Kaymer storms ahead with six-shot US Open lead

By Simon Lewis

Martin Kaymer will head into Saturday's third round of the US Open having taken a firm grip on this major with record-breaking golf at Pinehurst No.2

He had begun Friday's second round echoing Rory McIlroy's US Open heroics of three years ago but by the end of the day the German was making some history of his own.

Like McIlroy at Congressional in 2011, Kaymer had held a three-shot lead after the first round thanks to an opening 65, which had been good enough for the Irishman to land his first major championship come the Sunday.

The 2010 US PGA champion and last month's winner of The Players, though, yesterday went one better than his Ryder Cup team-mate, shooting his second consecutive five-under-par 65 to move to 10 under after 36 holes and take a firm grip on the second major of the year.

Kaymer holds a six-shot lead over the field with McIlroy, who enjoyed the same advantage in 2011, starting the third round nine shots in arrears at one under following a two-under-par, second-round 68. Graeme McDowell, meanwhile has work to do just to join the chasing pack after falling away to two over par following a four-over 74.

Both men missed birdie putts at the last but McIlroy for one will go into the weekend satisfied with his work so far.

“If I have a couple more 68s, like today, I would take my chances. Five-under total. I would sit in the clubhouse happily with that. So we'll see. But I played solid today, played solid the last couple of days. When I missed a shot today, I missed it in the right place and was able to get it up-and-down. If someone had told me that I was going to be standing here one-under par after 36 holes, at the start of the week I would have taken it.

“I would have said perfect, let me play the weekend and see what happens. But what Martin has done over the first couple of days has made 1-under par look pretty average. But happy with where my game is and there's a lot of golf left to play. So we'll see what happens over the weekend.”

Those chances, though, rely on Kaymer slipping up and McIlroy added: “Ten under is an incredible total after 36 holes on this course. Martin's a good front runner and if he can keep it going he should walk this tournament. He just has to keep hitting to his spots and if he can shoot a couple of 70s at the weekend, nobody's going to catch him.”

If McIlroy's wire-to-wire win in 2011 had put the Ulsterman into the record books, Kaymer is already rewriting them. His 10-under total, featuring just one bogey, is the US Open's lowest score for the first 36 holes, bettering McIlroy's rounds of 65-66 while the pair are the only players to be in double digits under par at this stage of a US Open.

Like Congressional in 2011, when the Maryland course was tamed by heavy rainfall, Pinehurst is not baring its teeth as predicted. Kaymer was in the field that week and watched McIlroy take it apart.

“I played Congressional and I thought, 'how can you shoot that low?'” the German recalled last night.

“And that's probably what a lot of other people think about me right now.

“But it will be quite interesting to talk to Rory about it, how he felt... I'm sure he must have played so solid without making many mistakes and that I think is the main thing in majors, that you avoid the big numbers.

“Today I didn't make any mistakes, didn't make any bogeys, so if you putt well, you can make up some ground or in my case I could keep going. It's just very good golf.”

Like Congressional, Pinehurst has also been softened by rain but after a relatively low-scoring day on Thursday yielded the lowest first-round scoring average (73.23) since 2003, the second-round pin positions were tougher in order to make amends for the greens' receptiveness. Not that it mattered to Kaymer.

Starting the day three ahead of Na, Brendon De Jonge and McDowell at five under, Kaymer signalled his intent at the first opportunity with a birdie at his first, the par-five 10th and dropped more in at impressively consistent intervals, his fourth, seventh, 12th and 14th holes and stayed mentally strong enough to get home without giving any shots back.

“That was a lot of success so far the last two rounds,” he said. “I played very solid again, very similar to yesterday. The last three, four holes I got a little bit tired, I didn't swing it as good as the first 14 holes, but I could make a couple good up-and-downs, especially on six and seven....made a good two-putt on eight. .

“The way I play golf right now, it's just really satisfying. It's very solid, not many mistakes, not that many wild tee shots or anything.”

McDowell had predicted 10 to 12 birdies over four rounds would be enough to win this tournament.

McIlroy had targeted 14 or 15 as the required number. Kaymer already has 11, five of them coming yesterday in his bogey-free round, and those predictions were being revised last night as the chasing pack tried to figure out how to reel in the leader.

Kaymer's admission of tiredness at day's end will give the chasers further hope, even if they have a mountain to climb themselves.

American Brendon Todd is his closest rival, six shots back after a 67 on Friday with compatriots Na (68) and Brandt Snedeker (69) a further shot behind at three under.

Dustin Johnson, De Jonge, Keegan Bradley, Brooks Koepka are on two under while alongside McIlroy another shot back are Matt Kuchar, Jordan Spieth and Chris Kirk.

World number one Adam Scott at Level par following a three-under 67 while defending champion Justin Rose is one over and six-time US Open runner-up Phil Mickelson is three over, 13 shots behind schedule in his quest for a career grand slam.

Ireland's Shane Lowry and Darren Clarke missed the cut, which fell at four over, as did the likes of Luke Donald, Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner. Hunter Mahan played the wrong ball, Jamie Donaldson's, on the 18th fairway, incurring a two-stroke penalty for which his caddie John Wood took responsibility, costing him his place in the weekend's play.