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| - Formidable Winged Foot bounced back after surrendering sub-par scores, swatting down contenders Friday as third-ranked Justin Thomas teed off with the lead in the second round of the US Open. Thomas, the 2017 PGA Championship winner, fired a five-under par 65 Thursday to seize a one-stroke lead that held up as morning starters struggled on the famed Mamaroneck, New York, layout. "It was a little bit more wind out there, and then total opposite direction," two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson said. "Just going to keep getting tougher and tougher with the pin locations and the way the weather is." Bryson DeChambeau closed with a six-foot eagle putt at the par-5 ninth to shoot a two-under par 68 in windy conditions and seize the clubhouse lead on 3-under 137 for 36 holes. The American star, seeking his first major title, had five birdies and five bogeys in his round before reaching his last green in two and making the clutch putt to finish just before Thomas teed off. "I drove it pretty well considering the wind conditions," DeChambeau said. "It wasn't easy to do out there. I did it when I needed it most. I felt really comfortable." Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy and 2018 Masters winner Patrick Reed were among the other leaders making afternoon starts in the second major championship of a year reshuffled by coronavirus. Concerns over the deadly virus postponed the event from June and forced a spectator ban. It also wiped out qualifying for the Open, which used exemptions to decide this year's entrants. Thomas fired the lowest US Open round ever at Winged Foot to start while US compatriot Reed aced the 165-yard par-3 seventh hole in his opening 66 and fourth-ranked McIlroy shot 67 Thursday. Perfect conditions and receptive greens Thursday allowed 21 players to crack par, but Friday brought stiffer breezes, faster and harder greens and trickier pin placements plus the usual dense rough -- allowing Winged Foot to restore its fearsome reputation. South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, finished bogey-bogey-double bogey to shoot 74 and stand on one-over 141. England's Lee Westwood, in the hunt for a first major crown at age 47 after an opening 67, shot 76 to fall back, opening and closing his round with back-to-back bogeys. "It's obviously windier," Westwood said. "Greens tiny bit firmer, pin positions a little bit tougher." Belgium's Thomas Pieters opened with a birdie and added another at the fifth to briefly seize the lead at 6-under. But Pieters began and closed the back nine with back-to-back bogeys and added two more at 14 and 15 to fire a 74 and finish on 140 for 36 holes. "Definitely it's twice as tough as yesterday with the wind," Pieters said. "Back nine the wind got up. The conditions make it really tough." Rafael Cabrera Bello opened with a 40-foot birdie putt at the par-3 10th and added a 26-foot birdie putt at the par-3 13th before bogeys at five of the next 10 holes. But the 36-year-old Spaniard, chasing his first major title, rallied with birdies on three of his last four holes to shoot 70 and stand on 138. "The wind picked up significantly. That has made it really hard," said Cabrera Bello. "It definitely makes the fairways relatively smaller. The greens got a smidge quicker and a bit firmer. The pins were a little bit tougher. I'm sure the weekend is going to be very challenging." American Xander Schauffele, also chasing his first major win, took a bogey at the par-3 third after finding a bunker but sank 13-foot birdie putts at the par-5 ninth and par-4 11th. Schauffele closed with three bogeys in his last five holes to shoot 72 and stand on 140. World number one Dustin Johnson opened with a birdie at 10 and added another at 15 but took his first bogeys at the par-3 seventh and par-4 eighth and finished with a 70 to stand on 143. Tiger Woods was set for an afternoon start alongside Thomas after opening on 73, the 15-time major champion likely in for a battle to make the weekend with a cut to the low 60 and level after 36 holes. js/bb
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