2013 U.S. Open: Phil Mickelson, Billy Horschel share lead at Merion

Tiger Woods shot even-par in his second round at Merion on Friday, which may not sound all that Tiger-esque. But the world’s top-ranked player left the course just six shots back of then-solo leader Phil Mickelson and in contention heading into the weekend despite an obviously painful elbow injury.

Just what was ailing Woods had everyone talking -- everyone, that is, but the injured party himself.

As expected, the USGA was unable to complete the second round of the 2013 U.S. Open when darkness fell at Merion and play was called at 8:27 p.m. ET. The U.S. Open has one of the biggest fields all golf season, with 156 players making a loop through the course from sun-up to sun-down. The size of the field combined with the two weather delays on Thursday ensured that the field would not be cut in half by Friday night. The last group out on Friday did not tee off until 5:57 p.m., getting through nine holes and needing a little more than two hours to probably finish up on Saturday.

With almost 70 players still needing to finish, the USGA will restart the second round at 7:15 a.m., the exact same time the first round restart began on Friday.

It was a brutal day at Merion, with 12 players finishing with rounds in the 80s and only three players under par. When the second round was called due to darkness at 8:27 p.m. ET, only two players remained in red numbers for the tournament -- Billy Horschel, a 2013 PGA Tour winner who fired a flawless round of 67, and first-round leader Phil Mickelson.

Horschel hit every single green in regulation for the miraculous loop through a course that made fools of some of the biggest names and best players in the world. It appeared he would go to sleep as the only player under par at the 113th U.S. Open, but Mickelson, always with a flair for the dramatic, canned a lengthy birdie putt in the gloaming on No. 18 to get back to 1-under. It was Mickelson’s only birdie of the day, coming on a hole that was statistically playing the most difficult. For the second straight night, he’ll go to bed with the clubhouse lead, halfway to capturing the white whale of his career.

The second round of the 2013 U.S. Open won’t conclude until Saturday morning, and a few notable players will go to sleep right on the cut line. At the time play was suspended on Friday, the cut was projected at 8-over, which leaves players such as Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker in limbo.

The top 60 players, plus ties, will make the cut, and with plenty of golf still to play in the second round, the cut line could still move. Snedeker is 8-over through two rounds, one of 23 players tied for 66th place. Depending on how difficult Merion Golf Club plays on Saturday morning, he could wind up on the outside looking in.

After a string of 10 straight pars, Phil Mickelson ran into trouble on the back nine and dropped out of the lead at the U.S. Open. Mickelson is now in a tie for fourth place with Billy Horschel, Steve Stricker and Justin Rose now tied for the lead.

The trouble for Mickelson began at No. 12 when his par putt lipped out leading to his second bogey of the day. The bogey was Mickelson’s third of the tournament to that point, all three of which were three-putt bogeys. The trouble continued on the next hole as Mickelson sailed a wedge on the 123-yard Par 3 over the green into a bunker. The ball plugged in the bunker, leaving him without much of a shot. Mickelson’s bunker shot skipped over the hole, but he was unable to make the 12-foot par putt, dropping him to even-par for the tournament.

Bubba Watson may be a bomber, but apparently, he’s not the speediest of golfers. He may also become the poster child for the USGA’s new pace-of-play campaign, as he and his big-hitting buddies Dustin Johnson and Nicolas Colsaerts bore the brunt of the “While We’re Young” initiative the organizers of the U.S. Open debuted on Wednesday.

Officials alerted Watson, party of three, that they were on the clock as they dawdled along the fairways of Merion Golf Club in their second round on Friday. Seems veteran European Tour rules cop John Paramor took the slow-play plan -- and Annika Sorenstam’s suggestion -- seriously and attempted to prod the slowpokes along.

Despite not taking advantageous of a couple prime birdie opportunities, Phil Mickelson continues to lead the 2013 U.S. Open. Mickelson has carded 10 straight pars after an opening bogey and continues to lead by one stroke at 2-under.

While he’s still one of only three players under par, Mickelson missed golden opportunities to increase his lead. Mickelson’s been locked in with his irons, hitting a number of excellent approach shots. He nearly holed his approach shot on No. 8, yelling “oh, come on baby. Come on” as he watched the ball spin back and just miss going in. Mickelson, however, lipped out the short birdie putt and was forced to settle for a disappointing par. He hit another excellent approach into No. 9, but once again missed the birdie putt.

Merion’s East Course is the big winner on Friday at the 2013 U.S. Open, and as such, the cut line continues to inch deep into the black figures. As the second wave makes its way through the second round, the projected cut is currently 8-over. Just hours earlier, it was 4-over, but a Friday Merion massacre has the short layout, which was projected to play much easier than your standard U.S. Open, standing up to and battering the modern player and his equipment. The top 60 and ties will all get through, with the USGA not employing the 10-shot rule as it carves down one of the largest fields of the season (156 players).

With approximately half the field finished, there have already been 12 rounds in the 80s and only one round under par -- Billy Horschel’s 67, which is looking more miraculous by the minute. There have been only four rounds of even-par 70, meaning some 70-plus golfers finished their round over par.

Phil Mickelson hasn’t been as sharp on Friday as he was on Thursday, but he’s managed to mitigate trouble and still holds the lead at 2-under.

Mickelson began the day at 3-under but dropped a shot with a three-putt bogey at No. 1. He’s found trouble on a few more holes but recovered each time and is 1-over on the round through six holes. Despite the three-putt to open the round, Mickelson has putted well since, including a couple of par saves.

Carl Spackler is needed at Merion, right away.

