Apparently nobody told Sam Burns that Oakmont was supposed to be the hardest test of the year.
The 28-year-old made the iconic layout look like a regular PGA TOUR stop Friday with six birdies against one bogey to post a sizzling 5-under 65. The stellar second round pushed him up the U.S. Open leaderboard and gave him the clubhouse lead at 3-under as the afternoon wave began teeing off.
Burns' strong performance was the latest in a series of solid play. He fired a final-round 62 in Canada last week before falling short in a playoff against Ryan Fox.
Burns showed throughout Friday's round why he's statistically the best putter on the PGA TOUR, canning all 16 of his putts inside 10 feet. He also ranked second among the morning wave in approach - a deadly combo that explains how he moved up following a 2-over opening round.
Burns ranked 106th in the field in putting Thursday, but the veteran insisted he didn't make many changes going into the second round.
"Other than they're extremely difficult, not really," Burns told reporters when asked if he learned anything from the greens in Round 1. "I think a lot of times you have putts where, even from 15 or 20 feet where you're not really trying to make them, you're just trying to get the speed right and hope that it snuggles up next to the hole. I even had a couple today that were 15 or 20 feet that I hit three or four feet by without even thinking about it."
Viktor Hovland is the only player within two shots of Burns who's finished their round, as everyone else under par for the tournament is in the afternoon wave.
The Norwegian shot a 68 in the group behind Burns, with the top highlight coming on an eagle pitch at the par-4 17th. Hovland admitted afterward that he loves the opportunity Oakmont presents, including the unique design feature of greens running away from the players.
"It's just amazing how many holes - how many greens you can have that are sloped front to back," Hovland said. "Usually that's a pet peeve of mine. I almost automatically think it's a bad hole if it's sloped front to back. Somehow they make it work here. I think it's a fun challenge. It's a fun test."
