Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa raced to the top of the leaderboard on day two of the US Open at Brookline.
Morikawa carded a superb 4-under 66 in the afternoon wave to move to 5-under par for the tournament, a score that has been matched by Joel Dahmen.
Rory McIlroy made one of the best double-bogeys you will ever see on the par-4 3rd and he recovered well to keep himself in the hunt for a first major title in eight years with a 69 to move within just one shot of the lead.
McIlroy is bidding to win his second US Open title having won his first back in 2011 with an eight-shot romp at Congressional.
The Northern Irishman may have just added a 21st PGA Tour title at the weekend but he is winless in the majors since the 2014 US PGA Championship.
No golfer has won the US Open the week after winning on the PGA Tour in the last 60 years, so McIlroy will be looking to set that record straight at Brookline this week.
Defending US Open champion Jon Rahm is also on 4-under par after a solid round of 67, as too are Hayden Buckey and Aaron Wise.
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler surged into contention with a round of 67 and the reigning Masters champion finds himself in a great position to attack on the weekend at 3-under par.
Other players in contention include Sam Burns and Matt Fitzpatrick on 2-under par, while two-time US Open champion Brooks Koepka moved up to level par to give himself an outside chance of a third win in the tournament.
Phil Mickelson, who celebrated his 52nd birthday on Thursday, had a two days to forget on 11-over par and he will not be around for the weekend.
Keep up to date with all the latest scores and updates with GolfMagic's commentary of the second round LIVE from Brookline…
US Open leaderboard update:
-5 J Dahmen (F), C Morikawa (F)
-4 H. Buckley (F), J Rahm (F), R McIlroy (F), A Wise (F)
-3 S Scheffler (F), N Hardy (F), M NeSmith (F), P Rodgers (F), B Harman (F)
Selected others:
-2 S Burns (F), M Fitzpatrick (F), A Hadwin (F)
-1 X Schauffele (F), MJ Daffue (F)
Par B Koepka (F), H Matsuyama (F)
+1 D Johnson (F), J Thomas (F), J Rose (F), P Reed (F)
Brian Harman appeared to apply pressure to his golf ball and make it move on the 13th hole on day two of the US Open.
After over-shooting his approach shot to this par-4, he sent a pitch back across to the other side of the green, and then chipped his ball behind the pin to the light rough for his fourth shot.
When the 35-year-old put his wedge behind the ball, he appeared to make it move just a fraction on the ground.
The World No.50 eventually made a double-bogey six and he hasn't faced any sort of penalty from the rules officials.
This was a damaging score for Harman who was tied for the lead on 4-under-par at The Country Club in Brookline.
What do you think?
Brian Harman clearly causes his ball to move on 13 R2 @usopengolf why is this not a penalty ? @SkySportsGolfpic.twitter.com/eIOhBC86iK
— Nathan (@LiveatEventsInt) June 17, 2022
Rory McIlroy battled back from early trouble to card a round of 1-under-par on Friday at the US Open.
The former US Open champion made a double-bogey on the 3rd hole after thrashing around in the deep grass by the green.
He went on to find five birdies, with three of them on the back nine, to card a 69. He reached 4-under and he is within one of Morikawa and Joel Dahmen heading into the weekend.
Jon Rahm rolled a long putt on the 9th hole (his last hole) inches from the cup as he looked for a birdie.
Nonetheless, the defending US Open champion carded a 67 to go with his 69 on Thursday to reach 4-under-par.
Collin Morikawa has set the mark of 5-under-par after 36 holes at The Country Club in Brookline.
The 25-year-old carded a superb 66 on Friday to lead by one from Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Hayden Buckley and Joel Dahmen.
McIlroy has battled back after an early double-bogey and a superb birdie on 17 took him to 4-under for the week.
Cameron Young has made a HOLE-IN-ONE on the par-3 6th hole in the second round of the US Open!
Young was 7-over on the tee box of this 165-yard hole and he needed something special to have a chance of making the cut, and he did just that with an ace.
The cut line is currently at 4-over, so the impressive American needs to find one more birdie on his way in to play the weekend in Brookline...
!
Cameron Young with a memory he'll never forget on the Par-3 6th. #USOpenpic.twitter.com/vFIi1IJGqI
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 17, 2022
Collin Morikawa hits an incredible approach shot on the par-5 8th hole, but missed the four-foot putt for an eagle!
Nonetheless, the young two-time major champion has taken a one-shot lead on 5-under from Hayden Buckley and Joel Dahmen.
The 25-year-old could be on course to win his third major title in just 11 major appearances. He would also be a Green Jacket short of completing his major grand slam.
World No. 259 Hayden Buckley calmly birdies his final two holes of the second round to card another 68 at the US Open.
Buckley, who earned his PGA Tour card by finishing seventh in The Finals 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021, is tied with Collin Morikawa and Joel Dahmen on 4-under.
The 26-year-old has only made two top-10s in 22 events on tour this season, but he is enjoying his time in Boston...
Joel Dahmen fails to get up and down from the bunker on the 10th hole in Brookline to fall back to 4-under alongside Collin Morikawa.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy has found birdies on the 12th and 14th holes to get back to 3-under, one shot behind the leading duo.
His US Open campaign is very much back on track on Friday. He, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler are in a group of nine players in tied third.
Late starter Joel Dahmen is currently out in front on his own at the US Open on day two!
