Oakmont: South Korean veteran Kim Si-woo is five strokes off the 36-hole lead at the third major championship of the PGA Tour season. Kim sat tied for eighth place at two-over par at the midway point of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, western Pennsylvania, after shooting a four-over 74 in the second round Friday (local time). Play was suspended at 8:15 p.m. due to lightning, with 13 players still on the course.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kim, who had opened the tournament with a 68, had three birdies against seven bogeys on the notoriously difficult par-70 course, which played at 7,382 yards in the second round. He hit nine of the 14 fairways and reached nine of 18 greens in regulation. Kim needed 32 putts to go around his 18 holes.
Kim is tied with three other players, including the two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka. Kim did not play at Oakmont, featuring numerous bunkers, slick greens, and deep rough, when it last hosted the U.S. Open in 2016.
"It was really a tough course, one of the hardest golf courses I've ever played," said Kim, a four-time tour winner seeking his first major title. "It was kind of a pretty good start yesterday. I was doing OK the whole day. But I started kind of bad today, so I was struggling all day."
Kim added he was only happy to walk away without a crooked number in his scorecard. "It's just trying not to make big numbers. I think that's very important for this week," he said. "Not trying to get too aggressive and just hanging in there. If I have some chance, get some birdie, and try not to make double, triple. Good thing I didn't start to make big numbers, so that helps, so just kind of kept it positive."
Kim finished tied for eighth at the PGA Championship in May for his first career top-10 at a major. In his eight previous U.S. Open appearances, Kim missed the cut four times.
When the second round was halted, only three players were under par, with Sam Burns of the United States leading at three-under thanks to his 65 on Friday. Fellow American J.J. Spaun is alone in second place at two-under, and Viktor Hovland of Norway is one-under.
There were three other South Koreans in the field this week. Im Sung-jae shot a 77 on Friday to fall to five-over for the tournament, putting himself in a tie for 36th at the time of suspension with countryman Tom Kim, who carded a 73 in the second round. With the project cut line at seven-over, An Byeong-hun will likely miss the weekend after going 74-75 in his first two rounds to sit at nine-over.