Johnson grabs four-shot lead
hand, what hole it is,” Johnson said.
Only six other players in the U.S. Open have led by as many as four shots after 36 holes. All but one went on to win.
Even so, there are plenty of reminders of how it can all go wrong — some of them from Johnson’s own experiences, most of them from the final few hours Friday afternoon in perfect weather from those trying to catch him.
Shinnecock can punish anyone in a New York minute.
“There’s a disaster on every single hole,” Ian Poulter said moments after he went through one.
Poulter was one shot out of the lead and in the middle of the fairway with two holes to go when one bad shot led to a few more that were just as bad — a bunker shot that sailed over the green, a chunked chip into the hay, a chop short of the green and a triple bogey on No. 8. He made bogey on his final hole for a 72.
“I felt stupid knifing the first one,” he said. “I felt even more stupid semichunking the next one, and I didn’t do much better on the next one, either. So maybe it makes a few people happy out there that, you know, we kind of mess up just as good as everyone else.”
Poulter didn’t lose sight of being in a tie for fourth, five shots out of the lead.
Hoffman was the only other player under par until he missed the 18th fairway and had to chop it down the fairway and make a 5-foot putt to escape with bogey.
Piercy had a 71 and will play in the final group with him Saturday. Piercy’s day was not without regrets, especially when he threeputted from 4 feet for bogey on the par-5 16th.
Defending champion Brooks Koepka made six birdies over his last 11 holes for a 66, matching Tommy Fleetwood for the low round of the tournament. They were at 141, along with Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose, each with a 70, and Poulter.
Koepka and Johnson are close friends, so he should know as well as anyone what will make it hard to catch him.
“This golf course,” Koepka said. “There’s not many birdies. There’s a disaster around every corner. I mean, all it takes is one shot in the fescue, and you could be in there for a while. But you need a good round tomorrow just to give yourself a chance. Anything within three shots of the lead on the back Sunday, anythingcan happen.”
Rose also was under par until closing with successive bogeys. With 36 holes to play, he wasn’t overly concerned about tracking down the No. 1 player in the world.
“You just saw what happened to Ian Poulter five minutes ago. That could happen to DJ,” Rose said. “I’m not saying it’s going to, but it could. That’s the nature of the U.S. Open. So hang around is often the best form of attack.”
Johnson knows that all too well.
He had a three-shot lead at Pebble Beach in the 2010 U.S. Open and lost it all on the second hole with a triple bogey, and then compounded mistakes by trying to drive the green on the next two holes. He shot 82. He has endured more than his share of bad luck, bad breaks and bad shots in the majors.
His outlook at Shinnecock Hills has been built on patience and being practical.
“I never want to make doubles,” Johnson said.