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Southampton - Dustin Johnson took command of the US Open on Friday, firing a three-under-par 67 at Shinnecock Hills for a four-shot lead as the only player under par after 36 punishing holes.
Shinnecock presented a different face as Thursday's gusting wind gave way to morning mist with stretches of wind-driven rain, followed by afternoon sunshine.
Johnson was more than equal to all of it, his two-round total of four-under 136 putting him four ahead of Americans Charley Hoffman and Scott Piercy.
"Dustin was in complete control of what he was doing," said his playing partner Tiger Woods, who missed the cut in his first US Open since 2015 as he added a two-over 72 to his opening 78 for a 10-over total of 150.
"He's hitting the ball so flush and so solid," Woods said. "I know it's windy. It's blustery. It was raining early. But he's hitting right through it."
After two birdies in his first nine holes, Johnson made his only bogey of the day at the first, unable to get up and down for par from a greenside bunker.
But he would add two more birdies, including a 45-foot putt at the par-three seventh that took its time getting to the hole then teetered in to a massive roar from the crowd.
"That was a good one," said Johnson, the 2016 US Open winner who watched it all the way. "I knew about halfway there it was on a really good line if it would just get to the hole - it dropped right in the front door."
Hoffman put himself under par for the tournament when he rolled in a long bomb at the par-five 16th for the last of his three birdies. He kept the momentum with a par save at 17, but dropped a shot at 18 to cap a one-under par 69 that left him on even par 140 alongside Piercy.
Piercy, who shared the overnight lead with Johnson, England's Ian Poulter and Russell Henley, carded a one-over 71 for his share of second.
Poulter trimmed Johnson's lead to one with three birdies in the space of four holes on his inward run, keeping the momentum going with a par save from a tough lie below his feet in a bunker.
But Poulter made a triple-bogey seven at the par-four eighth - his penultimate hole - and bogeyed nine in a two-over 72 that dropped him into a tie for fourth with defending champion Brooks Koepka, England's Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, Sweden's Henrik Stenson.
Four-under 66s by Koepka and Fleetwood were the best rounds of the tournament on a Shinnecock course where, Poulter noted, "There's a disaster on every single hole" for someone.
Woods was among a stream of marquee names who wouldn't make it to the weekend.
Looking for a round in the 60s to keep him alive for the weekend, Woods settled for a two-over-par 72.
The 14-time major champion finished strong, with birdies at his last two holes, but at 10-over-par 150 he was two strokes outside the cut line at eight-over.
"I don't think you can be too happy and too excited about 10 over par," said Woods, who made a double bogey at the par-four first a day after opening the tournament with a triple bogey there.
In the fairway off the tee, Woods found deep, rain-soaked rough with his second shot. His third shot rolled through the green and his pitch left him 14 feet, from where he two-putted.
Let down by his putter all week, Woods sounded a touch envious in discussing Johnson's efforts on the difficult, sloping greens.
"Every putt looked like it was going to go in," Woods said.
Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy also missed the cut. The Northern Ireland star, 10-over after the first round, was 14-over after a double-bogey at the ninth and a run of four birdies in six holes starting at the 11th was too little, too late as he finished on 10-over 150.
Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth, his bid to make the cut after an opening 78 also slowed by a double-bogey, reeled off four birdies in a row starting at the 13th but closed with back-to-back bogeys in a 71 for 149 - missing the cut by a stroke.
Australians Jason Day and Adam Scott, Spain's Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm and Germany's Martin Kaymer also fell prey to Shinnecock.
But Phil Mickelson, seeking a first US Open title that would give him the career Grand Slam, is set to play the third round on his 48th birthday after firing a one-under par 69 for a six-over total of 146.
