Henley plays some good golf after a bogey start, but the end of the round, not so much, but still in good shape at the U.S. Open
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Updated: 8:25 p.m.
Once again, Russell Henley opened a tournament with a bogey.
On No. 10 at Pinehurst, his first shot went 294 yards to a native area. His second shot? Liked it, and stayed. Shot No. 3 plopped into a bunker.
Still, he almost managed par.
He sloughed it off for awhile and then staggered to a bogey-heavy finish, yet finishing at par was nothing to sneeze at at the U.S. Open.
Henley headed to the clubhouse tied for 15th after bogeying four of his final five holes, and ended the day in a logjam tied for 16th.
Henley finished a little after 1 p.m., after teeing off a at 7:40 a.m.. By then, half of the 156-player field had at least 13 or so holes under its belt.
Only 22 of those players were even or better. By the end of the day, that number grew only to 33.
Henley started on No. 10, and righted things quickly, with a birdie on 11 and 13.
Henley slipped into a tie for first, but only for a minute or two, Matt Pavon jumping to 5-under through 10 with his second eagle of the day.
Through 13, Henley – about two holes ahead of Pavon – was tied for second with Ludvig Aberg, Brooks Koepka dropping form the lead to a tie for fourth.
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods was preparing to join Phil Mickelson in a short weekend. Mickelson was in an 8-over hole through 12 en route to a 9-over 79, which had him tied for last early in the afternoon.
Woods was at 3 over at the same point through 14, finishing with a 4-over 74 and tying for 60th after lunch with the second batch of players teeing off.
They only dropped, Mickelson to tie for 146th and Woods to a tie for 87thth.
The cut line is the top 60 players and ties.
After that opening bogey and correction, Henley then stayed tied for second for awhile.
On the 582-yard No. 5 (14), his second shot found the bunker just right of the green, leaving him 57 feet from the pin. But then he sailed over the green into sand on the other side, but responded with a nice escape to set up an 8-footer for par on the second of two par 5s.
But his putt missed left, and his second bogey dropped him into a three-way tie for fourth, two back of Pavon.
His third bogey was a bit of a surprise, coming a hole later when Henley missed a 9-footer on par 3 No. 6 to drop into a tie for seventh, three back of three up top.
A 13-footer for birdie on 7 (16) just trickled in to get a shot back and return to 2 under, only to drive into the native area on 8 (17).
That was another stumble, going into the bunker and then three-putting, missing a 28-foot par putt by less than 20 inches.
Meanwhile, groupmate Patrick Cantlay slipped into the lead at 5 under as Henley was knotted up with eight others in a tie for fifth as he entered the final hole.
He found sand on his final tee shot, and came up a little short on the par 3, needing a 13-footer. But he was an inch left for another bogey, his fourth in the final five holes.
Henley was solid off the tee, getting into bunkers or native areas on 10, 13, 8, and 9, three of those coming on the back nine.
Cantlay took a 2-shot lead and 5-under round to the clubhouse, and held it. Afternoon players Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau jumped into contention, McIroy tying Cantlay for the lead at 5 under, DeChambeau two back with Pavon.
Defending champ Wyndham Clark will need a big Friday to make the cut, sitting tied for 65th at 3 over. Eight players in the FedEx top 50 are 5 over or worse.
Henley, Cantlay, and Matt Kuchar tee off at 1:25 p.m. on Friday.