There are no pictures on the scorecard, which is just as well; numbers tell a better story anyway. As we head into the weekend of the 118th U.S. Open, here are 9 revealing figures from the first two days of play at Shinnecock Hills.
1 They say it’s the loneliest number, but it must feel pretty good for world number-one Dustin Johnson. Of the 156 players who teed off on Thursday, only numero uno will enter the weekend in red figures.
2 That’s how many fairways Phil Mickelson missed over the course his first two rounds. As if we needed a reminder of how tough Shinnecock is playing, Lefty parlayed that precision off the tee into a two-day total of 6 over par.
4 At 4-under par, DJ is looking forward to the weekend. But that same number has us looking back. Specifically, to the 2016 U.S. Open, where Johnson entered the weekend with a share of the lead at, yep, 4 under. Remember who wound up winning that event?
5 Not a lot went right for Tiger Woods at Shinnecock this week. But nowhere did things go more wrong than on the par-four first hole, which Woods played in a combined 5-over par.
7 As in the number of strokes taken on the par-four 8th by Ian Poulter, who had reeled off three birdies in four holes to get within one of Dustin Johnson before his triple-bogey gave all those shots away.
17 The scoring differential over the first two rounds for Scott Gregory, who followed his unsightly Thursday 92 with a solid Friday 75.
27 That’s the longest current streak of consecutive cuts made in majors, and it belongs to 51-year-old Steve Stricker, who kept his run alive this week by finishing exactly on the plus-8 line.
325.50 The longest average driving distance for the first two days was produced by British amateur Harry Ellis. But distance only goes so far. Ellis tallied a two-round total of 19-over par, and finished in a tie for 149th.
2014 Late summer of that year, at the PGA Championship at Valhalla, marked the last time Jordan Spieth missed the cut in a major.
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