The Latest: Threesomes off 2 tees in US Open bid to catch up

The Latest: Threesomes off 2 tees in US Open bid to catch up

Published Jun. 18, 2016 4:44 p.m. ET

OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) The latest from the U.S. Open golf championship (all times local):

3:25 p.m.

In a bid to get back on schedule, golfers began the third round playing as threesomes off both the first and 10th tees.

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A rain-suspended first round meant golfers in each half of the 156-man field had to play 36 holes either Friday or Saturday. The second round and the cut were complete by late afternoon.

But even with threesomes using both tees at the start of the third round, the U.S. Golf Association's plan for a traditional final round - golfers going off in pairs and all off the first tee - could prove a stretch.

Leader Dustin Johnson, who's at 4 under - a shot better than little-known U.S. Open rookie Andrew Landry - is set to tee off at 5:10 p.m. Sunset is at 8:53 p.m.

The most prominent names to miss the cut were Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy.

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2:45 p.m.

The second round of the U.S. Open finally ends, and so do the chances of some big players.

Rory McIlroy botched his final hole to miss the cut, and Phil Mickelson didn't play well enough to advance. Oakmont also took its toll on a number of former champions, including Justin Rose, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

Rickie Fowler will not play the final two rounds, either, after finishing 11-over-par for his first two rounds. The cut was 6-over 146.

McIlroy's departure was probably the most surprising. The 2011 Open champion, who owns four major titles, seemed to be on his way to making it to the last two rounds after making birdies on four of his first seven holes Saturday.

But it all fell apart with a fat 40 on his back nine that included a double bogey on his last hole that left him a stroke off the cut line. McIlroy left a shot in a fairway bunker on his final hole, and the double bogey moved him to 8 over for the tournament.

Mickelson, meanwhile, had two holes to play Saturday to finish his second round and needed to make at least one birdie. He didn't, and was out of the only major championship he has never won.

Fowler may have had the most disappointing performance among the top players, shooting 76-75 and not coming close to making the cut.

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1:45 p.m.

Gregory Bourdy's lead at the U.S. Open melted away with a double-bogey to close his second round.

The Frenchman, a four-time winner on the European Tour, got as low as 5 under with back-to-back birdies on his inward nine. But a bogey at No. 16 and a double-bogey at 18 knocked him back to 2 under and a tie for third heading into the third round.

But a bogey at No. 16 and a double-bogey at 18 - thanks to a flubbed greenside chip - knocked him back to 2 under and a four-way tie for third heading into the third round. Leader Dustin Johnson, at 4 under, has yet to tee off and unheralded Andrew Landry is a stroke back.

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12:35 p.m.

Andrew Landry's roller-coaster ride at the U.S. Open is cresting at the top of the hill again.

The little-known PGA Tour and U.S. Open rookie - who began the week at No. 624 in the world rankings - dazzled with an opening round of 66. But he dropped four shots on the front nine as he began the second round, then played steadily starting the back nine and closed with a flurry. Two birdies at the final two holes left him at 3 under and within a shot of co-leaders Gregory Bourdy and Dustin Johnson.

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11:55 a.m.

Frenchman Gregory Bourdy grabbed the U.S. Open lead at 5 under late in his second round with a run of three birdies in four holes.

He's a stroke better than Dustin Johnson, who completed his second round a day earlier. Johnson played 36 holes Friday as the U.S. Golf Association seeks to catch up after a rain-suspended first round.

The 34-year-old Bourdy came through a qualifying tournament in England. He's won four times on the European Tour, but failed to make the cut in his only previous U.S. Open, at the Olympic Club in 2012.

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11:15 a.m.

Phil Mickelson's quest for that elusive U.S. Open championship may have to wait another year.

The five-time major winner is at 7 over through two rounds at Oakmont and in danger of missing the cut at the Open for the first time since 2007, which is also the last time the national championship visited the course. With dozens of players still on the course finishing up their rounds late Saturday morning, the projected cut is expected to be around 6 over.

