SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Brooks Koepka has the game to win a U.S. Open on any course.

One year after Koepka overpowered the wide fairways of Erin Hills in a U.S. Open remembered for low scoring, he navigated his way through the brutal conditions of Shinnecock Hills and closed with a 2-under 68 to become the first repeat champion in 29 years.

Curtis Strange, the last player to go back-to-back in this major, watched the entire final round Sunday as the Fox Sports reporter on the ground, and they shared a brief hug off the 18th green after Koepkatapped in for bogey and a one-shot victory.

“Man, it feels good to hold this thing again,” Koepka said with the silver trophy in his arms.

His victory Sunday might not have been possible if not for grinding out a 72 on Saturday in conditions so severe the last 45 players to tee off in the third round didn’t break par. The USGA conceded the course was over the top and pledged to give it more water and slow it down.

Bogeys gave way to birdies, and no one took advantage like Tommy Fleetwood of England. He made eight birdies – none on the two par 5s – and missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 63, only the sixth player in U.S. Open history to go that low.

“Yeah, but I wanted a 62,” said Fleetwood, who finished one shot back and had to settle for the silver medal.

Fleetwood was one shot behind when he finished, and Koepka still had 11 holes to play as Shinnecock Hills began to get crisp under another sunny sky.

Koepka never lost the lead.

With a putting performance and calm demeanour reminiscent of Retief Goosen when he won the previous U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, in 2004, the 28-year-old Koepka began the back nine with three pivotal putts – one for birdie, one for bogey, one for par.

The biggest might have been his bogey on the nasty little par-3 11th.

Koepka pulled it to the left, down the slope and into thick grass. He chopped that up the slope with so much speed that it raced across the green and into the bunker. He blasted that out to 8 feet and made the putt to keep his lead at one shot.

“I think that was like making a birdie, maybe even making an eagle,” he said. “Because it could have been a big momentum shift there, and we could have been playing tennis just going back and forth. To make bogey there was pretty incredible and I think kind of the reason why we won.”

He wasn’t through. He hacked out of the hay over the green at No. 12, pitched beautifully to 7 feet and made the par. Two holes later, after another drive into grass so thick he wasn’t sure he could get it out, Koepka rolled in an 8-foot for another par save.

Koepka seized control with a wedge to 3 1/2 feet for birdie on the par-5 16th for a two-shot lead, and he never flinched until it no longer mattered. Koepka pulled his approach to the 18th off the grandstand, pitched on to about 12 feet and two-putted for a bogey.

He finished at 1-over 281, 13 shots higher than his winning score at Erin Hills last year. It was the first time since 2013 at Merion that no one broke par in the U.S. Open.

“I enjoy the test,” Koepka said. “I enjoy being pushed to the limit. Sometimes you feel like you are about to break mentally, but that’s what I enjoy. I enjoy hard golf courses. I enjoy playing about the toughest in golf you are ever going to play.”

That it was, starting on Thursday, and especially on Saturday.

Koepka opened with a 75, the highest first-round score by a U.S. Open champion since Raymond Floyd at Shinnecock Hills in 1986. He was 7 over for the championship through seven holes of the second round when he ran off six birdies for a 66 to get back in the game.

Dustin Johnson, part of the four-way tie for the lead to start the final round, couldn’t keep up with one of his best friends. Johnson was one shot behind at the turn until a trio of three-putt bogeys on the back nine. A birdie on the final home gave him an even-par 70 to finish alone in third and remain No. 1 in the world.

Koepka moved to a career-best No. 4 in the world ranking.

A year ago, Johnson called him on the eve of the final round to offer advice. On Sunday, they were playing side-by-side without exchanging words, each trying to play a course that was considerably softer than the previous day.

“We didn’t really speak too much,” Koepka said. “He was busy grinding his tail off and I was busy grinding mine. We’re extremely close. I love the guy to death. It would have been fun to dual it out with him coming down the end, having to make some putts.”

Only one of them did, which is why Koepka is the U.S. Open champion.

