Short game setting Sam Burns, Viktor Hovland apart at Oakmont

OAKMONT, Pa. — Sam Burns’ chance at a 65 on Friday was in jeopardy after a misfire off the tee.
Burns’ drive flew left of the fairway into a native area full of knee-high grass. He took a drop and hit his third shot to about 22 1/2 feet of the hole at No. 9.
The par putt was uphill with loads of left-to-right break, yet Burns judged it perfectly. His ball took a late right turn and trickled in, finalizing his 5-under round to jump to 3 under par through two rounds at the U.S. Open.
“That putt was, I don’t know, six feet of break,” Burns said. “Yeah, it was a nice one to make for sure.”
There’s little mystery why Burns is in the mix near the top of the leaderboard at Oakmont Country Club. Statistically the best putter on the PGA Tour this season, Burns has shown his peers how it’s done this week both on the greens and around them.
So has Viktor Hovland. The Norwegian’s work around the greens has long been a weakness in his game, but that’s been far from the case at Oakmont.
Hovland putted from the first cut of rough for birdie at No. 10 to open his second round, and he had a more difficult look out of the thick stuff at the short par-4 17th. He popped his ball out and it took a perfect line to the hole, going down for eagle.
With the round still in progress Friday afternoon, Hovland led the field in strokes gained: short game and was 22nd in putting.
“I almost automatically think it’s a bad hole if it’s sloped front to back. Somehow they make it work here,” said Hovland, who shot 68 to get to 1 under par. “I think it’s a fun challenge. It’s a fun test.
“It’s just super dicey because you obviously want to be below the hole, but on holes like No. 1 it’s kind of hard to do, especially with today’s pin. There’s just a lot of strategy. You have to be super precise on your distance control, and obviously speed — just your lag putting, the importance of lag putting goes up significantly compared to other weeks.”
Burns knows a thing or two about lag putting. At the par-5 fourth Friday, he reached the green in two shots but had 106 feet to go. He nestled the ensuing putt inside 2 feet to set up his sixth birdie of the round.
Burns was stellar from tee to green throughout his round, but he ranked second in strokes gained: approach and third in putting. He was also fifth for the week in strokes gained: short game.
On Thursday, his second shot at No. 1 chased down a long slope until it settled about 3 feet from the pin for an easy birdie. He followed that with a pitch-in birdie at No. 3.
“Yeah, it’s been nice. Look, this golf course is very tough and you’re going to get the ball out of position and you’re going to get in some spots that are tricky,” Burns said. “I think being able to rely on your short game and give yourself a chance at par is really important.”