Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed share halfway lead at US Open
Last Updated: 20/06/15 12:25pm
Ryder Cup team-mates Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed will go into the weekend of the 115th US Open tied for the lead after a dramatic second day at Chambers Bay.
Second round leaders
Tiger Woods crashed out after posting the worst 36-hole score of his professional career, Jason Day collapsed while on his final hole, and Rory McIlroy scraped into the weekend with nothing to spare after dropping three shots over the last two holes.
Spieth had taken advantage of the easier, early conditions to fire a 67 and set the clubhouse target at five under, although he looked set to be overhauled when Reed and Dustin Johnson both got to seven under with a third of their rounds remaining.
But Johnson, who made three birdies in five holes on the front nine, plummeted to four under after following a bogey at the 14th with further dropped shots at each of the last two holes in a disappointing 71.
Reed also fell foul of the controversial 18th, converted to a par-four after playing as a par-five on day one, capping an entertaining 69 which featured only six pars. He dropped three shots in four holes around the turn before hitting back with a birdie at 11 and a superb eagle-two at the driveable par-four 12th.
But after two more bogeys and a his fifth birdie of the day at 16, he three-putted the last to slip back to five under alongside Spieth, who started with a birdie at 10 and added three in four holes from the 14th before a poor drive at 18 led to a double-bogey six.
The Masters champion got back on track with a birdie at the long first, and he responded to a bogey at seven with a two at the ninth as he stayed on course to become only the sixth player in history to win the first two majors of the year.
Grace on the charge
The American pair have a one-shot lead over Johnson and Branden Grace, who roared to five under with an eagle at the eighth followed by birdies at nine and 12. The South African bogeyed the next and got the shot back at the 17th only to drop another shot at the last to card a 67.
Joost Luiten emerged as the leading European challenger after a three-birdie back nine salvaged a 69 that got the Dutchman to three under along with Tony Finau, Daniel Summerhays and Ben Martin.
Day is a further shot back, but his participation for the weekend is in the hands of medics after his dramatic collapse on the ninth - his last - which was later revealed to be an attack of vertigo, although he was able to complete the hole after treatment from paramedics.
Joint-overnight leader Henrik Stenson slipped to one-under after an error-strewn 74, while Paul Casey (69) is the best-placed Englishman on one over - one ahead of Lee Westwood and 2013 champion Justin Rose.
McIlroy opened with a birdie before slipping to three over after bogeys at three and seven, but he revived his challenge with a superb drive to six feet at the 12th which he converted for eagle.
But he four-putted the 17th to card a double-bogey five, and he missed the fairway at the last which led to another dropped shot and a second, straight 72 that leaves him nine shots off the lead.
Woods missed the cut for only the second time in the US Open, carding eight bogeys in a 76 that saw him finish third from bottom on 16 over par.