Leaderboard update:
-5 J Dahmen (9)
-4 B Harman (12), C Morikawa (14),
-3 S Scheffler (F), N Hardy (F), J Rahm (14) , A Wise (12), D Lingmerth (14), H Buckley (17)
Selected others:
-2 S Burns (F), M Fitzpatrick (F), A Hadwin (F), C Tarren (16), M NeSmith (16), P Rodgers (16), R McIlroy (13), K Bradley (12)
Par B Koepka (F)
+1 D Johnson (F), J Thomas (F)
Thaaaaaat close to an eagle for @Joel_Dahmen. He leads by one at The Country Club. #USOpenpic.twitter.com/0eOi0lrbaU
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 17, 2022
Jon Rahm just drove the green at the par-4 5th, his 14th hole of the day.
It was just the 301 yards to the front of the green.
The defending champ two-putted for birdie to move to 3-under par and just two shots off the pace currently set by Joel Dahmen, who is now thru 9 holes.
Tyrrell Hatton is certainly hoping so, anyway...
Hoping +3 makes the cut @usopengolfpic.twitter.com/7IsTcPHmD7
— Tyrrell Hatton (@TyrrellHatton) June 17, 2022
At the moment Tyrrell, it will be 3-over par - but much could change over the last couple of hours of play.
Does anyone want the outright lead?
"Oh go on then, I'll take it" says Joel Dahmen as he leaves his eagle putt in the jaws of the cup at the par-5 8th.
It's a third birdie of the day for Dahmen though and he moves into the outright lead on 5-under par.
Dahmen is ranked 130th in the OWGR and he has just one PGA Tour title to his name coming at the Corales Puntacana in 2021.
McIlroy curls home a birdie putt from 20 feet on the 12th hole to get back to 2-under par.
That was easily the biggest roar of the day so far!
The Northern Irishman is just two shots off the pace.
McIlroy has definitely not had his best stuff out there today but he's hanging tough.
Morikawa lets his first shot of the day slip at the 4th hole, his 13th of the day.
The two-time major champion found trouble of the tee and then compounded the error by sending his approach shot into the deep rough right of the green.
He chipped his ball past the flag to 15 feet but failed to convert the par putt.
Morikawa is now back in a tie for the lead on 4-under par alongside Lingmerth, Harman and Dahmen.
It's unlucky 13 for Lingmerth as he makes a bogey after finding trouble off the tee.
Morikawa now leads on his own at 5-under par.
The rollercoaster round continues for McIlroy with an untimely bogey at 10.
McIlroy carved his tee shot way left just short of a huge bush and he could only hack his ball back onto the fairway.
It appeared as though he was distracted by something as he trudged off the tee box.
McIlroy failed to get up and down from there and he's now 2-over par for the round and 1-under for the tournament.
The 2011 US Open champion now lies four shots of the pace in a tie for 14th.
He is still right in the hunt but he certainly does not want to lose any more shots coming in otherwise you feel he will give himself too much to do over the weekend.
Collin Morikawa drains yet another birdie, this time from outside of 30 feet on the par-4 1st (his 10th hole of the day).
Morikawa is 4-under par for the round and 5-under for the tournament alongside Sweden's David Lingmerth, who has played 11 holes.
Leaderboard update:
-5 C Morikawa (10), D Lingmerth (11)
-4 B Harman (8), A Wise (8), J Dahmen (6)
-3 S Scheffler (F), N Hardy (F), C Tarren (13)
Selected others:
-2 S Burns (F), J Rahm (10), R McIlroy (9)
Par B Koepka (F)
+1 D Johnson (F), J Thomas (F)
Sweden's David Lingmerth nearly holes out for eagle on the par-4 10th but it's a kick-in birdie to move to 2-under for the round and 5-under par for the tournament.
Lingmerth, like Joel Dahmen, has just one PGA Tour title to his name coming at the 2015 Memorial Tournament.
The Swede has not played in a major championship since 2017 and his best career finish in 10 majors is a solo 12th.
Joel Dahmen birdies the short par-4 5th to join Collin Morikawa, David Lingmerth and Callum Tarren in the lead on 4-under par.
Dahmen has just one PGA Tour title to his name (2021 Corales Puntacana) and he has just one top-10 finish from eight career major starts.
Rory McIlroy's rollercoaster round continues with a birdie on the par-5 8th.
McIlroy went over the back of the green with his long iron into the green but he then played a beautiful chip down the slope to within a couple of feet for birdie.
The Ulsterman is 1-over par for the round but 2-under for the tournament and still right in contention for his first major title since 2014.
Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa is on the charge!
Morikawa rolls in a birdie from 15 feet at the 17th, his 8th hole of the day, to move to 3-under par for the round and to 4-under for the championship.
A brilliant 20 foot putt from Morikawa to make birdie at the 17th and move into a three-way tie for the lead now with Tarren and Lingmerth pic.twitter.com/VZgZ2UKNJS
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) June 17, 2022
The American joins David Lingmerth and Callum Tarren at the top of the leaderboard.
If Morikawa wins the US Open this week, he will then just be a Masters victory away from completing the career grand slam.
Anyway, we are getting ahead of ourselves now.
England's Callum Tarren is still going strong on 4-under par but he just missed a golden chance to take the outright lead on the 11th hole as his 10-foot birdie putt narrowly missed on the right-hand side.
Still, Tarren is tied at the top with Sweden's David Lingmerth.
What a story this would be if the Englishman can keep it going. Tarren is 445th in the Official World Golf Rankings!
Who is your pick to win the US Open after what you have seen so far today?
Come and join our poll vote over on the GolfMagic Twitter page:
Who do you think will win the US Open after what you've seen so far today?
— GolfMagic.com (@GolfMagic) June 17, 2022
Could you start on 72-under par and win the US Open at Brookline?
Come and join the debate over on the GolfMagic Instagram page:
Throughout the second round of the US Open, there has been a threat of heavy rain and thunderstorms.
However as shown on the Sky Sports broadcast, the forecast predicts that the storm is set to move south of Brookline on Friday.
We will keep you updated with any weather movements throughout the evening...
