Tiger’s final U.S. Open? Diabolical situations | Seen and Heard at Pinehurst

Welcome to GOLF.com’s “Seen & Heard” video sequence, wherein we provide you with an inside have a look at golf’s largest occasions via the eyes and ears of our onsite crew. On deck this week: the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Let’s go!

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We have now hit the midway mark on the U.S. Open the place a number of the recreation’s greatest have risen to the highest of the leaderboard, whereas others are going dwelling early.

Whereas all three of them made the reduce, a lot of the drama Friday morning surrounded the U.S. Open’s “Tremendous group” of the top-three gamers on this planet, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler.

All three ran into trouble on the Par-5 5th throughout Spherical 2, the simplest gap. Scheffler and Schauffele tried to hit miracle flop pictures and failed, resulting in double bogeys. McIlroy, from an analogous place hit a low working shot and made a nine-footer for par. Our James Colgan referred to as the chip a “most fascinating shot.”

“That again left gap location on 5 is fairly treacherous,” stated McIlroy, whose 72 left him at three underneath, two off the lead. “Should you miss it left there in any respect, clearly you noticed what Xander and Scottie did. After sealing their two makes an attempt, I used to be fairly pleased with mine simply to get it over the opposite aspect of the inexperienced and get it up-and-down for five.”

Elsewhere, Josh Berhow was following Tyrell Hatton, who on Thursday, went viral for some of his comments about his mindset in the U.S. Open.

After finsihing the opening two rounds at one underneath, good for a tie for ninth, Berhow asked Hatton for his take on why the remark went so viral.

“I feel everybody is aware of me nicely sufficient by now to know what I’m like on the golf course, that I’m fairly trustworthy,” Hatton stated. “I’ll simply say it how it’s.”

Deep within the “bowels of the Pinehurst clubhouse” Alan Bastable sought out the person who triggered fairly a stir on social media Thursday: Anthony Montanez . He’s higher recognized resident U.S. Open barber this week and the man who gave Scheffler his fresh cut earlier than Spherical 1.

“The humorous half about it’s, everybody retains calling it the ‘excessive and tight,’ which as barbers makes us crack up as a result of it’s solely a 3 on the perimeters,” Montanez stated. “It’s nowhere close to a ‘excessive and tight.’ Simply the tapered again makes it appear like that.”

In case there was any debate, Montanez felt good concerning the reduce.

“We delivered,” he stated.

Again within the media middle, Sean Zak requested Bryson DeChambeau, who fired a 69 Friday to get inside a shot of the lead at 4 underneath, how he felt concerning the followers seemingly rooting for gamers to battle at U.S. Opens.

“I simply noticed after we have been on 10, Sepp Straka made a hole-in-one, proper? Proper behind us,” DeChambeau stated. “That was a excessive, tremendous excessive, and it was actually cool to feed off that vitality. Then I see guys ping-ponging it across the greens out right here, and it’s like, I don’t wish to watch that.

“So for the followers it’s nice. It’s tremendous entertaining. I don’t wish to be on the unsuitable aspect of it, albeit it’s going to occur a number of occasions out right here.”

However Friday can be about who gained’t be round for the weekend and that features the largest title within the discipline: Tiger Woods.

Woods began Spherical 2 sturdy, with a birdie on the 4th to climb two pictures contained in the cutline, however he stumbled dwelling to a 73 and missed the reduce by two pictures.

Then he admitted he wasn’t sure if this week was his last U.S. Open.

“So far as my final Open Championship or U.S. Open Championship, I don’t know what that’s,” the 48-year-old three-time U.S. Open winner stated. “It might or might not be.”

However the 36-hole chief this week is Ludvig Aberg. Aberg has regarded like something however a participant making his U.S. Open debut this week, however he has performed Pinehurst No. 2 earlier than, in a U.S. Novice. He referred to as it probably the most difficult course he’s ever performed.

And it’s solely getting more durable as Sean Zak factors out, the course is turning into utterly baked out from sunshine. Inexperienced speeds are working north of 13 on the stimpmeter already.

The weekend on the 2024 U.S. Open is upon us

To compensate for all of the GOLF group’s actions at Pinehurst, try the total Seen & Heard playlist beneath — and keep tuned for extra Seen & Heard all through the week.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She will out-hustle them within the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily accountable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular initiatives, corresponding to GOLF’s inaugural Model Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview sequence, “A Spherical With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each within the journal and in video kind on GOLF.com.