U.S Open: Gary Woodland sets scoring record, leads Justin Rose by two

Gary Woodland set the 36-hole scoring record with a bogey-free 65 to grab a two shot lead after the second round of the U.S. Open

Gary Woodland posted the best round of the day on Friday, a six-under 65, to overtake Justin Rose at the top of the leaderboard and hold a two shot lead heading in to the weekend at the third major of the year. 

Woodland, whose score tied the lowest ever round and set the 36-hole scoring record for a U.S. Open at Pebble at 9-under-par, did it in impressive style with a 50-footer for birdie on his final hole. 

Starting his day at the 10th and four shots behind Justin Rose, Woodland made a good par at his opening hole before converting his first birdie of the day at the 12th from just over five feet. 

“I hit a 6-iron on 12,” said Woodland. “Really got me going today. I made a nice par-putt on 10 from about eight feet and that really was nice to see the putt go in early in the round. I hit a great shot there on 12, 6-iron in there close, made it. And really started — my ball-striking round. My ball striking was beautiful.”

It was a day where Woodland performed well on the greens, rolling in his next birdie from 17 feet on the 16th to make the turn in two-under. 

A superb approach shot the first hole moved Woodland to within one shot of the lead, and ana 15-foot birdie putt on the 14th moved him up to the top of the laederboard with Justin Rose.

Just one hole later at the par-five sixth he gained another birdie to overtake Rose by one, and showed off his prowess on the eighth green with a 15-foot par-save to stay out in front.

“That was huge,” he said of the par save. “I played beautifully all day. I didn’t want to give a shot back. I made a bad swing, probably the worst all day. Came out with a 7-iron, was fortunate where it stayed and tried to hit a chip to catch the backstop and it got hung up. So that was a nice putt to go in to kind of keep the momentum going.”

At his last, the ninth, Woodland hit his second shot to the front of the green before making a 50-footer to increase his overnight lead to two. 

“The one on the last, that was just a bonus.” he continued. “Hit a beautiful drive. I was in the divot, a pretty deep divot. We were a little indecisive what we were going to do. We tried to take a little less club and hit it hard and play out to the safe to the right and was nice to knock it in.”

For Woodland, who finished T8 at the PGA Championship this year, a lot of his recent success in majors he strugled with in the past is down to an improved short game performance and work on the greens with Pete Cowen.

“Well, short game has come around,” Woodland explained after being asked about not recording a top 10 in his first 27 major starts but two in his last four.

“I’ve always been a pretty good ball-striker, I’ve relied on my ball-striking on my whole career, athletic ability. But the short game and putting has kind of held me back. PGA last year I made a lot of putts, especially early in the week. Obviously it was nice to finish the top-10 and get that monkey off the back. Bethpage was a really good golf course for me, I can hit driver, drove the ball beautifully. Like I said, I didn’t make any putts that week, but the golf course set up so well for me, it’s one I should contend on week in and week out. Short game and putting has been the big deal for me since then.”

Justin Rose sits two shots behind after a second round one-under 70, with Louis Oosthuizen a shot further back on six-under and Rory McIlroy and Aaron Wise on -5. 

A group of five players, including Matt Kuchar and defending champion Brooks Koepka, are tied for sixth at five-under. 

In total, there are 31 players under-par after the first two rounds of the 119th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.