Tommy Fleetwood pleased to grind his way to 66 at US Open
Englishman five behind Dustin Johnson at halfway stage at Shinnecock Hills
Last Updated: 15/06/18 8:33pm
Tommy Fleetwood felt his mental attitude was the key to his four-under-par 66 in the second round of the US Open.
The Englishman could only manage a 75 in the first round, but he put that behind him at Shinnecock Hills as he moved to one over at the halfway stage, five behind the trail-blazing Dustin Johnson.
Fleetwood started with a birdie at the 10th but gave that back on the 11th before adding another birdie at the 13th.
He then entered the toughest part of his round as the wind, rain and cold made conditions difficult, but he was able to string together six successive pars before birdieing the second.
The Race to Dubai champion dropped his second shot of the day at the fourth but then produced a strong finish to storm up the leaderboard with birdies at the fifth, seventh and ninth.
"I think that some of the strengths I have, I have a lot of patience, and the tougher the conditions, the more I feel like I can grind it out and will play my way around a little bit," said Fleetwood.
"You've still got to play well, but all those go together in a good round if everything still applies. If you play bad, I still feel like I can keep it together and keep going. Whether I shoot 10 over or 66 today, I feel like, when the weather is bad, I kind of have that in me, the mental side.
"It was middle of the round, a good, solid start, and I was making pars. But then middle of the round, where it was 16, 17, 18, one, two when it was windy and it was cold and the rain was coming down, it was literally counting holes down and trying to survive and make pars. It brightened up a little bit, and then I made some birdies towards the end.
"Really it just kind of happened. It was a really solid round. And just a couple of putts make all the difference really sometimes. And you know, five, seven and nine, you hole a couple of nice birdie putts, and you walk off with a 66. But overall, I just played really solid."
Fleetwood was in contention throughout last year's US Open at Erin Hills before eventually finishing fourth behind Brooks Koepka.
"At the end of the day, what happened a year ago has absolutely no effect on tomorrow or Sunday. I've still got to turn up and play well, and I've got to concentrate hole by hole," he added.
"But it has shown me that I can stand up and I can compete in the biggest tournaments in the world. I didn't win, but I felt pretty comfortable and I was a shot off second, really, which is a quarter shot a round. If you're that close, you can kind of get there.
"It did show me that I can do it and hold my own at the weekend. But a year ago to now, it has no play on tomorrow, unfortunately."
