A sunny weather on Friday was supposed to give golfers a 'perfect' playing condition to wrap up the first and second round of competition. Everyone thought it would be a flawless, high-scoring day of Grand Slam golfing until Merion, the course, gave them a run for their money.
Merion was simply unforgiving all day long, having players average 74.6 strokes with only three players at under par after 36 holes.
Clubhouse leaders Phil Mickelson and Billy Horschel, both at 1-under 139, were the first ones to finish 18 holes on Friday while Justin Rose, Luke Donald and Steve Stricker completed their assignments just before darkness.
However, there are still 68 players that need to finish their second round Saturday morning before the organizers will reduce the playing field when they make their 36-hole cut at 8 over.
Despite playing with an elbow injury, Tiger Woods is still in contention for his first Grand Slam title in five years after shooting an even-par 70, tied with former US Open winner Rory McIlroy and four others. Historically, Woods is playing better golf after going over par through 36 holes, yet none of which ended with a title. Nevertheless, he's still just four strokes behind the leaders with 36 more holes to go.
Pre-tournament favorite Graeme McDowell took the hardest fall yesterday, shooting a lackadaisical 13 over through two rounds. Other victims of Merion's Friday Horror are Jose Maria Olazabal (+16), David Toms (+12), Angel Cabrera (+15), Jim Furyk (+16) and Darren Clarke (+15), who will likely miss Saturday's cut.
Play will resume at 7:15 ET a.m ET. Coverage of the second and third round of the 2013 US Open begins at 8 a.m on ESPN and 4 p.m on NBC.
2013 US Open Tee Times (Round 2 and 3)
Merion GC Tee #11
| Group | Time | Players | ||
| 79 | 10:00 am | Clarke, Darren | Olazabal, Jose Maria | Toms, David |
| 80 | 10:11 am | Cabrera, Angel | Lawrie, Paul | Ogilvy, Geoff |
| 81 | 10:22 am | Donald, Luke | Kaymer, Martin | Westwood, Lee |
| 82 | 10:33 am | Furyk, Jim | Johnson, Zach | McDowell, Graeme |
| 83 | 10:44 am | McIlroy, Rory | Scott, Adam | Woods, Tiger |
| 84 | 10:55 am | Fdez-Castano, Gonzalo | Jaidee, Thongchai | Olesen, Thorbjorn |
| 85 | 11:06 am | Els, Ernie | Fox, Steven | Simpson, Webb |
| 86 | 11:17 am | Guthrie, Luke | Ogilvie, Joe | Stanley, Kyle |
| 87 | 11:28 am | Pepperell, Eddie | Teater, Josh | Tsukada, Yoshinobu |
| 88 | 11:39 am | Hwang, Jung-gon | Loar, Edward | Madsen, Morten Orum |
| 89 | 11:50 am | Bettencourt, Matt | Homa, Max | Knox, Russell |
| 90 | 12:01 pm | Hadwin, Adam | Herman, Jim | Nieporte, John |
| 91 | 12:12 pm | Brown, Brandon | Murray, Grayson | Smith, Jesse |
| 92 | 3:45 pm | Kresge, Cliff | Tambellini, Roger | Yip, Ryan |
| 93 | 3:56 pm | Karlberg, Rikard | Parry, John | Ueda, Yui |
| 94 | 4:07 pm | Hanson, Peter | Mahan, Hunter | Watney, Nick |
| 95 | 4:18 pm | Casey, Paul | Glover, Lucas | Haas, Bill |
| 96 | 4:29 pm | Baddeley, Aaron | Lingmerth, David | Sabbatini, Rory |
