Casey in hunt after rollercoaster round
Paul roars back after he cards an EIGHT
IF EVER a round could be said to sum up a rollercoaster career it was surely the extraordinary 18 holes Paul Casey compiled on the second day of what is turning into a beguiling and totally unpredictable 117th US Open.
The Englishman looked dead and buried after following his brilliant first-round 66 with a dreaded snowman — a triple bogey eight — at his fifth hole, the 14th on the card. But the snowman’s architect did not melt. Perhaps drawing on the hard times when he fell from third in the world in 2008 all the way to 133rd in 2012, the 39-year-old summoned an astonishing riposte with five birdies in a row at one point.
From one shot off the lead at the start to outside the top 20 and seemingly in freefall, he finished right where he needs to be going into the weekend. That is Casey’s career in a nutshell.
‘It was a certainly an up and down round and it’s not often you finish happy when you’ve got an eight on your card,’ he said. ‘To claw it all back and actually pick up a shot by the finish feels great.’
When eventually added up all the varying numbers, the Surrey man discovered he had shot 71 to establish the clubhouse lead on seven under, two ahead of a trio of unlikely lads who are all aged 23 or younger.
There’s little-known American Xander Schauffele, who became the first man in the event’s long history to start his US Open career with a bogeyfree 66 or better. The 23-yearold Californian, ranked 352nd in the world, kept the real world at bay in the second round as well with a 73. Alongside him is the wonderfully named American amateur Cameron Champ, who turned 22 on Thursday, and Si Woo Kim, the 21-year-old Korean who became the youngest winner of the Players Championship last month. First-round leader Rickie Fowler, who opened with a 65, was among the later starters.
Among those within touching distance of Casey is Sergio Garcia, who finally opened his majors account at the 74th attempt at the Masters and is in position to win another after adding a 71 to his opening score of 70. At three under, he is just four behind.
Casey was rightly ‘ecstatic’ on Thursday night after his six under par round and started in similar vein yesterday with a birdie at the 11th. But his first bogey of the event at the 12th heralded a horrific run of five dropped shots in the space of four holes. Much of the damage was done at the hideous, tricked-up 14th, where he went through the back of the green in three strokes and found himself with no shot. Even those Popeye-like forearms could not extract the ball from the vicious
rough at the first attempt. Forced to play away from the hole with his next effort owing to the sharp fall-off at the front of the green behind the flag, he needed to hole a four-foot putt in the end simply to drop ‘only’ three shots.
‘I was just trying to take my medicine but even that is not easy on this course,’ he wryly reflected. When another stroke was spilled following a missed fairway at the 15th, things were looking bleak indeed.
The one thing in his favour was that the three scoring holes — the 18th, first and second — still lay ahead, if he could clear his senses. He did that with a bonus birdie at the 17th, and followed it with a series of sumptuous blows that showcased all his talents.
Casey has attracted a lot of heat for the fact he plays virtually all his golf in America these days but the other side of that argument is he has rebuilt his career so successfully he now stands 14th in the world. Although he should have won a lot more — his only US victory remains his success in the 2009 Houston Open — he now has the chance to counter that criticism as well.
Here in America’s dairy heartland, Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston is also enjoying himself, following a quiet start to the year. The 28-year-old Londoner (left) had three eagles to make it through qualifying at Walton Heath and opened up well on Thursday with a 69. Things did not go quite to plan with a second-round 73, thanks largely to a balky putter, but he is only five behind Casey and inside the top 25.
‘It was a decent day, I made a couple of mistakes and duly got punished,’ he said. ‘ But I’m looking forward to the last two days. You want to be in these positions and measure yourself against the best.’
Another who came through qualifying is fellow Englishman Eddie Pepperell, who is rebuilding his career after losing his European tour card last season. The 26-year- old from Oxford shot rounds of 72, 71. Justin Rose came here with strikingly different hopes but, after rounds of 72 and 74, faced an anxious wait simply to see if he made the cut.
Danny Willett never made it to the first tee, citing a back injury for his withdrawal before his second round. The Yorkshireman shot 81 on Thursday and faces a battle to emerge from his prolonged slump this summer.