Mickelson finished up a 3-over 73 on Saturday morning, a round that included a gamble on the par-4 17th when he pulled a driver out of the bag - something he said during the run-up to the tournament that he wouldn't attempt. He ended up hitting his tee shot into a front left bunker and settling for par.

Mickelson isn't the only familiar name in trouble. Former Open champions Justin Rose and Ernie Els are likely heading home early. Henrik Stenson, who shot a 1-under 69 in the first round, beat all of them out the door. The world's seventh-ranked player withdrew Saturday morning for unspecified reasons with two holes left in his round with his score at 9 over for the tournament and 10 over through 16 holes.

Dustin Johnson remains in first with a 36-hole total of 4-under 136 as the second round draws to a close.

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10:15 a.m.

Lee Westwood said jokingly this week that at 43, he remains ''a finely tuned athlete.''

The Englishman is in pretty good shape at the U.S. Open. A 25-time winner as a professional but 0-fer at the majors, Westwood surged to a tie for the lead during the second round at Oakmont on Saturday morning.

Westwood opened the tournament with a 3-under 67 and after taking most of Friday off, opened play Saturday with a beautiful approach on the par-4 1st. He rolled in the ensuing 5-footer for birdie tie Dustin Johnson at 4 under moved in front with another birdie at the par-5 5th before falling back to 4 under with a bogey at the par-3 6th.

Westwood has a series of near misses in majors and has three top-five finishes at the U.S. Open, including a tie for third in 2011. He was second at the Masters in April, shooting 3-under 69 in the final round, a performance he says gave him a major boost.

Elsewhere on the course, Romain Wattel of France blasted out of the bunker for eagle on the par-4 17th and Japan's Yusaku Miyazato holed out from the fairway on the difficult par-4, 472-yard 18th.

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9:15 a.m.

Andrew Landry's storybook run at the top of the U.S. Open leaderboard is over.

Landry, who arrived at Oakmont ranked 624th in the world, stunned the 156-player field by shooting a 4-under 66 during a weather-delayed first round that took him nearly 24 hours to complete. Landry needed only one putt on Friday to finish off the best-ever opening round in a major at Oakmont and his name stayed on top the rest of the day.

On Saturday morning, Landry made par on the first five holes but consecutive bogeys at the par-3 6th and par-4 7th dropped him out of the lead held by Dustin Johnson and Lee Westwood. Things only got worse for Landry at the 281-yard par-3 8th. His tee shot went in a greenside bunker and his recovery sailed over the green and into the rough. Two putts left him with a double-bogey and at even-par for the tournament.

Westwood is still searching for his first victory in a major. He dropped a 5-footer for birdie on the opening hole to pull into a tie with Johnson, who has the morning off after grinding through 36 holes on Friday.

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8:15 a.m.

Jim Furyk is back in the mix at the U.S. Open. The 2003 champion and two-time runner up finished off a 2-under 68 early Saturday morning and 1 under for the tournament to pull within three shots of leaders Dustin Johnson and Andrew Landry.

The 46-year-old Furyk underwent wrist surgery in February and arrived at Oakmont still searching for his form since his return at the Wells Fargo Championship in May, making the cut twice in his first four events. Paired with former champions Ernie Els and Angel Cabrera, Furyk avoided major trouble at the venerable course in the western Pennsylvania hills.

Furyk posted five birdies against three bogeys in his second round and should be well positioned as the tournament scrambles to get back on schedule following heavy rains on Thursday that created a logjam.

Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, shot a 31 over his final nine holes of the second round on his way to posting a 5-under 65. That's the best of the tournament so far. Eight birdies and three bogeys left Oosthuizen at even par.

Jason Day, the world's top-ranked golfer, completed a 1-under 69 and is at 5 over through two rounds.

Landry, whose 4-under 66 put him in the lead after the soggy first round, remained tied with Johnson atop the leaderboard early in his second round at rapidly drying out Oakmont.

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