Americans have won the last five majors – all of them in their 20s – and Koepka joined an elite group as only the seventh player to go back-to-back in what is regarded as golf’s toughest test. Next up is Pebble Beach, and a chance to join Willie Anderson as the only player to win three in a row. Anderson won his third straight in 1905. Ben Hogan won three straight that he played, missing in 1949 after nearly getting killed when his car struck a bus.

Masters champion Patrick Reed flirted with the second leg of the Grand Slam. He was tied for the lead when he ran off five birdies in his opening seven holes. Reed spent too much time in the high grass on the back nine and closed with a 68 to finish fourth.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – So Yeon Ryu found her winning touch at Blythefield Country Club

Ryu won the Meijer LPGA Classic on Sunday, closing with a 5-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over Caroline Masson. The 29-year-old South Korean player has six LPGA Tour victories, winning twice last year.

“I’ve been working really hard with my coach and my psychologist, trainer, whole my team,” Ryu said. “Finally I was able to find the last piece to put everything together, so it’s really, really meaningful to me.”

The two-time major champion birdied the par-5 16th and par-4 17th and parred the par-4 18th to finish at 21-under 267.

“I’ve been really, really struggling. I had a lot of crazy moments,” Ryu said. “I had some good rounds, I had some really bad rounds, so I couldn’t even really finish top-10 compared to any other season. So, all those reasons just drove me crazy.”

Two strokes behind Anna Nordqvist and Lee-Anne Pace entering the round, Ryu had six birdies and bogey in the final round.

“I was really calm today,” said Ryu, set to open her NW Arkansas Championship title defence Friday. “Of course I prayed like thousand times, but I was really calm. I was able to focus on my game instead of think about other players.”

Masson closed with a 70-foot birdie putt for a 68.

“Super happy about the finish today. Second place is great,” Masson said. “I was trying to win it today, but it just wasn’t quite enough. I think I made a couple good putts and I missed a few very makeable ones, too, so I guess you just have to make those if you really want to win.”

Lydia Ko shot a 67 to finish third at 18 under.

“I don’t remember this course being this easy and I don’t think it was easy, but it just shows the amount of talent that’s on our tour,” Ko said, “It’s just good to have a great week. This is a tournament I really love playing.”

Nordqvist and Pace each shot 73 – after each had a 64 on Saturday – to tie for fourth at 17 under with Jacqui Concolino (66), Azahara Munoz (68) and Angela Stanford (70).

U.S. Women’s Open winner Ariya Jutanugarn shot a
tournament-record 62. She birdied five of the first seven holes,
eagled No. 8 and added three more birdies to finish 12th at 15
under.

“I just like really want to go out and have fun, especially play with like Emily (Tubert) like one of my best friends,” Jutanugarn said. “And have so much fun today.”

Team Canada player and Amateur, Jaclyn Lee, was the top ranked Canadian. She recorded a 69 on Sunday to finish the tournament 10-under T35. Anne-Catherine Tanguay (69), Brooke M. Henderson (73) and Alena Sharp (75) shared the 44th.

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man.— Wesley Hoydalo and Sydney Scraba shot 2 under and 13 over, respectively, to emerge victorious at the Future Links, driven by Acura Prairie Championship at Portage Golf Club on Sunday.

The junior boys, who failed to score in the red after two tough rounds, brought their A-game to the final day.

With three sets of consecutive birdies across his final 18 holes, Wesley Hoydalo, who started the day sharing the lead with Saskatoon’s Bradley Moser, fought hard to emerge victorious in the junior boys division. The Selkirk, Man., talent was the only player to finish under par at the tournament at 2-under-par 208.

“I started off great at 4 under through seven. I missed a few putts early but I got to 14 and went birdie-birdie and birdied 17, which was probably a highlight,” said Hoydalo. “Last year, I just missed it by a shot, so it feels really great to win.”

Next up for the 18-year-old is the Elmhurst Invitational, where he will compete for an exemption into the Canadian Amateur Championship.

Calgary’s Jakob Chicoyne put on a spectacular show, fighting hard during the final day to tie with Hoydalo for a tournament low (66) and earn a piece of second alongside Bradley Moser of Saskatoon, Sask., at 1-over-par 211.

