This was the U.S. Open that was supposed to feature Scottie Scheffler taking on all comers. Scheffler is having the best season of any golfer since Tiger Woods was at the top of his game. He won the Masters, has five tournament championships to his credit and has seemed immune to pressure. Yes, there was a small incident with the Louisville Police Department, but that has been wiped away as a misunderstanding and all charges have been dropped.
But something has happened at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Instead of dominating the field and serving notice in the first two rounds that the tournament was his, Scheffler forgot about his impervious status and has played like an average Joe.
Scheffler is at the bottom of the standings through two rounds. He is five over par through 36 holes, having followed up on his opening round of 71 with a four-over 74.
He is in an 18-way tie for 57th place, but he will be playing the final two rounds of the tournament. He made the cut.
If he had lost one more stroke to par, he would have been like Max Homa, Viktor Hovland and Justin Rose. Those three stars of the PGA Tour finished at 6 over par and missed the cut. As did Tiger Woods at 7-over, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler at 8-over, Dustin Johnson at 9-over, Justin Thomas at 11-over and Phil Mickelson at (gulp!) 15-over.
It is not Scheffler’s tournament. It may belong to Ludvig Aberg, A 24-year-old Swede who is playing in his first U.S. Open. Instead of being overwhelmed by the enormity of the event and the depth of the competition, he has shot 66-69 in the first two rounds for a five-under 135.
He has a one-stroke lead over another relative unknown in Thomas Detry, the suddenly thoughtful Bryson DeChambeau and the serious-minded Patrick Cantlay. Superstar Rory McIlroy earnest Tony Finau and Frenchman Mathieu Pavon are two strokes back at three under par.
Aberg is leading because he has been technically superior. He has been remarkably accurate with his driving, hitting 26 of 28 fairways and has made 30 of 36 greens in regulation. He has been a picture of confidence through the first two rounds.
When he met the media after his second round, he attributed a portion of his success to luck.
“This being my first one, I think a U.S. Open is supposed to be hard,” said Åberg. “It’s supposed to be tricky, and it’s supposed to challenge any aspect of your game. And I feel like it’s really doing that. But super fortunate with the way that things have turned out over the last couple days, and hopefully we’ll be able to keep it up.”
In addition to Aberg, the focus will be on DeChambeau and McIlroy. DeChambeau is known for his power, and that’s been his calling card throughout his professional career. It helped him win the U.S. Open in 2020 at Winged Foot, but the reason he is close now is that his approach shots have been on point and his putting has been sharp. He made four putts of more than 15 feet and he may be ready to earn his second U.S. Open title.
“All in all, I was very happy with how I stayed patient, gave myself good opportunities when they mattered, and I made a lot of clutch putts coming in,” DeChambeau said after his round.
McIlroy had a bit of a struggle in the second round, coming in with a two over par 72 after his scintillating 65 in the first round. McIlroy has been pounding the ball for distance and accuracy, as he hit 13 of 14 fairways in the second round, but his putting was something of a struggle.
“Overall, I felt like I did a pretty good job at keeping some of the mistakes off the scorecard,” McIlroy said. “I wish I had converted a couple more of the chances. Hit the ball pretty well. I think only missed one fairway. So, I had plenty of opportunities. Yeah, wasn’t quite as good with the putter today. Still overall in a great position going into the weekend.”
Scheffler is still present, but he is 10 strokes behind the leader. Another championship does not appear to be in the offing, but it will be electrifying to see if he can dig himself out of the hole he has fallen into.
It will also be electrifying to see if young Aberg can continue his impeccable play and cement his position atop the leaderboard.
