US Open 2023 tightens expertise

After an exciting round 1, the organizers significantly reduced the score in round 2 by only extending four holes and maintaining fast greens.

The US Open, hosted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), this year took place on the North Course at the Los Angeles Country Club, par 70. Round 1 on June 15 saw Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele shoot 62s, thereby jointly owning a new 18-hole record in US Open history. The previous mark was 63, set by Johnny Miller in the final round and thus winning the tournament in 1963.

The opening round also saw an average of 71.328, better than the previous high of 72.29 in 1993, with six players shooting 65 or less - the most since the inaugural year in 1895.

At the end of Round 1, the USGA's Director of Tournament Operations said the layout for Round 2 on June 16 would be tighter, but not too difficult. In line with that direction, the Organizing Committee cut the grass and rolled the greens to keep the "fast index" above 13.0, changed the hole locations, and increased the length of holes 3, 7, 10, and 11. And so, the total length of the course increased to 7,423 yards, an increase of 171 yards compared to Round 1.

With that adjustment, holes 7 and 11, though both par 3s, are both approaching the 300-yard mark. This is an interesting paradox because that length, par 3s, forces many players to hit 3-woods, including Andrew Putnam, when they normally only need a mid-iron. "I hit full 3-woods on both holes and hoped to hit the green," Putnam told Golf Channel .

Putnam hits from a bunker on the par-5 eighth hole of the second round of the US Open. Photo: USGA — Putnam hits from a bunker on the par-5 eighth hole of the second round of the US Open. Photo: *USGA*

With a few technical changes like that, the average number of strokes in round 2 increased to 72.22, only Min Woo Lee hit 65 strokes and the deepest negative among 33 players to reach "under par". Thanks to that, Lee jumped 19 places to T6 (-6). In terms of difficulty, hole 7 ranked first, three places above hole 11.

On the opening day, 55 players shot even par or under par, with the worst score being 79. But this morning, that number dropped to 41, and the tournament had two players break the 80-mark: Hank Lebioda (83) and Justin Thomas (81), both major winners and current A-list stars on the PGA Tour.

Fowler finished round 2 with a score of -2, moving from T1 with Schauffele to the top of the leaderboard at -10. Schauffele dropped to T3 (-8) with Rory McIlroy due to the whole match "breaking even". Just above T3 was Wyndham Clark (-9). World number one Scottie Scheffler finished T8 (-5) while defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick finished T39 (+1), up 17 places from the end of round 1. He also improved his position thanks to a hole-in-one on hole 15.