Streelman slips off leaderboard in U.S. Open
SAN DIEGO -- Torrey Pines was far from impossible, but not too forgiving either Friday in the hours before Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott took their glamour group back out to the course.
D.J. Trahan and Davis Love shot 2-under 69 and Sergio Garcia 1-under 70 in the second round to prove that there were good scores to be had at the U.S. Open. But nobody made a serious move on leader Justin Hicks, who went into his afternoon tee time alone in the lead after shooting 3-under 68 in the first round.
Garcia was 4 over for the tournament while Trahan and Love were each 1 under. Love was in contention after missing the Masters, ending a streak of 70 straight majors, and getting to the U.S. Open through qualifying.
First-round co-leader Kevin Streelman dropped off the leaderboard early with a triple-bogey on the par-3 third hole. He shot 6-over 77 to head into the weekend at 3-over.
"Optimal scoring conditions, I felt," Streelman said. "There are certain places you can't miss the ball on some of these short sides and approach shots and par-3s. And I did that three or four times. You have to pay the price in the U.S. Open."
Rocco Mediate, Stuart Appleby and Eric Axley were all one shot behind Hicks heading into their afternoon rounds.
Others who played in the morning included Luke Donald, two-time champion Ernie Els and 2006 winner Geoff Ogilvy, all of whom got to 2-under for a time.
Els closed with two birdies to shoot 72 and finish at even. Ogilvy shot 73 to also finish at even, failing to make another birdie after he sank a 25-foot downhill putt on No. 5. And Donald made three bogeys on the back to shoot his second straight 71.
"The greens are usually a little more forgiving in the morning, the putts are smoother, and you can control your ball better," Donald said. "Other than that, it wasn't too different."
On Thursday, Torrey Pines allowed only 11 scores under par, and with about half the field done it looked like that number could dwindle for the second round. Pin positions were tougher and the greens had dried a bit. The kikuya rough was growing and moist and the wind was light but steady off the Pacific Ocean.
Those were the conditions awaiting Hicks, the Nationwide Tour journeyman who took the surprising first-round lead with his 68, as well as Woods, Mickelson and Scott, ranked 1, 2 and 3 in the world.
So much was expected from that group, but they didn't live up to the hype on Thursday. Woods opened with a double bogey and shot 72. Mickelson finished at 71 and Scott at 73.
"We're all going to make mistakes out here," Woods said.
Hicks, meanwhile, came in ranked 722 and Streelman 608. Their rise to the top after one day was an instructive example of the way the U.S. Open -- the toughest test in golf -- can often muddy the line between great and good over the span of a weekend.
Streelman got a good feel for how Torrey Pines could give, then take away. The co-leader with Hicks after the first round, he was still 3 under heading into the third hole Friday, when he hit his tee shot into a fried-egg lie in a bunker, flew the second shot over the green and down a slick hill, chipped up and then three-putted from 30 feet for a 6.
Another bad lie in a bunker led to a double-bogey on the par-4 15th.
"It was two terrible lies and two bunkers cost me a triple and a double," Streelman said. "If I could have salvaged bogeys out of those, I would have been right in the hunt. It's a learning process."