam Burns, are sharing a house this week, along with Burns’ swing coach, Brad Pullin, and Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott. Scheffler and Burns are a combined 5 under par.
Alex Fitzpatrick, who caddied for his older brother, Matthew, when he won the 2013 U.S. Amateur at The Country Club, was in attendance on Friday. The two-time Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup competitor just recently completed his eligibility at Wake Forest and has turned professional.
Quotable
“We don't tee off until 3:45 [p.m.] tomorrow. I typically have to be home at 5 for dinner, so this will be different for sure.” – Joel Dahmen on being in the final pairing on Saturday
“Yeah, we got lucky. Jon [Rahm] and I were talking late in the round that for a few holes that it didn't look great, and then I think we got kind of a good draw out of it. A lot of the day kind of calmed down, was really nice, really sunny.” – Collin Morikawa, on the afternoon thunderstorm that skirted the area
“It's such a unique design to where you have options off the tee, and you can really pretty much choose whatever you want, and that's why you have on the leader board so many players that hit it a bit different in length off the tee.” – defending champion Jon Rahm
“I really like the course. It's very challenging. I've just gone out with the strategy, frankly, to just try and make a par on every hole, try not to get too greedy on shots that sometimes that you are kind of licking your chops. You've just got to rein it in a little bit and basically understand that every green in regulation is a win in a U.S. Open. Fortunately, I was able to make a few birdies late in the round, but with that being said, if I had made 18 pars today, I would have been quite happy.” – Beau Hossler (4-under 136) on his strategy
“I think this week I've found enough to make birdies, but my putting has just changed a lot. I've gotten a lot better speed with a putter change this week, and I feel a lot more confident inside of 10 feet, and that's kind of been my struggle all year.” – Hayden Buckley (4-under 136) when asked how he’s changed from last year at Torrey Pines when he followed a 69 with an 82
“I started using this Neuropeak Pro, kind of breathing mechanism, and that's helped me a lot, just focusing on my daily breathing. Then I started listening to my fiancé more on diet issues, so that helped.” – Nick Hardy (3-under 137) on changes to his lifestyle
“The golf course has been fantastic. The setup has been great. I think it's tough but it's fair. You get rewarded when you hit good shots, and when you get out of position it's really difficult. I think that's how the U.S. Open should be.” – Sam Burns (2-under 138) on the setup through two rounds
“I feel like I'm kind of an under-the-radar person. I don't really feel like there's much chatter going around with me. Rory won last week [in Canada], Tiger was at the PGA. I've been No. 1 in the world for a while now, and it doesn't really feel like it. I can show up and do my thing and then go home and rest.” – Scottie Scheffler
Results from second round of the 2022 U.S. Open Championship, played at 7,193-yard, par-70 The Country Club (Open Course)
POS,NAME,SCORES-TOTAL,STATUS
T1,Collin Morikawa,69-66-135,-5
T1,Joel Dahmen,67-68-135,-5
T3,Hayden Buckley,68-68-136,-4
T3,Jon Rahm,69-67-136,-4
T3,Rory McIlroy,67-69-136,-4
T3,Aaron Wise,68-68-136,-4
T3,Beau Hossler,69-67-136,-4
T8,Nick Hardy,69-68-137,-3
T8,Scottie Scheffler,70-67-137,-3
T8,Matthew NeSmith,68-69-137,-3
T8,Patrick Rodgers,69-68-137,-3
T8,Brian Harman,68-69-137,-3
T13,Sam Burns,71-67-138,-2
T13,Matt Fitzpatrick,68-70-138,-2
T13,Adam Hadwin,66-72-138,-2
T16,MJ Daffue,67-72-139,-1
T16,Callum Tarren,67-72-139,-1
T16,Travis Vick (a),70-69-139,-1
T16,David Lingmerth,67-72-139,-1