Gerry Mei of North York, Ont., Sylvain Ruest of Winnipeg, Man., and Jacob Armstrong of Winnipeg, Man., all shot 10-over-par 220 to tie for fourth and earn exemptions into the 2018 Canadian Junior Boys Championship on July 30-Aug. 2 at Medicine Hat Golf & Country Club in Medicine Hat, Alta.

The course proved to be challenging for the junior girls during the final round of the tournament but Sydney Scraba managed to hold on to her lead, carding a 7-over to secure a four-stroke victory in the junior girls division at 13-over-par 229.

The 17-year-old started the tournament tied for fourth but moved up the leaderboard on Saturday after being the only junior golfer at the tournament to score under par after two rounds.

“I finished the way I wanted to on Father’s Day with my dad, so it’s a really good moment for him and I to spend together,” said the Calgary, Alta., native. “I’m so grateful that I got to play really well and see how good I can become when I go to college in August. I’m quite excited for what’s going to come to me.”

Michelle Liu of Vancouver, B.C., ended the tournament in second at 17-over-par 233 while Bobbi Uhl claimed third at 19-over-par 235.

Rounding out the top-six earning exemptions into the 2018 Canadian Junior Girls Championship on July 31-Aug. 3 at Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen, B.C. are Vanessa Zhang (Vancouver, B.C.), Jillian Friyia (London, Ont.) and Sandee Park (West Vancouver, B.C.).

KELOWNA, B.C. — Jared du Toit entered the third round with a two-shot lead but fell down the leaderboard with a 1-under 70 Saturday. A triple bogey on the par-4, 11th hole was the result of a pulled 8-iron into a bush. The Calgary native fought back, however, with three birdies on his closing four holes. He’s tied for second, three back. Adam Cornelson is the last Canadian to win on this Tour. He earned his victory at the 2016 Bayview Place DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist.

“I would love to be the next Canadian to win out here,” said the 23-year-old member of Team Canada’s Young Pro Squad. “If it comes tomorrow, then great. If it doesn’t, I won’t hang my head on the effort, but I’m going to try to win tomorrow.”

Five other Canadians made the cut going into the final round. Richmond Hill’s Taylor Pendrith sits T9 at 10-under-par 203 and is joined by David Rose (-9), James Seymour (-6), Ryan Williams (-3) and Stuart Macdonald (-1).

Highlighted by a hole-in-one on the par-3 third hole, George Cunningham shot a 9-under 62 to take the outright, third-round lead at the GolfBC Championship. Six players are tied for second and trail by three shots entering the final round.

With his father, Tracy, on the bag, the 22-year-old Cunningham got off to a hot start. He recorded a birdie-birdie-ace stretch in his first three holes to climb the leaderboard. His sixth-career hole-in-one came on the 175-yard par-3.

“My dad and I were joking saying, ‘Well that wasn’t the start we were looking for today,’” said Cunningham with a laugh. “Through three holes, I had a total of a foot-and-a-half of putts. I was feeling confident.”

After shooting a 5-under 31 on the front nine, Cunningham combined five additional birdies with a lone bogey on the back, to card the lowest round of his career. He credited his caddie for the successful day.

“He’s caddied for me a lot in the past,” said Cunningham. “He’s caddied for me in the last two events, as well. He knows how I read my putts, how I putt, so he’s able to look at it from a different angle. It helps a lot having him on the bag.”

Competing in his rookie season on the Mackenzie Tour- PGA Tour Canada, Cunningham finished third at this season’s Q-School USA West No. 2, in Phoenix, competing as an amateur. Shortly after graduating in May, the University of Arizona product turned pro and missed the cut in the first two tournaments of the season—in Vancouver and Victoria.

Among the six players tied for second at 12-under 201 are 18-hole co-leaders Zach Wright and Mark Anguiano. Wright carded a 3-under 68, with a disappointing three-putt bogey on the last. Anguiano shot a 2-under 69 that included six birdies and four bogeys.

Also tied for second, Russell Surber climbed 24-spots with his third-round, 7-under 64. Playing in his ninth season on the Mackenzie Tour, the 38-year-old had two consecutive missed cuts in the first two events of 2018.

