The leaderboard the 93rd U.S. Open is beginning to resemble the flight pattern over nearby Newark Airport. It's crowded.
Eighty-eight players survived the cut at Baltusrol GC, making it the largest group of golfers ever to make the cut at a U.S. Open. Included in that bunched-up field are five golfers with Utah ties.St. George's Jay Don Blake and recent Salt Lake resident Grant Waite stand at 2-over-par 142, eight strokes behind leader Lee Janzen. Orem's Keith Clerwater and ex-BYU golfer Rick Fehr are at 143, while Provo's Dan Forsman barely survived the cut at 144.
The cut was to have included the low 60 players plus ties, but all players within 10 shots of the lead are eligible to make the cut.
Among the Utah connection, only ex-Weber State golfer Todd Erwin missed the cut as his second-round 75 put him at 11-over-par 151.
Clearwater appeared to be on his way home after he fell to 5-over for the day - 6-over for the tournament - with just two holes left. With Janzen leading at 6-under-par, Clearwater knew he needed at least two birdies to make the cut because of the 10-stroke rule.
He birdied No. 17 with a 25-foot birdie putt and hit his second shot at the par-5 18th to the front fringe 25 feet away.
After taking a long time deciding between a putter, an L-wedge and a sand wedge, he chose the latter and promptly put it in the hole for an eagle-3, while the crowd roared.
"I hit it perfect - I guess I chose the right club," he said.
Clearwater says he's "hitting the ball pure" and he felt frustrated by some bad breaks that put him in position to almost miss the cut. But he's looking forward to the next two rounds.
"With the field cut, you can move up so fast it's amazing. I'm 3-over and if I go out and shoot 5-under, which I think I can, I'll be right in there."
Blake took advantage of his early tee time to post an even-par 70. After bogeying the 3rd hole, he came back to make birdies at 6, 8 and 13, offsetting bogeys at 9 and 15.Blake, who has overcome recent back problems, said he wasn't content just to make the cut. "I'm looking the other way, to move up as much as I can."
Forsman was in real danger of missing the cut after bogeying No. 9 and making double bogey at 10 to fall to 2-over for the day and 5-over for the tournament. But after hitting his drive into the rough at No. 11, he regrouped.
He got up and down for par and after making six more pars, he finished with a birdie at No. 18 for a 71.
"I just hung on and hung on and hung on," said Forsman. "I thought I might need that last birdie to make the cut."
It turned out he did.
Forsman felt he didn't hit the ball particularly well Thursday and for much of Friday's round. "I feel like everyone else is hitting home runs and I'm just trying to make contact," he said.
However he drove the ball better his last nine holes and looks forward to the final two rounds.
"I'm just going to let it rip for the next two days," he said. "I'm not that far back. Who knows what can happen."
Fehr has usually done well in the U.S. Open ever since taking low amateur honors in 1984. He feels his game of straight driving and good iron play suits him well at Opens. However so far in the tournament he hasn't been happy with his play.
"I hit a lot of good shots and a lot of crummy shots," he said. "You're not going to get away with a lot of bad shots at a U.S. Open."
Bogeys at 11, 13 and 14 put Fehr at 3-over before he finished with a birdie at 18 for his 72.
Waite, who just moved to Phoenix last week after living in Salt Lake for the last couple of years, only managed one birdie Friday, at the 10th hole. He only made two bogeys on the day, but was really hurt by a double bogey at the 6th hole.
Erwin, a top club pro in the Seattle area, was hurt by a lack of birdies this week. After getting just one in Thursday's round, Erwin didn't have any on Friday in a round that included five bogeys.
Although he missed the cut as he did in his first U.S. Open three years ago, Erwin did much better improving his score by 10 strokes.