Previously on the U.S. Open broadcast, the spawn of Chuck Rodent surreptitiously watching from Merion’s seven-inch rough:

With tough pin locations and a drying golf course, the second round of the U.S. Open is proving to be an even more difficult task than it was in the first round. Under-par scores are almost non-existent as just three players remain in the red.

Phil Mickelson began the second round with the lead but, just like Thursday, Mickelson bogeyed his opening hole on Friday. Mickelson hit the first green in regulation, but his ensuing putt came up well short. After missing his par putt, Mickelson ended up three-putting his way to an opening bogey.

Merion Golf Club, that sub-7000 yard obsolete layout that was totally going to get carved up by today’s pros and technology, is the story on Friday. To wit:

There are only two players under par, and they’re only one hole into the second round.

Tiger Woods went from the edge of the cut line to charging up the leaderboard on Day 2 of the 2013 U.S. Open. At the end of his round, however, Woods finished Friday exactly where he started, shooting an even-par 70, putting him 3-over for the tournament. The fan-favorite is currently six strokes off of the lead with roughly half the field still on the course.

Woods started his round off well with a birdie and two pars on his first three holes. He didn’t stay in the red long, though, as a bogey on Hole 14 dropped him back to even on the day. Woods continued to have issues on the green early on Friday,too, missing a number of birdie opportunities. Woods made the turn at 1-over on the round after a bogey on the difficult 18th, putting him at 4-over for the tournament.

Phil Mickelson left Merion Golf Club Thursday as the story of the day. He’ll return to his quest for his first U.S. Open title still in the lead.

Mickelson, whose early clubhouse lead has held up throughout the morning wave, may be the only golfer under par when he starts his second round at 3:41 p.m. ET. Luke Donald took a one-shot lead, at 4-under, when he left the course Thursday, but a boatload of bogeys, including four straight on his second nine, had the former world No. 1 at 1-over through 16.

There’s been much ado about Merion’s over-romanticized wicker baskets (as opposed to flags) swatting away golf balls fired at the cup. As a work around that nuisance, Scott Langley perfectly ran his lengthy approach shot right up the green and directly into the center of the ...

After being on the edge of the cut line earlier in the day, Tiger Woods is making a move up the leaderboard at the 2013 U.S. Open. Woods has birdied two of his last three holes and is now 2-over, five strokes off the lead.

Woods, who started the second round on the Merion course’s back side, made the turn at 4-over, but found more success on the front nine -- especially on the par-5s. He hasn’t had much success on the green thus far, but he helped to take putting out of the equation with a pair of excellent approach shots.

With wind picking up and Merion Golf Club drying out, the conditions for the second round of the U.S. Open are proving to be difficult. Tiger Woods is one of the players having a hard time finding birdies on Friday as he’s 1-over for the round and dangerously close to the cut line.

Woods birdied his third hole of the second round, but bogeyed two of his next five holes to drop to 4-over overall. With the projected cut line at 4-over, Woods may need to pick up a shot or two on the front nine to avoid missing the cut. He came close to picking up a shot on No. 1, but his birdie putt was just off.

Judging the wind direction, or enacting some odd homage to the signature star of the NBA Finals?

Tiger Woods is back on the course for his second round of the 2013 U.S. Open and thus far he’s been unable to make up any ground on the leaders.

Woods notched a birdie on his third hole of the second round to move to 2-over overall, but gave it back with a bogey on the next hole. Woods has hit the ball well off the tee and he’s had a number of birdie opportunities early, he just hasn’t been able to roll enough in. Putting has been an issue for Woods thus far, as Emily Kay detailed.

Tiger Woods has not exactly burned up the Merion Golf Club track in the start of his quest for a 15th major championship (11 of 16 fairways and 14 of 20 greens in regulation in round one). With all the talk about his achin’ wrist/elbow, and travails out of the thick, juicy rough, however, it’s the short stick in the bag of the world No. 1 that has him muttering to himself at the U.S. Open.

Exhibit A: Woods hit a nasty tee shot on the par-4 12th at the start of his second round on Friday that put him deep into the tall grass. His approach shot (which elicited the first wince of his round as he wrapped his left arm behind him) was stout, leaving a makeable birdie putt to get to 2-under for the tourney.

Some fan is going to go home with a golf ball after Geoff Ogilvy pulled a Lee Westwood.

• Can Tiger win his 15th major with one arm?

The first round is officially in the books at Merion, and most of the morning wave for the second round is now out on the course as the 2013 U.S. Open batters the field of 156. Only six players are under par early in the second round, with the soggy East Course drying out and firming up for the usual, or even tougher-than-usual, U.S. Open conditions.

Tiger Woods continued his struggle early on Friday morning, finishing his final eight holes of the first round at 1-over to card a 3-over 70. He had little more than an hour to regroup and rest an ailing elbow before heading back out for the second round. Woods and his playing partners, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott, were scheduled to start on Merion’s difficult back nine for the second round. The five finishing holes crushed the superstar trio earlier in the day, so the draw of playing that stretch consecutively was a bit of a bad break.

Not sure whether the correct basketball analogy for Justin Hicks’ eagle on the 8th hole is a dunk or a three-pointer, but whatever it is, golfers should do this more often:

The hand raise was nice, but a goose-neck gesture or even some three goggles would have been more appropriate.

Tiger Woods had a rough opening round in his quest to chalk up his 15th major championship, and the pun was intentional.

Woods, who Thursday night denied he had injured his left wrist during an abbreviated, rain-delayed start to the U.S. Open, found himself in the thick, wet grasses from the get-go, when he put his tee shot off No. 1 well right of the fairway. His first of several winces and wrist shakes came on his second shot out of the deep stuff but there was none of it when he returned to the course early Friday with compadres Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott to complete the initial 18.