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Dustin Johnson at least gets one more round to try to redeem himself in the U.S. Open.

So does the USGA.

The best players in the world were no match for a Shinnecock Hills course that even the USGA conceded got out of hand Saturday. Putts were rolling some 50 feet by the hole and over the green. No one from the final 22 groups could match par. Phil Mickelson intentionally broke a rule on the 13th when he trotted to his ball rolling by the cup and swatted it with his putter as the ball was still moving.

“It was a very tough test, but probably too tough this afternoon,” said Mike Davis, the USGA’s chief executive. “We must slow the courses down tonight, and we will.”

It was too late for one of the wildest Saturday shake-ups at the U.S. Open.

Daniel Berger and Tony Finau, who started the third round 11 shots out of the lead, each shot 4-under 66 before Johnson hit his first shot. Johnson faced greens that made him feel as though he were putting on glass, and it was like that to the very end.

Johnson, who started with a four-shot lead, barely nudged his 17-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole and watched it roll _ and roll — 8 feet by the cup. He missed the par putt coming back and signed for a 77 to fall into a four-way tie for the lead.

“I didn’t feel like I played badly at all,” Johnson said. “Seven over usually is a terrible score, but with the greens the way they got this afternoon, I mean they were very, very difficult. I had seven or eight putts that easily could have gone in the hole that didn’t. And that’s the difference between shooting 7 over and even par.”

At least he still has a chance, and he had plenty more company at the top than at the start of the day.

Johnson joined Berger, Finau and defending champion Brooks Koepka (72) at 3-over 213, the highest 54-hole score to lead the U.S. Open since the fabled “Massacre at Winged Foot” in 1974.

It was the first time since Oakmont in 2007 that no one was under par going into the final day. With wind that was stronger than expected, and a few pin positions that turned the U.S. Open into carnival golf, it was easy to see why.

Davis told Golf Channel he would have liked a mulligan, the same word he used nearly a month ago when discussing the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills when the seventh green wouldn’t hold shots and had to be lightly sprayed with water between groups.

That didn’t go over well with Ian Poulter after a 76.

“Is that an apology?” he tweeted . “You don’t get mulligan’s in business at this level. how can this team keep doing this without consequences.”

Mickelson brought plenty of attention to the 13th hole, where anything that ran by the cup was headed off the green. Worst yet might have been No. 15, where Piercy had a 30-foot birdie putt that finished rolling 75 feet away off the green. Koepka hit an approach to near the hole, and it moved a few inches to the right, and then a few more feet, and soon it was in a bunker.

“You were seeing shots that were well played and not rewarded,” Davis said.

Berger and Finau, who made the cut with one shot to spare, will play in the final group.

“I barely made the cut. Going into today, I needed something special to happen to even have an outside chance,” Finau said as Johnson and Scott Piercy were making their way down the first fairway in the final group. “Whether I do or not at the end of today, I’m really happy with where I’m at.”

Right behind them will be the last two U.S. Open champions. Koepka made only two birdies in his hard-earned round of 72, leaving him poised to become the first player since Curtis Strange in 1989 to win back-to-back in the U.S. Open.

Only three players broke par, all before the final groups teed off.

“If they’d have shot 4 under this afternoon, it would probably have been the best round of golf anybody’s ever seen,” Koepka said.

Two other major champions — Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson —were right behind, and both had a share of the lead at one point. Both had three straight bogeys. Rose wound up with a 73 and was one shot behind at 214. Stenson had a 74 and was another shot back.

The return to Shinnecock Hills was supposed to make the U.S. Open feel like a traditional test that felt more like survival.

“Be care what you wish for,” Rose said. “We’ve all been asking for a real U.S. Open again. So I guess we got one for sure this week.”

And typical of an old-styled U.S. Open, there were plenty of complaints.

“I’m going to find Mike Davis,” Pat Perez said after signing for a 77. “It’s the U.S. Open. It’s supposed to be hard. When is enough enough? It’s not about hard. There’s no other tournament where you see the guys putt off the greens.”

Not all the statements were verbal.

