Phil Mickelson and Billy Horschel share US Open lead – Golf News
Phil Mickelson and Billy Horschel were the only players in the US Open field who managed to enter the weekend with under par scores on their scorecards, and both the Americans are currently sharing the lead at the Merion Golf Club.
A number of players still have to finish their second rounds, as the inclement weather once again forced the tournament officials to suspend the game. The second round will now resume early in the morning on Saturday.
Mickelson, who held the sole lead after day one, courtesy of his brilliant performance that saw him recording four birdies against just lone bogey, faltered for a two-over par 72 in the second round.
Yet, he managed to hold on to the share of the lead, thanks to the soft surface of the course, which did not allow most of the players to post under par scores – it rained heavily on Thursday, making the playing conditions really
difficult.
Before the suspension of the second round, Mickelson asked the group ahead to allow his group to tee off on the 18th fairway, in a bid to complete their second round campaign. According to him, he did not want to resume his game
early on Saturday morning.
"I spoke to Dustin on the 17th and they moved out the way so Keegan could hit a tee shot," he said. “It was nice of them and it was a nice way for me to finish. I had fought hard all the way and had let a lot of birdie opportunities
slip."
Horschel, in the meantime, was also very pleased with his performance in the second round. He carded four birdies against just a single bogey to make a strong charge on the leaderboard.
"Four birdies at a US Open, I'll take it.” he said.
The American remained consistent throughout the day and hit each and every green in regulation, a fact that he did not know until the end of his round.
"It's a cool thing, but it's not the first time I've hit all 18 greens. I've done it plenty of times in my career. Obviously it's at a US Open, but I think the softness of the greens helped that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Luke Donald, Steve Stricker, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and Cheng-Tsun Pan shared the third position on the leaderboard.
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