BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open (all times local):
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Qualifier Joel Dahmen has moved into the lead at the U.S. Open.
Dahmen was 2 under through nine holes in the second round at The Country Club on Friday to improve to 5 under and take a one-stroke lead. Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa was the biggest name among those at 4 under.
David Lingmerth and Brian Harman were also one stroke back.
Dahmen missed the cut in both previous U.S. Open appearances. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to try again before deciding 10 days ago to give a shot and playing in a 36-hole qualifier. He made it with one stroke to spare.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler is in the clubhouse with a 67 and tied for fourth with five others.
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4:15 p.m.
Collin Morikawa has made a move at the U.S. Open in his attempt to win a major golf tournament for the third year in a row.
The reigning British Open champion, who also won the PGA Championship in 2020, started the second round at minus-1 and picked up four more birdies through 11 holes, moving into a tie for the lead at 5 under with David Lingmerth.
Lingmerth entered the day at minus-3 and improved to 5 under through 12 holes at The Country Club. The 34-year-old Swede has won once on the PGA Tour and his best finish in a major was 12th at the 2016 U.S. Open.
Morikawa made the turn at 4 under and made a 31-foot birdie putt on No. 1 to move into the lead.
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12:50 p.m.
Masters champion and top-ranked Scottie Scheffler shot 3-under 67 to join Rory McIlroy and four others in the lead at the U.S. Open.
Also tied for the top spot at 3 under are players ranked 130, 371, 445 and 592. They are Joel Dahmen, Nick Hardy, Callum Tarren and David Lingmerth.
Hardy shot 2-under 68 to take his place at the top of the leaderboard.
The other three players and McIlroy, who is ranked third, had afternoon tee times at The Country Club, where there was a 70% chance of thunderstorms.
Scheffler’s 67 in the morning was highlighted by a hole-out from around 60 yards on the par-5 14th for eagle.
Scheffler’s buddy, Sam Burns, also shot 67 to draw within one shot of the lead.
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11:50 a.m.
Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka made eagles within 60 seconds of each other on the par-5 14th hole to vault up the leaderboard at the U.S. Open.
Scheffler, the reigning Masters champion, hit a pitch shot from about 60 yards out of the deep rough that went in for a 3. Then Koepka knocked in a 14-foot putt.
Scheffler’s eagle put him at 2 under for the tournament, one shot behind five players tied for the lead, including M.J. Daffue, who had been at 6 under before making three bogeys on his back nine.
Koepka’s 3 put him at 1 under with four holes left in his round.
The rest at 3 under, including Rory McIlroy, have afternoon tee times at The Country Club.
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11 a.m.
M.J. Daffue had a perfect lie. It was on the fake turf covering the floor of a hospitality tent to the left of the 14th fairway.
He hit a great shot there, covering about 250 yards to end up pin high in the rough on the 616-yard par 5. But he duffed the chip shot and made a bogey 6 anyway.
After that big adventure, the South African dropped to 4-under par, which was still good for a one-shot lead at the U.S. Open as he headed into his last five holes.
Matt Fitzpatrick was one shot behind Daffue, in a tie for second, as he began his second nine.
The rest of the group at 3 under had afternoon tee times. That included Rory McIlroy, Callum Tarren, David Lingmerth and Joel Dahmen.
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10:25 a.m.
M.J. Daffue has a two-shot lead as he heads into the homestretch of his second round at the U.S. Open. He is 5-under par with six holes to play.
Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the U.S. Amateur at The Country Club in 2013, shot 1-under 34 over his first nine holes to climb into a second-place tie at 3 under.
Also at 3 under are Rory McIlroy, David Lingmerth, Joel Dahmen and Callum Tarren; all have afternoon tee times on a warm, windy day outside of Boston. There’s a 30% chance of thunderstorms hitting the Brookline area this afternoon.
First-round leader Adam Hadwin made two bogeys over his first four holes to drop to 2 under — three shots behind Daffue.
Phil Mickelson’s struggles continue. He is 3 over for the day and 11 over for the tournament. He’s tied for 147th.
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9:15 a.m.
M.J. Daffue has opened a three-shot lead early in the second round of the U.S. Open.
The South African rolled in a 70-foot putt from off the front of the seventh green for his third birdie of the front nine. It put him at 6-under par, three shots ahead of Rory McIlroy and a group of three others who play Friday afternoon.
First-round leader Adam Hadwin made two bogeys over the first three holes to drop to 2 under, four shots off the lead.
Only 26 of the 156 players at The Country Club were under par midway through the morning rounds on Day 2.
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8:15 a.m.
Justin Thomas had one of 25 scores under par in the first round of the U.S. Open. He didn’t stay in red numbers for very long.
Thomas pulled his approach on No. 10 to start the second round. It left him in a precarious spot above the green in deep grass. Worse yet, he was above the hole. His first attempt at a flop shot moved the ball a foot. The next one got onto the green and rolled 25 feet past the hole.
He made double bogey, and then missed a 4-foot par putt on the next hole.
Players are expecting The Country Club to get tougher as the week goes on. It doesn’t seem that way to MJ Daffue (pronounced “Duffy”). He already has three birdies through five holes and was leading at 5-under par in the early going.
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