Mickelson celebrated his 48th birthday by matching his worst score in his 27th U.S. Open with an 81, and he provided the snapshot of a day that was entertaining for reasons the USGA didn’t imagine.

He went from behind the 13th green all the way off the front. His next shot was 18 feet above the hole. His bogey putt slid by, and after a few putts, Mickelson trotted after it and then stuck out his putter and hit the ball back toward the cup to keep it from running off the green. That’s a two-shot penalty, giving him a 10.

“It’s just a moment of madness,” said Andrew “Beef” Johnston, who played with Mickelson and couldn’t stifle a laugh.

Mickelson apologized if anyone was offended by his act, even after saying he knew the rules for hitting a ball in motion and was happy to take a two-shot penalty instead of playing a crude version of tennis with his ball going back-and-forth, back-and-forth across the green.

“Look, I don’t mean disrespect by anybody,” Mickelson said. “I know it’s a two-shot penalty. At that time I just didn’t feel like going back and forth and hitting the same shot over. I took the two-shot penalty and moved on. It’s my understanding of the rules. I’ve had multiple times where I’ve wanted to do that, I just finally did it.”

Johnson didn’t have anything that wild – not like the 82 he had at Pebble Beach when he entered the final round with a three-shot lead in the 2010 U.S. Open. This was more of a slow bleed that began with a shot off a sandy path and three putts on the par-3 second hole for his first double bogey of the championship. His lead was gone with a three-putt bogey on the par-3 seventh. He was back in the lead when everyone around him couldn’t hang on.

The scoring average was 75.33, the highest for a third round in the U.S. Open since Pebble Beach in 2000.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat had the only other round under par. He made the cut on the number, was the seventh player to tee off and shot 2-under 68. He goes into the final round just three shots out of the lead.

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — Alena Sharp was the top Canadian at 11 under after a round three 66 at the Meijer LPGA Classic at Blythfield Country Club. The Hamilton, Ont., native will head into the final round tied for thirteenth.

Fellow Canadian Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., (68) was at 9 under, two shots ahead of Calgary amateur Jaclyn Lee (72) while Quebec City’s Anne-Catharine Tanguay (69) was 5 under.

? for #TeamCanada Olympians @AlenaSharp and @BrookeHenderson, who ↗️ out of a tie for 32nd to sit T13 and T20, respectively, at the @MeijerLPGA. Also making the cut to the final round are @JaclynLee57 (-7) & @ACTanguay (-5) ????

Leaderboard: https://t.co/ia3EZDSmjW pic.twitter.com/WYzZJy91uD

— CP Women’s Open (@cpwomensopen) June 16, 2018

Anna Nordqvist and Lee-Anne Pace each shot 8-under 64 on Saturday to share the third-round lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic.

Nordqvist and Pace each birdied four of the first five holes and two of the last three _ each making 20-footers on the par-4 18th _ in their bogey-free rounds at Blythefield. They were at 18-under 198.

Nordqvist, from Sweden, has eight LPGA Tour victories, winning the Founders Cup and The Evian Championship last year. Pace, from South Africa, won the 2014 Blue Bay LPGA in China for her lone tour title.

Second-round leader So Yeon Ryu was third at 16 under after a 69. Angela Stanford (66) and Caroline Masson (68) were another stroke back.

Blainville, Que. — Sydney Scraba came from behind after carding a 1 under to overtake the lead in the girls division while Wesley Hoydalo and Bradley Moser co-lead the junior boys after the second round of the Future Links, driven by Acura Prairie Championship at Portage Golf Club on Saturday.

Scraba is the only junior golfer at the tournament to score under par for the first two rounds. Despite struggling to get off the ground on the front-nine, the Calgary, Alta., product recovered with three birdies and an eagle across her last nine holes to take the lead at 6-over-par 150.

Only one stroke separates Scraba from Vancouver’s Michelle Liu. The 11-year-old shot a 1 over to head into the final day in solo-second at 7-over-par-151.

It was a tough day for yesterday’s leader Jillian Friyia. The London, Ont., native had trouble recovering from a bogey-filler front-nine but finished the round with a birdie on 18 to end round two sharing a piece of third with Bobbi Uhl of Erickson, Man., at 11-over-par 155.

