As Winged Foot bared its teeth on Friday for round two of the US Open, Louis Oosthuizen posted a second-round score of four-over-par 74 to move to one-over for the tournament and five shots off the lead.
With only six players left in the field with scores under par, led by Patrick Reed at four-under, Oosthuizen remained very much in the mix on a day when straying off the tee was more severely punished than in the opening round: Oosthuizen, in a share of 12th at the halfway stage, hit just four of 14 fairways and made just eight greens in regulation.
His putting kept him in touch with Reed, with the American leading the field in that measure for the second day in a row as only three sub-par rounds were carded.
Although it was difficult to hit fairways, Bryson de Chambeau continued with is policy of using driver off the tee as often as possible, and it paid off as he hit half of the greens in regulation, but, more importantly, he hit 67 percent of the greens in regulation. He sits in second, one stroke behind Reed at three-under.
Erik van Rooyen and Christiaan Bezuidenhout were the only other South Africans to make it to the weekend, with Van Rooyen’s four-over 74 taking him to a share of 28th, eight shots off the pace. Bezuidenhout made the cut on the number at six-over, carding a 76 in the second round.
Shaun Norris had a 10-stroke differential between his two rounds, following his opening 69 with a 79. JC Ritchie battled to a 78 to go with his first-round 74, Justin Harding improved by one stroke to a 76, and Branden Grace added a 79 to his opening 75.
For Oosthuizen, the weekend will be taken up with trying to improve his accuracy off the tee. If he can do that, he will remain in the conversation when it comes to the back nine on Sunday.