| 97 | 4:40 pm | Coetzee, George | Laird, Martin | Siem, Marcel |
| 98 | 4:51 pm | Hoffman, Charley | Huh, John | Kelly, Jerry |
| 99 | 5:02 pm | Garrigus, Robert | Moore, Ryan | Stenson, Henrik |
| 100 | 5:13 pm | Khan, Simon | Palmer, Ryan | Potter, Jr., Ted |
| 101 | 5:24 pm | Kim, Michael | Stefani, Shawn | Thompson, Nicholas |
| 102 | 5:35 pm | Doak, Chris | LaBelle II, Doug | Svoboda, Andrew |
| 103 | 5:46 pm | Hutchison, Randall | Sutherland, Kevin | Weibring, Matt |
| 104 | 5:57 pm | Hahn, John | McElyea, Cory | Nelson, Ryan |
Merion GC Tee #1
| Group | Time | Players | ||
| 53 | 9:45 am | Hicks, Justin | Howell, David | Stuard, Brian |
| 54 | 9:56 am | Goya, Estanislao | Hedblom, Peter | Steele, Brendan |
| 55 | 10:07 am | Fraser, Marcus | Leishman, Marc | Senden, John |
| 56 | 10:18 am | Hoffmann, Morgan | Langley, Scott | Williams, Chris |
| 57 | 10:29 am | Thompson, Michael | Weaver, Michael | Wittenberg, Casey |
| 58 | 10:40 am | Choi, K.J. | Molinari, Francesco | Pettersson, Carl |
| 59 | 10:51 am | Chappell, Kevin | Donaldson, Jamie | Piercy, Scott |
| 60 | 11:02 am | Points, D.A. | Streelman, Kevin | Van Pelt, Bo |
| 61 | 11:13 am | Bae, Sang-Moon | Grace, Branden | Henley, Russell |
| 62 | 11:24 am | Horschel, Billy | Matsuyama, Hideki | Spieth, Jordan |
| 63 | 11:35 am | Alker, Steven | Goggin, Mathew | Presnell, Alistair |
| 64 | 11:46 am | Hall, Gavin | Harmon, Matt | Kim, Bio |
| 65 | 11:57 am | Crick, Brandon | Fischer, Zack | Sullivan, Ryan |
| 66 | 3:30 pm | Colsaerts, Nicolas | Johnson, Dustin | Watson, Bubba |
| 67 | 3:41 pm | Bradley, Keegan | Mickelson, Phil | Stricker, Steve |
| 68 | 3:52 pm | Kuchar, Matt | Rose, Justin | Snedeker, Brandt |
| 69 | 4:03 pm | Clark, Tim | Oosthuizen, Louis | Schwartzel, Charl |
| 70 | 4:14 pm | Cink, Stewart | Garcia, Sergio | Harrington, Padraig |
| 71 | 4:25 pm | Dufner, Jason | Poulter, Ian | Weekley, Boo |
| 72 | 4:36 pm | Day, Jason | Fowler, Rickie | Manassero, Matteo |
| 73 | 4:47 pm | Fujita, Hiroyuki | Jacobson, Fredrik | Yang, Y.E. |
| 74 | 4:58 pm | Karlsson, Robert | Peterson, John | Stallings, Scott |
| 75 | 5:09 pm | Blake, Jay Don | Campbell, Michael | Jobe, Brandt |
| 76 | 5:20 pm | Hearn, David | Van Zyl, Jaco | Weir, Mike |
| 77 | 5:31 pm | Collins, Wil | Phelan, Kevin | Varner, III, Harold |
| 78 | 5:42 pm | Hughes, Mackenzie | Pan, Cheng Tsung | Sisk, Geoffrey |
US Open TV Schedule
TV Schedule: WATCH Saturday, June 15, 2013: U.S. Open on ESPN, 8:00 a.m. ET | NBC, 4 p.m. ET
US Open Leaderboard
To follow live scores of the 2013 US Open - click here
US Open Radio Streaming
To follow live coverage of the 2013 US Open via Radio - click here
US Open Analysis
To follow latest news and analysis of the 2013 US Open - click here
US Open Live Stream
Live stream coverage of the 2013 U.S. Open can be seen in the morning on WatchESPN.com and will switch at 3 p.m. to NBC Sports Live Extra.
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