In the boys division, yesterday’s leader Wesley Hoydalo shot a 2 over to share the lead with Bradley Moser of Saskatoon, Sask.

“I shot 72 hit the ball great. Hopefully tomorrow, I will putt a bit better,” said eighteen-year-old Hoydalo. “My strategy is to hit it down the middle and basically make no mistakes.”

▶️ #FutureLinks, driven by @AcuraCanada Prairie Championship Junior Boys leader Wesley Hoydalo tees off during round ✌????‍♂️

Leaderboard: https://t.co/urO71bJUiZ pic.twitter.com/WVCRd1vXg8

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) June 16, 2018

Moser and Hoydalo co-lead going into round one with a two stroke advantage over Brady Bandura. The Selkirk, Man., product sits in third at 4-over-par 144.

The top six finishers in the junior boys’ division will earn exemptions into the 2018 Canadian Junior Boys Championship on July 30-Aug. 2 at Medicine Hat Golf & Country Club in Medicine Hat, Alta. The top six finishers in the junior girls’ division will earn exemptions into the 2018 Canadian Junior Girls Championship on July 31-Aug. 3 at Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen, B.C.

Up-to-date results can be found here.

FORSYTH, Ill. — When the sun finally set and the 144-player field at the 34th annual Forsyth Classic was reprieved of the Illinois heat, Karolina Vlckova (Kladno, Czech Republic) and Stacy Bregman (Johannesburg, South Africa) are tied atop the leaderboard at 7-under par.

A rookie this season, Vlckova has made the cut in all seven of her starts, with a season and career-best finish of tied for fifth in the Symetra Classic. The consistency she has demonstrated finally peaked its head today, as Vlckova signed a bogey-free scorecard.

“My game has been pretty good, I just never really put it together,” said Vlckova, who recorded seven birdies on the afternoon, including three straight from Nos. 2-4 to open her round. “I was hoping it would happen soon because I know how I play and what I can do. I’m happy that it finally showed.”

The other co-leader is Bregman, a Ladies European Tour (LET) veteran who turned professional in 2006. However, this year is her first competing on the Symetra Tour full-time.

When Bregman made the turn to No. 1 to play her second nine, she was a comfortable 2-under par. Then on the front, she was two lip outs away from firing a 29. Before play began today, Bregman made a gutsy move that ultimately paid off.

“I went to my spare putter that I always travel with. I haven’t actually putted with it properly in a tournament and it seemed to work,” said Bregman, who dialed up eight birdies in the first round, surrendering only one bogey. “I was hitting it close all day and put myself in a good position. I’m sure anyone would love to be a co-leader and just looking forward to the next two days ahead.”

Augusta James will head into the second round of the Forsyth Classic sharing a piece of fifth. The 25-year-old long-standing Team Canada member started the round of strong with consecutive birdies on her first two holes. She would fire four more birdies, carding a 5 under to sit only two strokes behind the co-leaders.

Meanwhile, just one shot behind Vlckova and Bregman in a tie for third at 6-under par is Jenny Haglund (Karlstad, Sweden), the current No. 1 in the Volvik Race for the Card, and Anneliese Newell (Tampa, Florida).

Haglund was part of the 2:22 p.m. CT pairing that featured Vlckova and Carleigh Silvers (Martinsville, Indiana). Even though she went back and forth with the co-leader, Haglund said there was one aspect of her game that held her back from an even lower number.

“My driver wasn’t really working that well, but I made it work somehow,” said Haglund, who could be found on the range immediately after walking off No. 18 green tonight. “The course is pretty generous off the tee so that’s why my drives didn’t really matter that they were a little off. You can really attack.”

Finally, Duke University alumna Leona Maguire (Cavan, Ireland) made her Symetra Tour debut today with a 3-under par 69 opening round at Hickory Point Golf Course. She was paired in the first group off No. 10 tee this morning with former Duke teammate Sandy Choi (Seoul, Republic of Korea) and a former ACC foe in University of North Carolina graduate Catherine O’Donnell (Ponte Vedra, Florida).

