In a week that has seen many of the world’s top golfers decry the condition of Chambers Bay’s greens and take shots at the USGA’s set-up, Shane Lowry avoided the negativity and simply got on with negotiating 72 holes of the most gruelling challenge in golf.

Whether it did appear as if players were putting on greens of broccoli (as Henrik Stenson suggested), or cauliflower (as Rory McIlroy amended), it shouldn’t have been lost on the gathered media that it was two Europeans with the quickest and driest wit regarding the unfortunate playing conditions at Chambers Bay in the 115th US Open.

"It gets into your head a little bit and then I start to make tentative strokes."

By Simon Lewis, Irish Examiner

Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth will lead an American charge at Chambers Bay when the third round of the US Open gets under way on Saturday as Rory McIlroy faces stiff climb if he is to get into contention for a fifth major title.

What makes a superstar in pro sports? Is it their overall game or their ability to dominate a tournament or hit defining “clutch” shots to win championships or is it their will to win and refusal to lose?

We are only halfway through this year’s US Open but with just 36 holes in the books the casualties, both mental and physical, are already mounting from this most gruelling of golfing tests.

Shane Lowry heads into the third round today at Chambers Bay still very much in contention after securing his first weekend at the US Open in three attempts.

Sergio Garcia was not the only player at Chambers Bay to question the quality of the putting surfaces at this week’s US Open but having taken to his Twitter account to air a much-shared view, the Spaniard the Americans love to heckle inevitably drew the most flak.

Numbing as it has been to follow the fall of Tiger Woods on the golf course, it’s been fascinating to study his demeanour off of it. The worse he plays, the more dignified he appears.

Masters champion Jordan Spieth made his move towards back-to-back major victories as he claimed a share of the early second-round US Open clubhouse lead at Chambers Bay last night.

Masters champion Jordan Spieth was furious with himself on Friday after failing to make the most of a brilliant start.

Shane Lowry will renew his quest for a major breakthrough at Chambers Bay tonight confident that his links experience can pay dividends if he matches his good form with the required levels of patience.

Renowned for his short-game prowess, Phil Mickelson sometimes does his best scoring with his biting perspective and cunning wit.

No 9 "Olympus", 224-yard par three

Rory McIlroy will begin his bid for a second US Open title this afternoon determined to separate the men from the boys on a course at Chambers Bay he believes will severely punish poor play.

Rickie Fowler came close at all four of last year’s major championships but now he is The Players champion, the American feels he is even better equipped to finally make his breakthrough at this week’s US Open.

Hometown golfer Michael Putnam is expecting a lot of noise from the Chambers Bay galleries this week if the decibel levels at Seattle Seahawks NFL games are any guide.

Hometown golfer Michael Putnam is expecting a lot of noise from the Chambers Bay galleries this week if the decibel levels at Seattle Seahawks NFL games are any guide.

Chambers Bay may remind Rory McIlroy of The Open at Muirfield two years ago but the world number one will play this week’s US Open in much better shape than the man that slunk away from the Scottish links after a missed cut.

Like most touring professionals, the world number 195 has an ambition to scale the heights in career terms and reach the pinnacle of his sport.

With a Masters Green Jacket in the wardrobe, it might be understandable for Jordan Spieth to kick back for the rest of the season and consider his year’s goals had been achieved.

One can only imagine that on occasion a member of the Myopia Hunt Club north of Boston — clear across America by some 3,000 miles from Chambers Bay and the 115th U.S. Open — will come across a golf ball long ago lost by one W.E. Stoddard. 

Graeme McDowell is not the first golfer to have lost motivation in his career due to positive changes in his life away from the course but the former US Open champion admitted last night he considered actually quitting the game such was his wish to be at home with his new wife and their baby.

Masters champions Jordan Spieth believes his caddie Michael Greller can be his not-so secret weapon to conquering Chambers Bay and winning the US Open this week.

Graeme McDowell can already picture the celebrations if he wins another US Open title to maintain Europe’s recent dominance of the year’s second major championship.

The linksy feel of Chambers Bay has not endeared championship organisers the USGA to a section of golfers who prefer the manicured parkland target golf they enjoy most weeks on the PGA Tour.

There is a word that will crop up frequently this week in relation to the 2015 US Open at Chambers Bay not normally associated with this major, and there is an Irish company to thank for that.

For the students at the nearby high school, it was simply known as the "Sand Pit," the landmark two miles down the road where they would run as part of gym class.

1 – Chambers Bay was designed by noted architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. 

Past champion Graeme McDowell believes he may have found a key to unlock the secrets of the little-known Chambers Bay course, venue for next week’s US Open.

Golfers are sticklers for routine, mainly because their career is based upon repetition of the same thing, day in, day out.