An angry Rory McIlroy needed a birdie on the last hole of his second round to make the cut at the US Open.
McIlroy said before the tournament that he needed to shake off the hangover of his epic Masters win at Augusta National in April, but he could not have chosen a harder place to do that.
The brutal Oakmont course in Pittsburgh has been chewing up and spitting out the best players in the world and McIlroy is one of them.
After a four-over-par 74 on Thursday, McIlroy had hopes of fighting back into contention in the second round, but he again struggled to tame the course, posting two double bogeys in the opening three holes.
Such was his frustration, he launched his club in anger at the 12th hole after sending another shot into the unforgiving rough before smashing a tee marker on the 17th when finding the bunker.
He produced some magic on the 18th with a stunning approach shot to five feet and converted for a birdie to reach six-under-par which keeps him around for the weekend.
Whether he will be pleased about that or not is another story entirely and he will not be challenging for the title come Sunday night.
His late birdie did not quell the frustration enough for him to speak to the media as he skipped post-round duties for the sixth successive round at a major.
American Ryder Cup player Sam Burns tops the leaderboard, making a mockery of everyone else’s struggles with a head-scratching five-under-par 65.
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“I didn’t really think of much of a score before. The golf course is really too difficult to try to figure out what’s a good score and what’s not,” Burns said.
“You’re really just shot by shot and trying to play each hole the best you can.
“There’s obviously a lot of golf left on a very tough golf course. It’s a 72-hole golf tournament, and if you can get a round under par out here, no matter if it’s one under, you’ll take it.”
Burns sits one shot clear of first-round leader JJ Spaun, who carded a two-over 72 to sit on two-under-par.
Spaun said: “I knew it would be hard to back up a bogey-free four-under at Oakmont in the US Open. So I’m just glad that I kept it together. I’m two over today, but given where we are that’s a pretty good score.”
It is no wonder the players have been calling the terrifying Pennsylvania course Transylvania as Viktor Hovland, at one-under-par, is the only other player under par at the halfway mark of the tournament.
World number one Scottie Scheffler reckons he is still in the mix, despite sitting seven shots off the lead.
Scheffler, who was seen angrily remonstrating with his coach after his round, carded a 71 to sit four-over-par but is not ruling himself out.
“It felt like me getting away with one over today wasn’t all that bad. It could have been a lot worse,” he said.
“I’m definitely not out of the tournament. Today I think with the way I was hitting it, it was easily a day I could have been going home, but I battled pretty hard to stay in there.”
There have been plenty of high-profile casualties, none more so than defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, who will go home after finishing on a bruising 10-over-par.
Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood and Gary Woodland also get the weekend off.
It could also be a farewell to the US Open for Phil Mickelson, who could not fina a birdie at the final hole to make the cut.
Mickelson admits he is unlikely to play this tournament again unless he can win next month’s Open at Portrush or hope for a USGA exemption.
