Sam Burns sets the target at Oakmont with a 65 in the second round at the US Open

OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Sam Burns is a birdie machine at Oakmont, a label not many expected at this U.S. Open. By avoiding another sloppy finish, Burns posted a 5-under 65 on Friday and set the target for the late starters — and let Scottie Scheffler know the mountain he faced.

Burns has made 11 birdies through two rounds, joining Viktor Hovland for most sup-par holes through 36 holes in the three U.S. Opens at Oakmont since it switched to a par 70 in 2007.

Burns needed them to make up for Thursday’s rough ending, when he was one shot out of the lead until playing his final four holes in 5-over par.

This was different. He capped off a smooth round — just one bogey — by holing a par from just outside 20 feet to reach 3-under 137.

J.J. Spaun, the 18-hole leader after a 4-under 66, was among those playing in the afternoon in muggy conditions that threatened to bring in storms.

“I played really well yesterday other than the finishing holes. So I think today was just kind of getting mentally ready to come out and try to put a good round together,” Burns said.

“It was unfortunate, but there was too much good to focus on the little bit of bad.”

Hovland twice holed 50-foot shots from off the green — a putter from the collar on No. 10 when he started his round, and chipping in for eagle on the reachable par-4 17th. He also chopped up the reachable par-4 second hole for a double bogey and wound up with a 68.

He was at 1-under 139. Burns and Hovland were the only two players from the morning wave to finish 36 holes under par.

Burns is among the top putters on the PGA Tour, though he did miss a 5-foot putt to win a playoff in the Canadian Open last week and three-putted the fourth playoff hole to lose. This was more about staying in position and eliminating as much stress as possible on a course that can be relentless.

All six of his birdies were inside 10 feet. His best putt might been an eagle attempt from over 100 feet on the par-5 fourth that he lagged to tap-in range. But the finish was big. He tugged his drive to the left on the tough par-4 ninth into a ditch, took a penalty drop, hit safely on the green and made it for par.

The stress shifted to the players trying to hang on in the afternoon. Only 11 players were under par after the opening round, a number that was sure to shrink on Friday.

Scheffler was among those who had little room left for mistakes. He opened with a birdie on No. 10, but then didn’t find another fairway until he came up just short of the green on the 17th, 50 feet away for eagle. Four putts later, he had a bogey.

It was a grind all way, battling his swing and the rough, making a number of key par putts that kept the round from getting worse. He missed another fairway on the ninth hole that led to bogey and a 71. Scheffler was at 4-over 144, seven behind Burns among those who finished.

“Mentally, this was as tough as I’ve battled for the whole day. There was a lot of stuff going on out there that was not going in my favor necessarily,” Scheffler said.

“Overall, definitely not out of the tournament. Today was, I think with the way I was hitting it, easily a day I could have been going home. And battled pretty hard to stay in there,” he said. “I’m 4 over. We’ll see what the lead is after today, but around this golf course I don’t think by any means I’m out of the tournament.”

Burns had the low round for the week, a score that was posted three times when Oakmont last hosted the U.S. Open in 2016. There are chances out there — Victor Perez of France made a hole-in-one on the sixth hole in a roller-coaster round of 70 — but punishment is everywhere.

Jordan Spieth started at even par, went out in 40 and had to hang on to make sure he was around for the weekend. Brooks Koepka, two out of the lead after the first round, made only six pars in his round of 74.

Jon Rahm went from red numbers to red in the face with a 75, leaving him in the same spot as Scheffler. Rahm, who took 35 putts, was asked if his score could illustrate how tough Oakmont was playing.

“Honestly, too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective,” he said. “Very frustrated. Very few rounds of golf I played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn’t sniff the hole. So it’s frustrating.”

That’s not just Oakmont. That’s most U.S. Opens. In that respect, Hovland was a curious contender. He has been all over the place with his swing, his expectations, his confidence. He won during the Florida swing and is making progress. Perhaps no expectations helped him.

“For some reason I’ve just been in a really nice mental state this week,” Hovland said. “Both my rounds have been very up and down. I feel like a couple times if it would have happened at another tournament, for example, I could have potentially lost my mind there a little bit. But I felt like I kept things together very well.”

He has 10 birdies and an eagle. He also has nine bogeys and a double bogey. But he’s under par at Oakmont going into the weekend, never a bad place to be.

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