US Open golf: Ryan Fox set to make cut at Oakmont Country Club

Ryan Fox’s impressive form at major championships continues.

The Kiwi finished his second round at five-over-par for the tournament, and is set to make the cut for a 10th time in a row on golf’s four biggest stages. However, he will have to wait until play resumes tomorrow to have that confirmed.

The threat of thunderstorms late in the day forced the final few groups off the course, leaving the rest of the field to wait until the morning to see where the chips fall.

However, with the cut line at seven-over, Fox is set to play on into the championship rounds at Oakmont Country Club, just outside of Pittsburgh, after carding a three-over-par 73 in his second round this morning.

At the time he finished his round, five-over was about where the cut-off mark sat for the top 60 (plus ties). It might have been a nervous wait initially for the 38-year-old, but that projected cut line soon pushed out and fluctuated between six and seven-over as the day progressed.

It settled at seven-over, with Fox in a tie for 36th at the end of the day.

As if Oakmont wasn’t already playing as a brutal assignment for the golfers, things were expected to get tougher over the weekend with rain in the forecast likely to soften the course up.

This morning, despite the early tee time, play was slow going once more, with Fox’s round again taking more than five hours to complete.

Starting his round on the back nine, things got off to a perfect start for the Kiwi with a birdie on the par-four 10th.

However, he gave that shot straight back to the course on the par-four 11th, again getting caught by the native area off the tee and having to take a drop.

He was one-under for the day after eight holes with three birdies and two bogeys. However, three bogeys in a row at the turn sent him falling down the leaderboard.

He dropped another shot on his 15th hole of the day – the par-three sixth – but finished up with three pars, including on the eighth and ninth holes, which were playing as the toughest holes of the morning.

When he finished, Fox sat in a tie for 67th before racing back up the leaderboard as the rest of the round unfolded.

Sam Burns, who Fox beat in a four-hole playoff to win last week’s RBC Canadian Open, looked set to lead the field at the halfway stage. The American was living up to his title of being the best putter by strokes gained on the PGA Tour and carded a five-under-par 65 to move to three-under for the tournament and lead by one shot.

Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee, Bryson DeChambeau, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood and Phil Mickelson were among a host of big names set to miss the cut.

Ryan Fox’s round-two scorecard

In playing order

10 (par 4): Birdie

11 (par 4): Bogey

12 (par 5): Par

13 (par 3): Birdie

14 (par 4): Bogey

15 (par 4): Birdie

16 (par 3): Par

17 (par 4): Par

18 (par 4): Bogey

1 (par 4): Bogey

2 (par 4): Bogey

3 (par 4): Par

4 (par 5): Par

5 (par 4): Par

6 (par 3): Bogey

7 (par 4): Par

8 (par 3): Par

9 (par 4): Par

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.