Round 2 of the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines kicked off on Friday with a popular local player in the hunt, and a second local with an outside chance.
Xander Schauffele settled into a tie Thursday for fifth with a 2-under 69, two shots off the lead, and Charley Hoffman had his round paused after 15 holes when he was five shots off the lead. Defending PGA Champion Phil Mickelson shot 4 over on Thursday and has some work to do Friday if he wants to crack the top 60 and advance to the weekend.
Only 30 players in the field broke par Thursday.
The first round of the 2021 US Open Championship was delayed by about an hour-and-a-half by morning fog, but it cleared and gave way to classic coastal San Diego breeze and sunshine.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
The delay forced later groups to play past sunset, and the USGA eventually had to suspend first-round play at 7:51 p.m. The impacted groups were scheduled to complete their final holes -- some groups had only gotten through 12 -- at 6:50 a.m. Friday. Those delays won't impact second-round start times for the rest of the field.
on Friday, though, Louis Oosthuizen finished with two good par putts and joined Russell Henley atop the leaderboard at 4-under 67 after the opening round of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
Oosthuizen was among 36 players who didn't finish the round Thursday because of the fog delay.
The South Africa had a 25-foot birdie putt when play resumed Friday on the par-3 eighth hole. He ran that 8 feet by and holed the par putt. He finished with a long birdie putt up the ridge on the par-5 ninth that came up 4 feet short and made that.
The 10 players who shot in the 60s include Rikuya Hoshino, the 25-year-old who has won twice in the last two months on the Japan Golf Tour.
The average score for the opening round was 73.7.
Attendance capacity for the tournament is expected to be around 10,000 to 15,000 fans per day, according to the USGA.
Mickelson and Schauffele had by far the largest crowd Thursday, and that will likely continue Friday with the latter in the hunt. Two fans you know will be following are Phil Sr. and Mary Mickelson, who will be proud no matter how Phil and their younger son Tim, Phil's caddy, perform.
Mickelson, who has a tee time at 1:36 on Friday afternoon, is in danger of not making the cut after Friday's round. The projected cut is now projected to be +3.
For ticket and parking information, as well as coronavirus-related requirements, click here.
Tournament Coverage
- Round 2
- 9:30-3 p.m. on Golf Channel; 3-6 on NBC 7.
- Exclusive Peacock Round 2 Coverage: 6:45 a.m.-9:30 a.m.; 7-8 p.m.
- Round 3
- 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on NBC 7.
- Exclusive Peacock coverage all day.
- Round 4
- 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on NBC 7.
- Exclusive Peacock coverage all day.
Notable Thursday Tee Times (times pushed roughly 45 minutes due to fog delay)
- 7:29 a.m. – Tyler Strafaci, Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau
- 7:51 a.m. – Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose
- 7:51 a.m. – Marc Leishman, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed
- 8:13 a.m. - Kevin Streelman, Branden Grace, Charley Hoffman
- 1: 03 p.m. - Russel Henley (Round 1 leader), Mackenzie Hughes, Harris English
- 1:14 p.m. – Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka
- 1:36 p.m. – Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, Phil Mickelson
- Full list here.
