American’s second-round 65 has him alone atop the U.S. Open while favorites like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau struggle.

Scheffler, who leads the PGA Tour in bogey avoidance, had 17 of them (and a double), which is more than he has made in any PGA Tour event in his career. A low point to his day came on No. 3, where Scheffler three-putted for the sixth time of the tournament en route to a sloppy double bogey.

He shrugged it off afterward, pointing to all the positives instead. He'll wake up Sunday in contention at the U.S. Open. During the tournament's last trip to Oakmont nine years ago, he shot back-to-back 76s to miss the weekend by six.

As a result, many golfers become close with each other, which is exactly what happened with Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. The two golfers have developed as players simultaneously, of course with Scheffler reaching heights far higher than Burns thus far.

Sam Burns was selected as Amanda Balionis' U.S. Open pick - and the American is in contention at Oakmont, after an impressive second round saw him card a 65 to sit at three-under

Sam Burns bolted to the lead in the U.S. Open with a brilliant 5-under 65 on Friday. Can he hold it on moving day? Just three players remain under par heading into the weekend at Oakmont, which spent most of Friday chewing up and spitting out everyone but Burns, who sits at 3-under, one shot ahead of J.J. Spaun.

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 U.S. Open. Last week, reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau posted a video of his recent round at Oakmont Country Club, the host of this year’s tournament, to his YouTube Channel.

Scottie Scheffler prepped for the 125th U.S. Open with a Wednesday practice round with Sam Burns. Here’s what that looked like.