Lowry going home alone
Both Harrington and McDowell will start the third round at two over par, 14 shots behind halfway leader Rory McIlroy, after a second-round 73 and 74 respectively.
Lowry fared less well.
After the encouragement of an opening-day one-over-par 72, the 2009 Irish Open champion’s recent superb good form unravelled with a five-bogey, five-over 76, leaving him the wrong side of the cut, which fell at four over.
“I just suppose you can’t play that golf course from where I was hitting it off the tee,” a bitterly disappointed Lowry said.
“That was the main thing yesterday and again today,” he added.
“Yesterday I did well to get it around. I’m very disappointed to be honest but I suppose it’s not my last US Open.
“How well I’ve been playing the last few weeks, I was quite confident coming in here and to miss the cut is going to be quite hard to take over the weekend.
“I’ll get back, practice over the weekend and get ready for Germany next week.”
After opening with a one-under-par 70 on Thursday, McDowell had a disastrous start to his second round when he bogeyed his first two holes, the long par-three 10th and the par-four 11th.
McDowell had on Thursday parred the 10th, which has an elevated tee box and a carry over water to the green but had been critical after his opening round about the hole, particularly as a starting point to the championship.
“I think 10 is maybe the only slightly unfair hole, here at Congressional,” McDowell had said.
“You know, it’s a tough number for me, especially today. Five-iron was barely beating front edge. I had to sizzle a five there and four was kind of too much for me today.
“It was a tough number for me. And I think it’s the only slightly unfair golf hole out here. I think the rest of them are what they are. You play well and you get rewarded.
“Sand is tough, you know. I felt for the guys having to play that as their first hole early on, maybe in a little bit of rain. That would have been a tough way to start a US Open.”
McDowell savoured the experience for himself yesterday and the opening bogeys left him at one over par for the tournament but the Portrush golfer racked up five pars before sinking a birdie at the par-four17th.
McDowell reached the turn at level par, but after a 42-minute weather delay, he returned to double bogey the fourth, only to rebound again with a birdie at the sixth.
Yet there was still a twist in the tail as the defending champion three-putted the ninth to close with a bogey six and a round of 74 to reach the halfway stage at two over.
Harrington had opened with a 71 but, starting at the first hole in the second round, had a bogey at the par-four third.
The three-time major winner rebounded with a birdie at the par-four eighth to get back to level par and another birdie followed at 12 but then Harrington bogeyed 13 and 15 and had a torrid time at 18, his drive careening left but crashing off a portable building back into rough by the side of the fairway.
It was a stroke of good fortune but Harrington then three-putted from the apron of the green for a bogey five.
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