ARDMORE, Pennsyl-vania: US Open leader Phil Mickelson began his second round yesterday facing a malevolent course at Merion that already tested the talents of such rivals as Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Luke Donald.
Merion’s dense rough and firm greens mixed with brisk winds to punish every errant shot, the 6,996-yard layout ending any notions it might be vulnerable due to recent heavy rains or its relatively small length.
Instead, Merion inflicted mayhem on the field of 156, frustrating some and shattering others as players faced up to 32 holes yesterday due to storms that wiped out more than four hours of play on Thursday.
“We are all struggling because it’s such a penalizing golf course,” Mickelson said after round one. “It’s a course that’s withstood the test of time and it’s challenging the best players in the world.”
As heavy rains dried up, quaint and quirky Merion turned from maid into a monster of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde proportions.
“As the week wears on and the conditions get a little bit dryer, a little bit firmer, I think the course is going to get even more difficult and the scores are going to hover very close to par,” Mickelson had predicted.
England’s Donald was the low man in the clubhouse, his two-over par 72 in round two following the finish of a 68 in the morning putting the former world number one on level par 140.
“You try not to panic in US Opens. You just take it as it comes,” Donald said. “You are going to make mistakes. I’ve got to minimize those mistakes over the next two days.”
A second-round 71 by Aussie John Senden put him on 141.
American Billy Horschel, who won his first PGA title in April at New Orleans, was two-under for the round with four holes to play in only his second major. Donald shared the lead with Mickelson early in the second round, dropping a 30-foot birdie putt at his second hole, the par-4 12th, and following with a chip-in from a greenside bunker at the par-3 13th.
Donald, seeking his first major title, looked on form to improve upon his best US Open finish, a share of 12th in 2006 at the only major where he has never cracked the top 10.
But Merion would take revenge. Donald took a bogey at the 15th and another at the par-5 second. He birdied the par-3 third, but then made four bogeys in a row starting at the fourth, where his bid to chip over a bunker put him in it and he needed an eight-foot putt to swave bogey.
“The pins were a lot more tucked. They were difficult to get to,” Donald said. “I didn’t play the par-5s well. The other bogeys I didn’t feel I made too many mistakes. It’s just a tough golf course.”
World number one Woods, a 14-time major champion seeking his first major title since the 2008 US Open, finished 36 holes on 143 after a second-round 70.
AFP
