It's Friday, and for some golfers, there won't be anything to do this weekend. Even for the best in the world, some weeks you just wish you had never left the couch. But it's the U.S. Open; you have to at least try, right? Yes, you do, but that also means you get taken to task for your efforts. Marks are based on daily individual performances and are not compared against other golfers. Here are the grades for Round 2.
Rory McIlroy
Grade: C-
World Ranking: No. 1
Score: 72-72 (+4)
He might feel like the best player in the world, and for now he has that title, but McIlroy sure isn't playing like that guy. No one is in awe of a driver that only finds nine of 14 fairways. Because of those misses off the tee, he hit only 11 greens. At least he'll be here for the weekend (barely), so he will have two chances to back up what he said about being the best. There's no time like moving day to get started.
Jordan Spieth
Grade: B
World Ranking: No. 2
Score: 68-67 (-5)
A double-bogey at the 18th hole could have derailed a good day, but Spieth again showed maturity beyond his years with a bounce-back birdie on No. 1 (he started on the back nine). Spieth has put himself in great position going into the weekend, which is impressive considering he is below average in driving distance on a course we keep hearing is a long-hitter's course.
Jim Furyk
Grade: D+
World Ranking: No. 3
Score: 71-73 (+4)
I know Furyk is a short hitter, but that's no excuse for missing fairways, and Friday he missed four of 14. That might not seem like a lot to our readers, but for Furyk it's the difference between success and failure at this championship. It was the putter that allowed him to stick around for the weekend, and I say that even though he had 31 putts.
Bubba Watson
Grade: F
World Ranking: No. 4
Score: 70-77 (+7)
Remember that really awesome putt Watson made on camera during a practice round? Friday was Chambers Bay's chance to exact revenge. He bogeyed half of the holes he played. I guess when he hits only half the greens, a bad score is to be expected. In all honesty, this championship, along with the one played in the U.K., will never set up well for him. At least not until he decides to embrace them.
Justin Rose
Grade: C-
World Ranking: No. 5
Score: 72-70 (+2)
Rose hit every fairway in Round 2 and missed only three greens, so how the heck did the former U.S. Open champ shoot even par? Two bogeys and a triple, that's how. Five birdies on 33 putts is a serious head-scratcher. It makes me think he may be going thru a Jekyll-and-Hyde thing right now. Please fix it Saturday, or at least supply seat belts and motion-sickness bags for those people riding with you.
Henrik Stenson
Grade: D
World Ranking: No. 6
Score: 65-74 (+4)
I understand that the greens can be challenging when you play in the late afternoon, but 38 putts? Stenson's caddie could've done better with his broken arm. Stenson's ball striking was not terrible, with 11 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens hit (that's better than the field average). And at 1 under, he's not out of this tournament, but for the love of holy green reading, please do something about the putting.
Dustin Johnson
Grade: C+
World Ranking: No. 7
Score: 65-71 (-4)
I'm giving Johnson the plus only for how he played the first 13 holes. If he had made it home with only one bogey, he might have received a B. Length is nothing without control, so averaging 328.5 yards off the tee but hitting only nine fairways and 11 greens just proves the saying "Drive for show, putt for dough." Well, this is a big stage, but it's not a show. Improve those numbers Saturday and the chance to win his first major will also improve.
Sergio Garcia
Grade: F
World Ranking: No. 8
Score: 70-75 (+5)
Garcia talked himself into 37 putts. Everyone has to play these greens, and by telling the truth about them via Twitter on Thursday night, I expected him to come out knowing how to play them. Of course, he hit only 12 greens, so even if he had had a decent putting day, he might have shot only 2 over. We all know he's not a great putter and that's OK, but Friday's performance was not acceptable.
Rickie Fowler
Grade: C
World Ranking: No. 9
Score: 81-73 (+14)
Hitting only 12 greens yet still shooting +3 seems like a small victory, and it is. Thirty-two putts means he never figured out the greens he missed, and never got the ball in the correct position when he did find the right section of the greens. Bonus -- he kicked Tiger's butt in Round 2.
Jason Day
Grade: C+
World Ranking: No. 10
Score: 68-70 (-2)
I don't want the grade to come across as harsh, but his vertigo occurred on his final hole so I'm grading on what happened on the previous 17. If it turns out he was fighting it all day, then everything here is null and void. Day has given himself a chance, and that's all you can ask for on a weekend at a major. Hitting only 10 of 18 greens will not get it done, however, and the fact that he shot even par is impressive. That must improve if he's going to be in position to win Sunday.
Gareth Lord
Grade: A+
World Ranking:N/A
Score: N/A
When you caddie for the No. 6 player in the world, a broken wrist might be a good excuse for you to take a few days off. Not Lord. I asked him Friday before the second round how he was feeling, "Not great," he said. "But I'm going." With a look of serious determination, Lord and Henrik Stenson got into the van headed for the first tee. It's a major and they're a team, so if he can walk, he's going to caddie.
Brian Campbell (a)
Grade: B-
World Ranking:N/A
Score: 67-72 (-1)
Just keep grinding and fighting, young fella. Why would I give a grade like this to a guy who shot +2 on Friday? Because that guy is an amateur who still finds himself inside the top 15 on the leaderboard going into the weekend. I'll forgive the double-bogey at the No. 7, but he'd better take his putter out to dinner and let it have whatever dessert it wants after hitting only 29 putts. Not bad for a guy who just finished his senior season at the University of Illinois.
Phil Mickelson
Grade: D
World Ranking: No. 17
Score: 69-74 (+4)
Thirty-five putts? Was he just closing his eyes and hoping? The good news is at least now Mickelson's fans won't spend the weekend having false hopes of him completing the career Grand Slam this year. And as cool as it would have been to see him in contention, seeing Mickelson hit only nine fairways and 13 greens allows me the strange comfort of knowing he won't be a factor this weekend.