Dustin Johnson goes from 1 shot behind to scrambling to make the U.S. Open cut

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Dustin Johnson was one shot out of the lead Friday in the U.S. Open as he walked onto the tee on the par-3 11th, looking like the major contender he once was instead of someone who had been MIA on golf's biggest stages since leaving for LIV Golf.

And then it all changed in a New York minute.

Four holes later, he was 11 shots behind and scrambling just to make it to the weekend at Shinnecock Hills.

“Just rocks,” Johnson said.

It was a little more than pebbles in the sand that caused this stunning meltdown in the second round, but it left him a little dazed and more than a little frustrated.

His mishaps started on the 11th when a gust knocked down his tee shot and it wound up in the right bunker. The next shot came out soft, rolled back down the false front into another bunker, and he failed to get up-and-down, making double bogey.

“Where I was standing it felt firm, but it came out soft,” he said of the first sand shot. “These bunkers are very difficult — or at least I'm having a hard time with it.”

Two soft bogeys followed, one of them on the 13th hole when he had a lob wedge from a 117 yards that went so far it landed on the slope at the back of the green. His pitch went past the pin and off the green and he had to scramble from there.

But the real damage came on the 15th from the right rough, and a shot that wound up in the right bunker guarding the green. He thought that would be fine, an easy place to make par, until it was anything but that.

His first shot took a hard turn to the left, went down the false front and into the left bunker. The next shot stayed in the bunker. The third one was a rocket that sailed over the green and caused two volunteers sitting next to the grandstand to scramble for cover.

“Three in a row with rocks,” Johnson said. “I hit a rock coming out and it shot it straight left. The next one hit a rock and it came out soft. And the third one hit rock and went into the ball.”

When he chipped cautiously to avoid going back into the bunker, he had a 25-foot putt that nervously ran 3 1/2 by the hole. He made that for 8.

The upside is he should be safe for the weekend, his third straight cut he made in the majors. But he couldn't help but wonder where he could have been except for the rocks.

“It's the ones you can't see," Johnson said. “Obviously, the big ones on top you can move them. I could see them but there we in the sand, and it's one of those things whether you can move them. If I move them it would improve my lie.”

At least he bounced back by hammering a drive — his ball speed has measured as high as 194 mph this week — and a 7-wood to 25 feet on the 615-yard 16th hole for a two-putt birdie. He finished with a pair of pars for a 77 and was at 3-over 143.

Most frustrating is Johnson, who is in the last year of his U.S. Open exemption from winning in 2016 at Oakmont, felt like he was on the right track. He made a rash decision to change back to the old loft on his irons before the LIV event in South Korea, finished fourth and then tied for fifth in Spain.

And here he was, chasing Wyndham Clark until he was hanging on by the seat of his pants. He lost an opportunity, but not all hope.

“The swing is good. I feel good,” Johnson said. “On this golf course, you're never really out of it. A couple of good days, I can get back in the mix.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Dustin Johnson waves after his putt on the second hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Dustin Johnson lines up a putt on the second hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Dustin Johnson watches his tee shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Dustin Johnson reacts after missing a putt on the sixth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Dustin Johnson reacts after missing a putt during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Bryson DeChambeau spent a big part of the first day of the U.S. Open on the leaderboard. He spent most of the second day wondering if those trains pulling into the nearby Long Island Rail Road station were coming for him.

Two ugly three-putts led to a pair of double bogeys early in Friday's round for DeChambeau and he never recovered. He shot 5-over 75 to finish at 145 and lead an all-star cast of former U.S. Open champions who fell short of the cut line, which landed at 144.

DeChambeau, the 2020 and ‘24 champion, failed to make the top 60 and has now missed the weekend at all three majors this year. He joined 2017 and ’18 winner Brooks Koepka, 2021 winner Jon Rahm and defending champion J.J. Spaun on the sideline for the weekend where Wyndham Clark, the 2023 champ, will start with a four-shot lead at 7 under.

Koepka shot 77 to miss by six and snap the longest active streak of 11 straight made cuts at the U.S. Open.

Rahm also spent some time on the leaderboard Thursday and looked like a good bet for the weekend when he made the turn Friday. A string of four straight bogeys and a double on the back nine sent him packing with a 78 that left him two shots short of the cut.

Spaun shot 7-over 77 in the first round and not even his eagle on the par-5 fifth toward the end of the day kept him from being a bit player in the threesome featuring Scottie Scheffler, who shot 68 to head into the weekend at 140. Spaun missed by four.

As always, the cut produced its distinct brand of drama as the sun began to set on Shinnecock.

A lot of it revolved around Dylan Wu. After he made a bogey on the par-5 16th, the cut line jumped from 3 to 4 over. He was sitting in the rough off the 18th fairway with these possibilities: make par to make the cut at 4 over; make birdie to push the number back to 3 over, costing 12 other players spots for the weekend; or make bogey and miss the cut himself.

He lashed the shot over the green and finished a delicate up and down with a 7-foot putt, meaning he'll be one of the 72 players with tee times Saturday.

Other notables:

— Harris English couldn't cash in for birdie from 35 feet on No. 9 and missed his first cut in 11 appearances at the Open.

— Chris Gotterup needed a 6-footer on 18 to make it on the number.

— Jacob Bridgeman locked down a two-putt par from 70 feet on No. 18 to make it on the number.

Nobody went through more of a roller coaster than Patrick Reed, who finished his round on the front nine. He made double bogey on No. 4 to fall to 6 over, but answered with an eagle on the par-5 fifth to get back on the number. He bogeyed No. 8 and needed a birdie from 50 feet on his last hole, which barely came up short.

It marked only the second missed weekend in 12 U.S. Opens for the 2018 Masters champion, who is eligible to return to the PGA Tour in August after moving to LIV Golf in 2022.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Brooks Koepka waves after his putt on the 10th hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Friday, June 19, 2026.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Jon Rahm, of Spain, waves after his putt on the 18th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Thursday, June 18, 2026.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Bryson DeChambeau walks to the tee on the 15th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Thursday, June 18, 2026.(AP Photo/George Walker IV)