U.S. Open week is down to two days. With three days of practice and two qualifying days in the rearview mirror, the cut has decided the 68 players whose stay has been extended by 48 hours. There will be a low amateur, as Justin Hastings of the Cayman Islands posted 146 to advance to the final 36 holes. Hastings is the first winner of the Latin American Amateur Championship to advance to the full 72 holes. There will be five former winners in Pittsburgh for the weekend. Unfortunately, the defending champion will not be one of them.

Six golfers posted rounds better than par on Friday. Another 15 or so signed for cards at least 10 shots higher than the 70 that Old Man Par claims as his street address. That old saw about We’re not trying to embarrass the world’s best; we’re trying to identify them is open to interpretation. The U.S. Open prides itself on existing as a long march, a grind, a marathon. From its earlier days, when the tournament ended with Saturday’s 36-hole endurance test, the U.S. Open has positioned itself as a test of fitness. The last of those endurance affairs took place in 1964, when winner Ken Venturi nearly died from exhaustion, in the heat at Congressional. In the intervening 60 years, fitness and nutrition advancements have made golfers stronger in all things physical, but the psychological and spiritual tests remain at peak.

At 8:15 pm, the weather whistle blew, stranding 13 golfers on the course. Among them are Thriston Lawrence (T6) and Chris Gotterup (T36), both assured of surviving the cutman’s axe. Not as certain is Philip Barbaree, Jr. He sits at +6 on the 35th green, with a 28-feet putt for par. Bogey puts him right on the line. In other words, one man will have a more sleepless night than any other, this Friday evening.

Ninety years ago, Sam Parks, Jr., won his only PGA Tour event at Oakmont at the year’s Open championship. The other eight Oakmont Open winners are all household names: Armour, Nicklaus, Hogan, Miller, Els, Johnson, Nelson, Cabrera. Each won at least one other major event. Parks remains the outlier, a one-hit wonder at the most diabolical Open venue. Will 2025 recognize another household name, or will another unicorn wear a gold medal on Sunday evening? You’ll have to wait until the fifth of five things that we learned on Friday at the 2025 US Open.

1. How to explain Hovland?

By his own admission, Viktor Hovland was adrift in the world of golf. The heavy metal-loving Norwegian is mellow enough, away from the course, to always find balance in life. In his chosen profession, where he hopes to find greatness, the game has been cruel. And yet, Hovland has worked his way out of the malaise that stalked him over the past year. He played a dramatic second round at Oakmont. Hovland began with birdies at two of his first three holes. He holed for eagle at the short 17th, to reach minus-four on the day, then gave one shot immediately back at the 18th. Birdie at one brought him back to four-deep, and minus-three for the week.

Hovland was not yet finished with the drama. Double at his 11th, followed by a pair of birdies, followed by another pair of bogeys, added up to just eight pars on the day, and a score of 68. Hovland will tee off with Adam Scott in Saturday’s penultimate pairing. As at Oak Hill in the 2023 PGA Championship, he will have the opportunity to add a major title to his young resume.

2. Some like it Scott

Adam Scott on the golf course is simply unfair. He is tall, good looking, bears an inspiring, swing, wears green well at least once a year, and has had either a terrific or an underwhelming career, depending on which person you ask. On Friday, the Aussie turned in a round opposite Hovland’s, yet finds himself in the thick of things, at even par.

Scott had a dozen pars, to go with three each of birdies and bogeys. He never once looked as if he might make a big number, but there were half a dozen occasions when bogey seemed imminent. At each of those stops, the Scott Express somehow found a way to coax a par putt into the hole. Over the first two days, Scott’s salvation was his driver. He’ll need it to sit up, roll over, and obey over the next two days, to have a chance at major glory.

3. Burns bursts forth on day the second

Sam Burns, of the Shreveport Burns, lowered the week’s best by one with a five-under 65 on day the second. Burns played the inward half first, and looked like a man possessed. He notched four birdies into his belt, turning in just 31 strokes. He lost his only stroke on the day to old man par at the first. A leaky drive found the right rough, and his second, although landing well shy of the putting surface, bounded through the green. Burns’ recovery was feeble, and he was forced to two-putt for bogey.

Undeterred, Burns made birdie at two of his next three holes, then parred his way to the clubhouse over the final, five-hole stretch. What was impressive was his bounce-back birdie at the second, his eleventh of the day. Unlike Hovland, who followed success with struggle, Burns reversed that sequence. On eighteen, Slammin’ Sammy found one of those grassy ditches, took a penalty drop, played to about forty feet, and dropped the all-world putt for what we’ve come to know as a US Open par. For the first time in his career, Burns will tee off in the final pairing of a major event. Welcome to the biggest of the big leagues, Burnsy!

4. Is it just me, or …

…has Oakmont found an elixir that brings forth an inexplicable number of hole-outs? It’s like Expecto Noputto has been cast from any number of wands along Pennsylvania’s turnpike. I’m not registering a complaint, office, simply taking note of something that we don’t see happen at Pinehurst, Winged Foot, Merion, Pebble, or any of the other Open rota courses.

We have eagle deuces on 1, 3, 14, 17, an albatross on 4, and an ace on 6. That’s 13 strokes under par for our ringer score, and we’re only halfway through the tournament. Add in the Hatton eagle on 12, and birdies on the remaining 11 holes, and the best-of-field tally is a remarkable 26 under par.

I’ll predict that, over the next two days, three more approach shots find the hole on par fours, and one more par-three tee ball finds the bottom of the cup. That will bring the ringer score to 40, a number that most likely intrigues no one but this writer.

5. How does it end?

In 2013, Justin Rose edged Phil Mickelson at Merion, to claim the US Open and deny the lefthander an elusive national championship. Rose was a decent guy, but everyone was pulling for a Mickelson win, as he had the name value at the time. A dozen years later, Rose has the gravitas and the generosity, while Mickelson’s luster has dulled. The same might be said, albeit not as antagonistically, about the last Oakmont Open winner, Dustin Johnson.

Who might Oakmont and the world like to see hoist this year’s championship trophy? Among the top ten, we have the aforementioned Hovland and Scott, who will spend five hours together on Saturday afternoon. Theirs are the well-known names in the top five. Brooks Koepka, twice an Open champion, sits in a tie for eighth. That’s where it starts to get interesting.

In a tie for 12th, tucked among the Adam Schenks and the Max Greysermanns, is Captain America, Keegan Bradley. What is the current USA side Ryder Cup captain wins the Open? Well, he has to be a playing captain, then. One stroke behind the American flag are Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler. Each has won two different majors, and neither owns a US Open. Chomping at the horse’s bit? You betcha.

The thing about Oakmont is, there’s no water. There won’t be any splash-outs to triple, as you might find at Oak Hill, or even Shinnecock Hills. Oakmont does have grassy ditches, piano keys and church pews, along with massive greens where 100-plus feet putts are found on the regular. It’s a place of a thousand tiny cuts, and a thousand more bruises.

If I tell you that Scheffler will post 68-68 to reach even par and win the title, he won’t. If I tell you that Burns will post another 65, carry a four-shot advantage into Sunday, and hold on for victory, he won’t, either. Oakmont is unpredictable in its predictability. The best that I can offer is, tune in for the next two days. You won’t know what hit you, and you won’t be disappointed.