Like death and taxes, the halfway cut at a major championship is a certainty. There is no avoiding its blade, and stories abound about who coulda and shoulda, who didn’t, and who did. Layered on top of the close calls are the runaways, the golfers who made or missed by a mile. Los Angeles Country Club’s North course welcomed 65 golfers to the weekend, and sent the remaining 91 home.

The cut fell at two-over par 142, one shot lower than the 143 of 2022, at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. 17 competitors made the cut on the number, including three of the four surviving amateurs. Among that group were three former major winners. Missing by one shot were 14 more golfers, including Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson. France’s Paul Barjon gave back nine shots overnight (67 to 76) to miss by one, while Sam Stevens (75 to 67) and Sahith Theegala (74 to 66) improved the most, to sneak inside the cut and reserve a seat at Saturday’s table.

A quintet of elements stood out most on day two at LA North, and it’s time to share that quantum with you.

Finish with a ?@XSchauffele will head into the weekend two shots off the lead. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/GGSbktkHPp

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 17, 2023

1. A US Open test reveals itself by the numbers

As a savvy tournament committee knows, you don’t display all your attributes on day one. Los Angeles North may have seemed like an unworthy admission to the US Open canon of courses after Thursday’s low numbers. Upon completion of play on Friday, those complaints and heckles went away with the cut line. The committee moved the tee blocks as far back as possible, pushing the real yardage to the scorecard figures. Combined with a morning Marine layer and some all-day breezes, the enhanced yardage added club numbers to approach shots, and changed strategy from the tee deck. The results were statistically telling: a 71.38 average score on Thursday climbed to 72.22 on Friday.

37 players signed a scorecard under the par of 70 on day one. Only 10 of those golfers followed up with another round in the 60s. We’ll look at those 10 golfers as we continue our trek, and determine which has the greatest chance of hoisting Victoria, aka the trophy without a name, on Sunday. The winged goddess of victory stands atop the silver chalice, so that’s as good a name as any.

With no more yardage left to add, anticipate a movement toward psychological warfare on the putting surfaces. Hole locations will move toward fingers and corners of greens, and slide toward transitional shelves on the frog hair.

High-quality stuff from Cameron Smith. ? #USOpen pic.twitter.com/2BaVMvrELs

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 16, 2023

2. Members of an exclusive club

Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark will shake hands on Saturday afternoon. Gone are the split tees of 1 and 10, as well as the threesomes. Their 3:40 tee time west coast tee time is the final one of the day, and will finish up well past 11 on the other coast. Their tribute comes later; there are eight other golfers who joined them in the Double 60s club, and we shall look at that octet herein.

Rory Mcilroy (65-67), Harris English (67-66), Min Woo Lee (69-65), Sam Bennett (67-68), Scottie Scheffler (67-68), Cameron Smith (69-67), Tony Finau (68-69) and Justin Suh (69-69) are the other eight players in possession of under-par scorecards from both days of competition. They are joined by others in the top eighteen, but their achievements merit some attention. History suggests that McIlroy should be watched closely, but history also suggests that a nine-year gap in major-championship victories is hard to overcome. Scheffler and Smith each won a major in 2022, and each would like to establish a yearly tradition of at least one major title on the resume.

The other five golfers are complete unknowns in the major arena, yet each adds a tantalizing spice that screams, in the words of Donkey, pick me, pick me! Our thinking is that the 2023 champion is likely to come from this group of 10 golfers, as a weekend comeback is a difficult thing at a US Open.

Making a big move ? the board. @Minwoo27Lee is -4 at LACC. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/QIAJU0URwU

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 16, 2023

3. The amateurs

We saw the aforementioned Sam Bennett make quite a statement (16th-place tie) as an amateur at The Masters in April. He is now a professional, but a quartet of his former compatriots in the non-professional company stood tall through 36 holes at the North course. Leading the way is Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent, the newly-minted world number one among the amateurs, and the owner of what may be the world’s quickest hip rotation through the ball. Anchor Down followed an opening 69 with 71, to sit in a tie for 30th at even par. Joining Sargent on the weekend are Ben Carr and Maxwell Moldovan of the USA, and Aldrich Potgieter of South Africa. That triumvirate sneaked across the cut line on the number, at the two-over par figure of 142. The presence of Bobby Jones returns each year at the majors, and the four-time champion of this event, as an amateur, suggests that we pay attention to his golf descendants.

Of the foursome, Sargent should perform the best over the final 36 holes. He is among the collegiate elite who lack only seasoning on their way to join the list of professional winners. As for the others, the USGA medals that will come their way on Sunday are prize enough.

Gordon Sargent is making the most of his major start. ?@VandyMGolf #USOpen pic.twitter.com/h9bzk08rnT

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 16, 2023

4. Wyndham Clark caught our attention

The Colorado native has the sort of name that suggests he has been around the tours for decades. Maybe that’s just us. Clark played four years at Oklahoma State, then transferred to Oregon for his final collegiate season. He moved from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour in 2018, and has remained a fixture. In April, Clark won his first tour title at Quail Hollow in Charlotte. On Thursday, Clark joined the birdie fest with a round of 64. He overcame three bogeys that day, with eight mighty birdies. On Friday, a more patient Clark counted half that many birdies on his card, but he sliced two bogeys off his round’s tally. Alongside Clark as a great unknown, is how difficult Los Angeles North will play over the next 48 hours.

Clark’s driving distance average dropped nearly 40 yards from round one to round two. Did he play conservatively off the tee on Friday? If so, that’s a good thing. Clark hit nearly 70% of fairways and greens both days, which placed him right around 50th spot in the field. What he did best, was make putts. His putting average of 1.25 putts per green is best in the field. When it comes to rolling the ball, he has no equal this week. That statistic needs to continue, for Clark to find success on Saturday, and glory on Sunday.

Making birdie the hard way! @Wyndham_Clark ties the lead at -8. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/9KeWnh5c8t

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 16, 2023

5. Rickie Fowler has his chance

The mid 2010s were the period when we thought that we would see the California native surpass his renown as Dick Fowler, Private Eye in commercials, and seize a major title. He came close (top-five finishes in all four 2014 majors) but never crossed the finish line. Would he be the most popular major champion in quite some time? Absolutely. Fowler extracted 18 birdies from George Thomas’ masterpiece over the first two days. If he does the same over the weekend, he will win. Fowler’s driving has always been his Achilles’ Heel; if he keeps the ball in the fairway, off the tee, he will do just fine. Remember that firm greens also mean firm fairways, so drive won’t be necessary off the majority of tees. Fowler has been the world’s most confident putter since his amateur days. If the flat stick cooperates, his chance at finally claiming a major trophy increases.

Another record-setting day for @RickieFowler!

His Friday 68 is the @Lexus Top Performance of the Day. #LexusGolf pic.twitter.com/xO4X30e64C

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 17, 2023