Rickie Fowler made U.S. Open history on Thursday.
Forty-two players made history on Friday at Erin Hills after the second round of the 117th U.S. Open. It is the most players under par in the history of this oldest American major.
They took the place apart like a Milwaukee muni and at day’s end, there was a log-jam at the top, replacing solo first-round leader Rickie Fowler.
Paul Casey, Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood and Brooks Koepka are tied at seven-under par. Casey shot 66 early, the other three turned into 67s in the afternoon wave.
Erin Hills was basically defenseless. There was little wind and conditions were still soft enough to let so many shoot so low.
There’s even an amateur in contention. Cameron Champ shot 70-69 and is the talk of the golf world after beating Dustin Johnson by nine shots, Rory McIlroy by 10 and Jason Day by 15. Those players ranked 1-2-3 in the world, all missed the cut. First time it has happened in a major since the Official World Golf Rankings debuted in 1986.
There are no major champions among the top 18.
Champ is the talk of the tournament with his 350-yard average driving distance. He’s in at five-under par, tied for eighth.
Rickie Fowler ran into a difficult putting stretch starting at the 11th hole. Three straight bogeys dropped him from nine-under par to six-under. Despite his troubles, he’s a shot out of the lead and is happy with his position.
