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Friday's Birdies and Bogeys

By golfdigest.com

Who were the winners and losers on Day 2 at Pinehurst? It's time to take a closer look with another edition of birdies and bogeys.

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Birdie: Martin KaymerMaybe he forgot to double knot his shoelaces in the morning. Or perhaps he left the faucet in the bathroom dripping overnight. Like you, we're struggling hard to find anything the German has done wrong during the first two days of competition at the 114th U.S. Open. OK, he is one over on the par-4 seventh hole ... and 11 under on the other 17 holes. The 10-under 130 is a U.S. Open record and his six-stroke halfway lead matches another. Suffice it to say, it's Kaymer's major to lose at this point. But there's nothing that makes us think he's going to let that happen. -- Ryan Herrington
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Bogey: Phil MickelsonFollowing birdies on two of his first four holes, Mickelson seemed in position to make a big move when he found the fairway with his drive on the easy par-5 fifth. But after failing to make birdie, Mickelson followed by three-putting No. 6 to lose all momentum. Two more three-putts and a short missed par putt on No. 10, en route to a three-over 73, and talk of him completing the career Grand Slam was all but silenced. Mickelson changed to a claw putting grip before the tournament started, but switched back to a conventional grip before Friday's round. On Saturday, he'll try a belly putter. Kidding! We think . . .-- Alex Myers
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Birdie: Brendon ToddPop quiz: Who is the only golfer to finish in the top 10 in his last three PGA Tour events? That's right, Brendon Todd. The 28-year-old picked up his first tour win at the Byron Nelson, then followed that up with a T-5 at Colonial and a T-8 at the Memorial. So why didn't we all predict he'd have success at Pinehurst?! Probably because he's making his major championship debut. But after a bogey-free 67, Todd is the closest competitor to Martin Kaymer heading into the weekend. Sorry, Brendon. We'll have more faith in you at your next major. -- A.M.
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Bogey: NBCThe network was hoping to go out with a bang in its final year of coverage before the Fox/USGA deal kicks in, but it will be tough to gather much attention if there's not much drama on the weekend. Blowouts don't play well when it comes to ratings -- unless its Tiger Woods doing the blowing out. Oh yeah, he's not at Pinehurst, either. And the pre-tournament storyline of Phil Mickelson chasing the career Grand Slam has all but faded. Get ready for a lot of Johnny Miller retrospective packages! -- A.M.
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Birdie: Brooks KoepkaTaking the road less traveled for an upstart American golfer -- initially cutting his pro teeth in Europe rather than staying stateside -- certainly hasn't stunted the 24-year-old's growth. He earned his European Tour in 2013 and played well enough in a handful of starts this season on the PGA Tour to gain special temporary membership. His talent surfaced again Friday with a 68 that left him among the 13 players in red numbers after 36 holes. Equally impressive was Koepka's mindset entering the weekend. Asked about Martin Kaymer's large lead, Koepka said that's not his focus: "Just take care of myself, and I should be fine come Sunday." -- R.H.
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Bogey: Hunter Mahan & Jamie DonaldsonAs if the U.S. Open isn't hard enough, these two geniuses decided to hit each other's golf balls on the 18th hole, their ninth of the day. After realizing the mistake on the green -- at least they were both playing a Titleist Pro V1x -- they went back and played the shots over and each carded a double bogey. For Donaldson, it was just part of a disastrous 81 after an opening 70. For Mahan, it was much more costly. The man who played with Phil Mickelson in Sunday's final group at last year's U.S. Open shot 72 to miss the cut by one shot. -- A.M.
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Birdie: Brandt SnedekerGlass half-empty of half-full? That was the question for Snedeker entering Friday's second round after shooting a front-nine 31, back-nine 38, roller-coaster 69 the previous day. He apparently chose half-full, coming back with a two-under 68 after shaking off a double bogey on his second hole of the day. The new putter that Snedeker put in his bagseems to be friend rather than foe; he's needed only 28 putts in both his opening rounds.-- R.H.
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Bogey: Jason DufnerThe reigning PGA champion finished T-4 in his last two U.S. Opens, but that streak has come to an end. After getting into a tie for the lead at one point on Thursday at two under, Dufner began hemorrhaging strokes around the greens, making 10 bogeys and just two birdies on his final 27 holes. It all but confirms that if Dufner ever wants to add another major to his trophy cabinet, he's got some serious work to do on the greens. -- Luke Kerr-Dineen
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Birdie: Keegan BradleyPlaying alongside Martin Kaymer the first two rounds, Bradley has had a front-row seat to the German's Pinehurst pyrotechnics -- "he's as dialed in as I've seen [anyone]." Bradley's own pair of 69s than might seem a bit ho-hum, but he'll gladly take them after having never shot better than 73 in six previous U.S. Open rounds. Bradley made four bogeys on his first nine holes Friday, but rallied. A birdie-par-birdie finish had him smiling, with the par-save coming after he holed a 20-footer putt. "I was kind of making a mess of that hole," he said. "That was a real momentum swing. That's definitely the shot that I look back on today as the best."-- R.H.
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Bogey: Graeme McDowellIt was a daunting task for players in the afternoon wave knowing Martin Kaymer was already comfortably in at 10 under par. But McDowell seems to relish such challenges, and when he birdied his first hole, you liked his chances of lingering near the lead at day's end. Instead, McDowell unraveled, playing the rest of the round five over to fall 12 shots behind Kaymer. In a normal U.S. Open, playing 36 holes in two-over par would still be cause for encouragement. But with Kaymer so far out in front, McDowell essentially played himself out of contention.-- Sam Weinman
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Birdie: Adam ScottFrom the "golf doesn't always make sense" department, the World No. 1 hit one fewer fairway (10) and two fewer greens (11) in Round 2 than he did in Round 1, yet improved his score by six strokes. A three-under 67 on Friday, Scott's best score in 13 U.S. Open appearances, got him back to even par for the tournament and moved him up from T-68 to inside the top 20. Still 10 strokes back of Kaymer, Scott will need to carry over his Friday short-game performance (he took just 26 putts compared to 34 on Thursday) if he has any shot of creeping closer to the leader. -- R.H.
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Bogey: Graham DeLaetFollowing a strong performance for the International team at the Presidents Cup last fall, DeLaet appeared poised for a big 2014. And it's turned out that way -- except for in the big events. After back-to-back 75s, DeLaet missed the cut for the third time this year, the other two coming at the Masters and the Players. DeLaet's usual strength, his ball-striking, let him down at Pinehurst. The PGA Tour's leader in that category and in greens in regulation hit just 20 greens in two days, below the field's average. -- A.M.
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Bogey: Jeff MaggertStanding on the tee of the par-5 fifth hole, Maggert was off to a solid start. He was sitting at three over for the tournament and started his Friday round with four consecutive pars. But instead of taking advantage of Pinehurst's easiest hole, Maggert got in trouble off the tee ... and then from the fairway ... and then again around the green. He did have a chance to stay in single digits, but missed the five footer for 9 to finish with a cool 10. -- L.K.D.
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