T16,Davis Riley,72-67-139,-1
T16,Xander Schauffele,70-69-139,-1
T16,Keegan Bradley,70-69-139,-1
T16,Will Zalatoris,69-70-139,-1
T24,Thomas Pieters,72-68-140,E
T24,Brooks Koepka,73-67-140,E
T24,Joohyung Kim,72-68-140,E
T24,Brandon Matthews,71-69-140,E
T24,Andrew Putnam,72-68-140,E
T24,Hideki Matsuyama,70-70-140,E
T24,Adam Schenk,70-70-140,E
T31,Justin Thomas,69-72-141,+1
T31,Séamus Power,71-70-141,+1
T31,Dustin Johnson,68-73-141,+1
T31,Justin Rose,68-73-141,+1
T31,Patrick Reed,70-71-141,+1
T31,Sebastian Söderberg,71-70-141,+1
T31,Marc Leishman,70-71-141,+1
T31,Joaquin Niemann,71-70-141,+1
T31,Mackenzie Hughes,72-69-141,+1
T40,Cameron Tringale,71-71-142,+2
T40,Austin Greaser (a),72-70-142,+2
T40,Gary Woodland,69-73-142,+2
T40,Bryson DeChambeau,71-71-142,+2
T40,Harris English,73-69-142,+2
T40,Richard Bland,70-72-142,+2
T40,Todd Sinnott,71-71-142,+2
T40,Wil Besseling,71-71-142,+2
T40,Jordan Spieth,72-70-142,+2
T40,Adam Scott,69-73-142,+2
T40,Max Homa,69-73-142,+2
T40,Grayson Murray,75-67-142,+2
T40,Guido Migliozzi,72-70-142,+2
T40,Chris Gotterup,73-69-142,+2
T40,Chris Naegel,73-69-142,+2
T55,Tyrrell Hatton,72-71-143,+3
T55,Min Woo Lee,73-70-143,+3
T55,K.H. Lee,71-72-143,+3
T55,Sam Stevens,71-72-143,+3
T55,Denny McCarthy,73-70-143,+3
T55,Sam Bennett (a),70-73-143,+3
T55,Patrick Cantlay,72-71-143,+3
T55,Sebastián Muñoz,74-69-143,+3
T55,Stewart Hagestad (a),73-70-143,+3
T55,Joseph Bramlett,71-72-143,+3
(Failed to Qualify)
Sergio Garcia,74-70-144
Sungjae Im,72-72-144
Mito Pereira,70-74-144
Corey Conners,71-73-144
Webb Simpson,70-74-144
Shane Lowry,72-72-144
Jason Kokrak,69-75-144
Jim Furyk,74-70-144
Erik Barnes,71-73-144
Matt McCarty,71-73-144
Wyndham Clark,70-74-144
James Piot,69-75-144
Billy Horschel,73-71-144
Kevin Kisner,73-71-144
Cameron Young,72-72-144
Stewart Cink,73-71-144
Kalle Samooja,77-67-144
Taylor Montgomery,72-73-145
Brian Stuard,73-72-145
Talor Gooch,74-71-145
Tom Hoge,73-72-145
Kevin Na,75-70-145
Tony Finau,73-72-145
Luke List,72-73-145
Nick Taylor,73-72-145
Ryan Fox,74-71-145
Si Woo Kim,76-69-145
Daniel Berger,70-75-145
Harold Varner III,72-73-145
Chan Kim,73-72-145
Branden Grace,76-69-145
Satoshi Kodaira,74-71-145
Ben Silverman,72-73-145
Sam Horsfield,73-73-146
Cameron Smith,72-74-146
Louis Oosthuizen,77-69-146
Davis Shore,74-72-146
Michael Thorbjornsen (a),77-69-146
Troy Merritt,75-71-146
Scott Stallings,74-72-146
Russell Henley,76-70-146
Alex Norén,73-73-146
Francesco Molinari,73-73-146
Roger Sloan,76-70-146
Andrew Novak,73-74-147
Maxwell Moldovan (a),75-72-147
Adri Arnaus,76-71-147
Viktor Hovland,70-77-147
Tommy Fleetwood,72-75-147
Adrien Dumont de Chassart (a),72-75-147
Jonas Blixt,75-72-147
Bo Hoag,72-75-147
Ryan Gerard,74-73-147
Kurt Kitayama,74-73-147
Victor Perez,73-74-147
Lanto Griffin,72-75-147
Shaun Norris,70-78-148
Patton Kizzire,74-74-148
Keita Nakajima (a),73-75-148
Rikuya Hoshino,77-71-148
Kevin Chappell,73-76-149
Chase Seiffert,74-75-149
Brady Calkins,76-73-149
William Mouw (a),75-74-149
Sepp Straka,77-72-149
Andrew Beckler,78-71-149
Yannik Paul,77-73-150
Erik van Rooyen,78-72-150
Daijiro Izumida,73-77-150
Thorbjørn Olesen,75-76-151
Phil Mickelson,78-73-151
Danny Lee,76-75-151
Charles Reiter (a),76-75-151
Laird Shepherd (a),75-76-151
Harry Hall,74-77-151
Richard Mansell,77-74-151
Nick Dunlap (a),78-74-152
Fred Biondi (a),79-73-152
Tomoyasu Sugiyama,74-78-152
Lucas Herbert,74-79-153
Ben Lorenz (a),77-76-153
Fran Quinn,76-77-153
Jinichiro Kozuma,76-77-153
Jesse Mueller,80-74-154
Isaiah Salinda,79-75-154
Jed Morgan,82-74-156
Luke Gannon,76-80-156
Marcel Schneider,78-79-157
Caleb Manuel (a),83-74-157
Sean Crocker,83-75-158
Sean Jacklin,78-80-158
Keith Greene,83-81-164
Pairings and tee times for Saturday's third round of the 2022 U.S. Open Championship, played at 7,254-yard, par-70 The Country Club (Open Course).