“It’s always nice to have that first round under my belt,” said Maguire, who found her way to four birdies and one bogey. “I wasn’t really nervous at all, felt pretty comfortable. It was nice being first off and that grouping was pretty familiar as well, so it didn’t really feel like all that new of an environment. Anytime you can break 70 is always a good round.”

After day one in Forsyth, a total of 62 players sit at 2-under par or better.

KELOWNA, B.C. — Playing in his second season on the Mackenzie Tour- PGA Tour Canada, Team Canada’s Jared du Toit fired a second-round 5-under 66 to grab the outright lead at the GolfBC Championship. Five players remain two back heading into the weekend.

In his back nine, du Toit made three consecutive birdies on Nos. 4-6, followed by a bogey on the seventh hole. He ended his round on a high-note, with an up-and-down birdie from the bunker on the par-5 ninth hole.

“Definitely happy to birdie the last there,” said du Toit. “It’s finally coming together. You hear it all the time, but if I just stick to it, I like my chances. I’m not surprised at all that I’m up there [on the leaderboard]. Hopefully in two more days, I can tell you the same.”

The Calgary native set the tournament record last year at this event with a 10-under 61 in the third round. Du Toit rose to prominence in 2016, when he played in the RBC Canadian Open as a 21-year-old amateur. He played in the final group with Brandt Snedeker and went on to finish in a tie-for-ninth. He was the low amateur and low Canadian at the PGA TOUR event.

#TeamCanada ? @jareddutoit has many reasons to smile as he moves up 5 spots to lead the @PGATOURCanada @gbcchampionship after 2 rounds ???

Fellow ?? Young Pro Squad member @TaylorPendrith isn’t too far behind, tied for 7th

? the leaderboard: https://t.co/LXwNuFP94o pic.twitter.com/x9e3J3dQF2

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) June 16, 2018

Du Toit fellow Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Taylor Pendrith had a worldwind day. The Richmond Hill, Ont., talent carded a 8-under-63 to tie for the low round of the day with Jeremy Paul from Heidelberg, Germany. Pendrith climbed up 86 spots to sit tied for seventh after two rounds.

7 birdies, a double bogey and 2 eagles… it was a wild day for @TaylorPendrith who shoots 63 and is just 1 off the lead #Tourjectory pic.twitter.com/kHrMb7j6Kl

— Mackenzie Tour (@PGATOURCanada) June 15, 2018

After picking up the 18-hole co-lead Thursday at the GolfBC Championship, Mark Anguiano and Zach Wright are two back of du Toit with three others, at 9-under 133. They both followed up their 9-under 62s in the opening round with second-round, even-par 71s.

Wright carded three birdies and three bogeys in his up-and-down round. Reflecting on his day, the 24-year-old was most disappointed with his putting.

“I couldn’t get anything going,” said Wright. “On the front nine, I didn’t make that many putts. I couldn’t get my putter going at all. I kept grinding, and nothing kept going in, so I just fell apart at the end and made bogeys.”

Wright held the 36-hole lead by two shots last week at the Bayview Place DCBank Open but went on to tie for sixth after a third-round 73. The Louisiana State University alum entered this week No. 3 on the Order of Merit.

Anguiano of Bellflower, Calif., carded four birdies and four bogeys during his second-round play. His back nine included three consecutive bogeys, on Nos. 10-12, before closing with a birdie on the 17^th hole. Playing in the afternoon wave, the 25-year-old faced heavier rain and wind compared to the players who teed off in the morning, but the California State University-Fullerton alum chose to focus on the positives.

“It was pretty up and down today,” said Anguiano. “I had a stretch in the beginning of the back nine that really stung, but I was really happy with the way I bounced back mentally. Even though I made only one birdie coming in, I gave myself a lot of looks. I’m still happy with where I am.”

Among the 21 Canadians in the field, six players advanced to the weekend. In addition to du Toit and Pendrith, David Rose (West Vancouver, B.C.), Team Canada Young Pro Squad’s Stuart Macdonald (Vancouver, B.C.), James Seymour (Aurora, Ont.) and Ryan Williams (Vancouver, B.C.) made the cut to head into round three.

