Brooks Koepka suffered a triple-bogey setback on Friday at Pinehurst. Getty Images We’re at the halfway mark of the 2024 U.S.
Open and there’s much to celebrate: Clever golf shots, challenging conditions, a blue-chip leaderboard and much more. But there’s also plenty to mourn; Friday night means time to say goodbye to more than half the field. It’s the best of times and the worst of times.
A tale of two Pinehursts. The contenders and the missed cutters. The winners and losers.
And, of course, the fascinating gray area in between. Let’s get to a few of ’em. (Sidenote: This whole exercise is, of course, ridiculous.
There are no winners yet; this is halftime! Nor are there losers, not really, these fellas all played in the U.S. Open and were paid for the privilege, and none of ’em shot worse than 84.
But let’s do it anyway.) WHY : It’s possible that Sam Bairstow, a 25-year-old DP World Tour rookie, is just a very fast learner. Perhaps that would explain how the English lefty went from shooting the highest score in the first round of the U.
S. Open — a 14-over 84 — to firing a three-under 67 on Day 2, a number that was bettered by just one player in the entire field. Yes, you read that right.
Bairstow went from the worst score on Thursday to the second-best score on Friday. Stats guru Justin Ray confirmed that his 17-shot improvement tied the largest round-over-round upgrade in the U.S.
Open in at least the last 40 years. It still got him a missed cut. But th.