9:49 a.m. -- Joseph Bramlett, Las Vegas, Nev., 71-72 143, +3; Stewart Hagestad (a), Newport Beach, Calif., 73-70 143, +3
10 a.m. -- Sebastián Muñoz, Colombia, 74-69 143, +3; Patrick Cantlay, Jupiter, Fla., 72-71 143, +3
10:11 a.m. -- Sam Bennett (a), Madisonville, Texas, 70-73 143, +3; Denny McCarthy, Rockville, Md., 73-70 143, +3
10:22 a.m. -- Sam Stevens, Wichita, Kan., 71-72 143, +3; K.H. Lee, Republic of Korea, 71-72 143, +3
10:33 a.m. -- Min Woo Lee, Australia, 73-70 143, +3; Tyrrell Hatton, England, 72-71 143, +3
10:44 a.m. -- Chris Naegel, Wildwood, Mo., 73-69 142, +2; Chris Gotterup, Little Silver, N.J., 73-69 142, +2
10:55 a.m. -- Guido Migliozzi, Italy, 72-70 142, +2; Grayson Murray, Raleigh, N.C., 75-67 142, +2
11:06 a.m. -- Max Homa, Valencia, Calif., 69-73 142, +2; Adam Scott, Australia, 69-73 142, +2
11:22 a.m. -- Jordan Spieth, Dallas, Texas, 72-70 142, +2; Wil Besseling, Netherlands, 71-71 142, +2
11:33 a.m. -- Todd Sinnott, Australia, 71-71 142, +2; Richard Bland, England, 70-72 142, +2
11:44 a.m. -- Harris English, Sea Island, Ga., 73-69 142, +2; Bryson DeChambeau, Dallas, Texas, 71-71 142, +2
11:55 a.m. -- Gary Woodland, Topeka, Kan., 69-73 142, +2; Austin Greaser (a), Vandalia, Ohio, 72-70 142, +2
12:06 p.m. -- Cameron Tringale, Juno Beach, Fla., 71-71 142, +2; Mackenzie Hughes, Canada, 72-69 141, +1
12:17 p.m. -- Joaquin Niemann, Chile, 71-70 141, +1; Marc Leishman, Australia, 70-71 141, +1
12:28 p.m. -- Sebastian Söderberg, Sweden, 71-70 141, +1; Patrick Reed, The Woodlands, Texas, 70-71 141, +1
12:39 p.m. -- Justin Rose, England, 68-73 141, +1; Dustin Johnson, Jupiter, Fla., 68-73 141, +1
12:55 p.m. -- Séamus Power, Republic of Ireland, 71-70 141, +1; Justin Thomas, Louisville, Ky., 69-72 141, +1
1:06 p.m. -- Adam Schenk, Vincennes, Ind., 70-70 140, E; Hideki Matsuyama, Japan, 70-70 140, E
1:17 p.m. -- Andrew Putnam, University Place, Wash., 72-68 140, E; Brandon Matthews, Dupont, Pa., 71-69 140, E
1:28 p.m. -- Joohyung Kim, Republic of Korea, 72-68 140, E; Brooks Koepka, West Palm Beach, Fla., 73-67 140, E
1:39 p.m. -- Thomas Pieters, Belgium, 72-68 140, E; Will Zalatoris, Dallas, Texas, 69-70 139, -1
1:50 p.m. -- Keegan Bradley, Woodstock, Vt., 70-69 139, -1; Xander Schauffele, San Diego, Calif., 70-69 139, -1
2:01 p.m. -- Davis Riley, Hattiesburg, Miss., 72-67 139, -1; David Lingmerth, Sweden, 67-72 139, -1
2:12 p.m. -- Travis Vick (a), Hunters Creek Village, Texas, 70-69 139, -1; Callum Tarren, England, 67-72 139, -1
2:28 p.m. -- MJ Daffue, South Africa, 67-72 139, -1; Adam Hadwin, Canada, 66-72 138, -2
2:39 p.m. -- Matt Fitzpatrick, England, 68-70 138, -2; Sam Burns, Shreveport, La., 71-67 138, -2
2:50 p.m. -- Brian Harman, Sea Island, Ga., 68-69 137, -3; Patrick Rodgers, Avon, Ind., 69-68 137, -3
3:01 p.m. -- Matthew NeSmith, Aiken, S.C., 68-69 137, -3; Scottie Scheffler, Dallas, Texas, 70-67 137, -3
3:12 p.m. -- Nick Hardy, Northbrook, Ill., 69-68 137, -3; Beau Hossler, Mission Viejo, Calif., 69-67 136, -4
3:23 p.m. -- Aaron Wise, Jupiter, Fla., 68-68 136, -4; Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland, 67-69 136, -4
3:34 p.m. -- Jon Rahm, Spain, 69-67 136, -4; Hayden Buckley, Tupelo, Miss., 68-68 136, -4
3:45 p.m. -- Joel Dahmen, Clarkston, Wash., 67-68 135, -5; Collin Morikawa, La Canada, Calif., 69-66 135, -5
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