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. –  Dustin Johnson handled the worst of the weather and wound up as the sole survivor to par at the U.S. Open, taking a four-shot lead into the weekend at Shinnecock Hills with plenty of reminders of how it can all go wrong.

Some of them from Johnson’s own experiences.

Most came from the final hours Friday in pristine weather from those trying to catch him.

Johnson endured the wind and two hours of rain that made Shinnecock play even longer by dropping only one shot, never putting himself in position to make a big number and holing a 45-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventh that carried him to a 3-under 67.

“You’ve got to play really good golf if you want to shoot a good score, and I like where par is a good score on every hole, no matter what club you’ve got in your hand, what hole it is,” Johnson said.

No matter the weather, Shinnecock can punish anyone in a New York minute.

Ian Poulter was one shot out of the lead and in the middle of the fairway with two holes to go when one bad shot led to a few more that were even worse _ a bunker shot over the green, a chunk into the hay, a chop short of the green and a triple bogey on No. 8. He made bogey on his last hole for a 72.

“There’s a disaster on every single hole,” Poulter said.

That left Charley Hoffman the only other player under par until he missed the 18th fairway and had to make a 5-footer to escape with bogey and a 69.

Johnson was at 4-under 136 as he goes after his second U.S. Open in three years.

Tiger Woods won’t be around to see how it turns out, and he had plenty of company.

Woods closed with back-to-back birdies to salvage a 72. He still missed the cut in a major for the fifth time in his last eight tries, this time by two shots. Rory McIlroy missed the cut for the third straight year in the U.S. Open, unable to recover from his opening 80.

Jordan Spieth joined them in the most unlikely fashion. He took three shots to get up the slope and onto the 10th green, making double bogey. He was three shots over the cut line with six holes to play when he ran off four straight birdies to get inside the number _ only to three-putt for bogey on the 17th, stub a chip from the collar of a bunker on the 18th and miss the par putt for a 71. He had not missed the cut in a major since the 2014 PGA Championship.

Scott Piercy, a runner-up to Johnson at Oakmont two years ago, had a 71 and will play in the final group with him Saturday. Piercy’s day was not without regrets, especially when he three-putted from 4 feet for bogey on the par-5 16th. He was at even-par 140, along with Hoffman (69).

Plenty of others were poised take advantage if Johnson slipped, or if more pure weather arrived to allow them to make a move.

Defending champion Brooks Koepka made six birdies over his last 11 holes for a 66, matching Tommy Fleetwood for the low round of the tournament. They were at 141, along with Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose, each with a 70, and Poulter.

Rose also was under par until closing with successive bogeys. With 36 holes to play, he wasn’t overly concerned about tracking down the No. 1 player in the world.

“You just saw what happened to Ian Poulter five minutes ago. That could happen to DJ,” Rose said. “I’m not saying it’s going to, but it could. That’s the nature of the U.S. Open. So hang around is often the best form of attack.”

Johnson knows that all too well.

He had a three-shot lead at Pebble Beach in the 2010 U.S. Open and lost it all on the second hole with a triple bogey, and then compounded mistakes by trying to drive the green on the next two holes. He shot 82. He has endured more than his share of bad luck, bad breaks and bad shots in the majors.

His outlook at Shinnecock Hills has been built on patience and being practical. One example was Thursday, when his ball was hitting up in thick grass, and he put back a club that might have reached the green and used wedge to get it back in play. He made bogey, but he took double bogey or worse out of the equation.

“I never want to make doubles,” Johnson said. “Around here, it seems like when I do get out of position, I’m just trying to do everything I can to get it back into position, not try to push it, and just give myself a decent look … something on the green where I can have a look at par.

“I want to make things as easy as possible, even though they don’t get any easier.”

Johnson is coming off a six-shot victory at the St. Jude Classic, and no U.S. Open champion has ever won the week before on the PGA Tour.

But this is far from over. Johnson knows that as well as anyone. So does Rose, who overcame an eight-shot deficit against Johnson in the final round in Shanghai last fall at the HSBC Champions, or even Stenson, who played with Johnson in that final round.