History will always be in Brookline, Massachusetts this week. This was inevitable. However, the Boston fans could not have imagined a better ranking for the weekend of the 2022 US Open. just a stroke from the lead, it’s the name at the top that has the potential to produce a truly amazing moment on Sunday.
That name belongs to Collin Morikawa, who on Friday shot a 4 under 66 to reach 5 under for the championship and command the co-leader along with Joel Dahmen. Young Morikawa, 25, appears to have been on television for the past decade, but in reality, this week’s U.S. Open only marks his 11th appearance in the major championship of his career.
In her previous 10 starts, Morikawa achieved some amazing milestones, including a victory in her PGA Championship debut and another in her Open Championship debut last summer at Royal St. George’s. With a victory at the Country Club, the start of a unique career in life can be made even more memorable.
Three big wins in 11 starts would be unprecedented given the depth of talent in the game of golf, as a reference: Jordan Spieth needed 19 outings to get his three, and the ability to win these majors in three completely different scenarios would do it all. . the most impressive feat. Make no mistake, though: Morikawa is about to fight for the last 36 holes with names like McIlroy, Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, number 1 in the world, all within shouting distance.
While that wouldn’t be like his last two wins, as Morikawa still has a 36-hole lead in his major career, add him to his hit list, and some may continue to doubt the his position or his inexplicable lack of success. confident in his iron game, history suggests that Morikawa will do well.
T1. Collin Morikawa and Joel Dahmen (-5): Last year, Morikawa could not find out the turf in Scotland, the following week he won the Open Championship. This year, he is not able to achieve his patented fading with his irons, and here he is in the mix for his third major title. Not only would he continue his incredible pace on the biggest golf stage, but with a win, Morikawa would be on a Masters victory away from completing the Grand Slam of his career. Although the irons have been good, not great, it has left its mark on the greens. He had lost strokes with his putter on every outing since the Masters and so far this week at the Country Club he has won more than three strokes with the flat stick.
T3. Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Aaron Wise, Hayden Buckley and Beau Hossler (-4): Rahm played alongside Morikawa for the first two days and was probably overshadowed by him. Still, the reigning champion is in a very enviable position and has a fantastic opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Brooks Koepka and win the U.S. Open in a row. No wonder Rahm leads the field on tee-winning strokes, he is the best in the world in this department by a considerable margin, but the improvement he has shown around the green this week has the potential to boost him. to another great triumph.
T8. Scottie Scheffler, Nick Hardy, Matthew NeSmith, Patrick Rodgers and Brian Harman (-3): With the momentum of his Thursday birdie-birdie finale, Scheffler looked a lot like the world number 1 on Friday. While he didn’t start without a hitch, the Texan put together the best performance approach of his career from a beat-winning perspective. Ultimately, signing for a 3-under 67, if his short game is able to reflect his basic statistical output for the rest of the way, he will be very much in the conversation again Sunday. He currently ranks first in approximate wins, third in tee wins on the green and sixth in wins outside the tee and outside the top 80 both on and around the green.
T13. Sam Burns, Matt Fitzpatrick, Adam Hadwin and Beau Hossler (-2): Burns was one of three players to sign for a 67-wave in the morning and the next logical step in the progression of his career is the head dispute. week in a major championship. You can mark him off the list as he is firmly in the mix of this championship and should appreciate his chances of advancing. Three-time PGA Tour winner this season, a win this week would take him alongside his good friend Scheffler in the annual total. The LSU product has only reached 15 streets in the first two rounds, so it will probably need to improve in this department in order to create more scoring opportunities.
T16. Xander Schauffele, Will Zalatoris, Davis Riley and four more (-1): His U.S. Open resume is fantastic on paper, but this represents the best opportunity so far for Schauffele. In his previous five finals in the top 10, he still didn’t really have to fight, but with 36 holes left he is only four times the pace. The names you will need to skip are some of the most important in the game, but if there was ever a single instance in which you could undo the doubt and reputation surrounding your name, it’s this week.
T24. Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Brandon Matthews and four more (E): Really impressive recovery round for the two-time U.S. Open champion, as he now has 73-67 rounds in his belt. Koepka was his typical self with the media after his second round, as the chip on his shoulder has somehow multiplied by ten. Only four men have beaten him in his last four appearances at the U.S. Open and he is short of work if he does not want to add substantially to that total. An improvement around the green would be huge as it is the only area of his game that has slowed him down through 36 holes.
T31. Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann and six more (+1): I can only imagine how frustrated Thomas is after opening his second round with a double bogey and finally signing for a 2 out of 72. The Player Championship , the PGA Championship and now the U.S. Open, the two-time grand winner has received the short end of the stick in terms of weather bias at some of the most important events of the season. He is just six times out of the lead and given the firepower of his arsenal, he is still in this thing, although there is now little room for error.