American Patrick Reed has moved to the summit of the US Open leaderboard as a difficult second round tested players at Winged Foot Golf Club on Friday.
Reed started the day in T2 and a shot behind overnight leader Justin Thomas but, as the field began to fall victim to the challenging course, the former managed to hold his head high with a round of even par.
His 70 on Friday was enough for Reed to remain on four under par for the event and has given him a one-stroke lead heading into moving day on Saturday.
READ: Thomas confident after sound start
He is, however, closely followed by Bryson DeChambeau, who was one of the few players to go under par for the second round with an excellent 68.
DeChambeau sunk big and important putts at crucial stages throughout his round and in the end was able to fight his way back every time he was in trouble.
The big hitter is perfectly poised to make a move on Reed on Saturday, should he manage to play with the same composure.
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, unfortunately, dropped a couple of places during his second round after shooting a four-over 74 on Friday.
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As was the case on Thursday, Oosthuizen dropped a few shots early on in his round but was able to recover as he turned for the back nine.
But, his efforts were ruined with consecutive bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes before a nasty double-bogey on the final hole all but sealed a frustrating round of golf.
Oosthuizen will head into the weekend’s action on one over par for the event and in T12.
Erik van Rooyen and Christiaan Bezuidenhout are the only other South Africans to have survived the cut after respective rounds of 74 and 76 on Friday.
The cut was confirmed at six over par with Van Rooyen (+4) still firmly in the fight halfway through the event, while Bezuidenhout (+6) just about secured his spot for the next two rounds.
Shaun Norris (+8), JC Ritchie (+12), Justin Harding (+13) and Branden Grace (+14) have all unfortunately fallen prey to the difficulty of Winged Foot in classic US Open fashion.
