PINEHURST, N.C. — The winner of the unofficial award for the most volatile front nine on Friday went to Sepp Straka.
On his third hole, Straka hit an approach shot that hit the flag stick and bounded into a bunker.
Straka ended up with triple bogey on the hole after nearly holing out for eagle.
Six holes later, on the 194-yard par-3 ninth hole, Straka had a hole-in-one.
Sepp Straka spent too much time in the bunkers in an uneven U.S. Open round. APHe stands at 2-over par for the tournament after his 2-over-par 72 on Friday.
“Yeah, it was a tough start,” Straka said. “No. 3 I hit the flag stick, bounced back in the bunker. Unfortunately made a triple with the bad bunker shot. Things weren’t looking too good.
Sepp Straka hit his first career hole-in-one at the PGA Tour on Friday. X, @USOpenGolf
Sepp Straka hits the flagstick at the third hole at Pinehurst. X, @usopengolf“[Then] I made the ace on 9, which was really nice for one just to make an ace in a major is pretty cool, but also for the score. It was a 7-iron. Perfect number for me. I tried to land at 185. It was a really good swing. Middle of the face, went right at it.”
Later in the day, on his final hole of the round, Francesco Molinari aced the ninth hole and made the cut because of it.
Molinari went from 7-over-par to 5-over with the shot.
He had missed 13 of his previous 14 cuts dating back to 2023.
England’s Sam Bairstow wins the award for best comeback of the week.
Bairstow shot the worst score of the opening round with a 14-over-par 84.
The good news is he followed that up with a 3-under-par 67 on Friday in his second round.
The bad news is the two scores left Bairstow at 11-over par for the tournament.
So, his 17-shot improvement from Day 1 to Day 2 wasn’t enough to make the cut.
Defending champion Wyndham Clark is still alive for a repeat, though that will be a long shot.
Clark is 4-over par and made the cut.
He called making the cut “a huge win’’ because “I haven’t been playing my best,” and said he has “definitely an outside chance’’ to mount a comeback with a low third round on Saturday.
“I felt pressure to play well these last few weeks just because I haven’t been playing well,’’ Clark said.
Wyndham Clark survived and made the cut at the U.S. Open. USA TODAY SportsJackson Suber, the last player to get into the field thanks to Jon Rahm withdrawing on Tuesday, made the cut, following his first-round 69 with a 3-over-par 73 Friday and is 2-over for the week.
Suber, who was prepared to leave town to play in a Korn Ferry event this week if didn’t get into the field, said he hopes Rahm “heals quickly.’’
Martin Kaymer, the 2014 U.S. Open winner the last time it was played at Pinehurst, made the cut at 3-over par after rounds of 70-73.