Second-round scores on Friday in the 118th US Open Golf Championship at Shinnecock Hills (USA unless noted, par-70):
136 - Dustin Johnson 69-67
140 - Scott Piercy 69-71, Charley Hoffman 71-69
141 - Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 75-66, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 71-70, Justin Rose (ENG) 71-70, Brooks Koepka 75-66, Ian Poulter (ENG) 69-72
142 - Russell Henley 69-73, Rickie Fowler 73-69
143 - Marc Leishman (AUS) 74-69, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 73-70, Charles Howell 71-72
144 - Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP) 73-71, Alex Noren (SWE) 72-72, Jim Furyk 73-71, Pat Perez 73-71, Justin Thomas 74-70, Jason Dufner 70-74, Tyler Duncan 77-67, Brian Harman 74-70, Patrick Rodgers 72-72, Russell Knox (SCO) 73-71, Mickey DeMorat 72-72, Calum Hill (SCO) 75-69
145 - Ryan Fox (NZL) 73-72, Will Grimmer 73-72, Brendan Steele 72-73, Jimmy Walker 75-70, Branden Grace (RSA) 76-69, Patrick Reed 73-72, Tyrrell Hatton (ENG) 75-70, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 75-70, Bryson DeChambeau 76-69
147 - Xander Schauffele 72-74, Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 74-72, Patrick Cantlay 75-71, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 74-72, Paul Casey (ENG) 73-73, Zach Johnson 73-73, Phil Mickelson 77-69, Andrew Johnston 73-73, Dylan Meyer 77-69, Chris Naegel 73-73
147 - Sam Burns 71-76, Brian Gay 73-74, Peter Uihlein 75-72, Tony Finau 75-72, Webb Simpson 76-71, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 75-72, Ross Fisher (ENG) 76-71, Li Haotong (CHN) 79-68, An Byeong-Hun (KOR) 71-76, Matt Parziale (USA) 74-73, Kevin Chappell 75-72, Daniel Berger 76-71, Luis Gagne (CRC) 73-74
148 - Dean Burmester (RSA) 75-73, Gary Woodland 79-69, Steve Stricker 73-75, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 76-72, Brandt Snedeker 72-76, Cameron Wilson 75-73, Matthieu Pavon (FRA) 71-77, Jhonattan Vegas (VEN) 76-72, Bill Haas 76-72, Tim Wilkinson (NZL) 76-72
Missed cut
149 - Roberto Castro 75-74, Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 76-73, Lucas Glover 77-72, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 79-70, Kim Si-Woo (KOR) 73-76, Chez Reavie 75-74, Braden Thornberry 76-73, Matthew Southgate (ENG) 77-72, Jason Scrivener 78-71, Eric Axley 73-76, Jordan Spieth 78-71, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 76-73, Im Sung-jae (KOR) 76-73, Matthew Wallace (ENG) 77-72, Lanto Griffin 76-73
150 - Matthew Jones (AUS) 76-74, Tiger Woods 78-72, Brian Stuard 74-76, Sebastian Vazquez (MEX) 77-73, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 80-70, Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 74-76, Tyler Strafaci 78-72
151 - Aaron Wise, 77-74, Cameron Smith (AUS) 79-72, Sebastian Munoz (COL) 80-71, Will Zalatoris 80-71, Chesson Hadley 76-75, Mackenzie Hughes (CAN) 76-75, Bubba Watson 77-74, Tom Lewis (ENG) 79-72
152 - Ollie Schniederjans 76-76, Luke List 75-77, Kevin Kisner 77-75, Jason Day (AUS) 79-73, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 79-73, Danny Willett (ENG) 75-77, Matt Kuchar 74-78, Cole Miller 78-74
153 - Richie Ramsay (SCO) 77-76, Adam Scott (AUS) 78-75, Trey Mullinax 79-74, David Bransdon (AUS) 79-74, Doug Ghim 79-74, Park Sung-joon (KOR) 81-72
154 - Paul Waring (ENG) 78-76, Ted Potter 76-78, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 75-79, Kyle Stanley 75-79, Shane Lowry (IRL) 75-79, Christopher Babcock 78-76, Rhett Rasmussen 80-74, Scott Stallings 80-74, Harold Varner 79-75, Michael Putnam 78-76
155 - Liang Wenchong (CHN) 79-76, Keegan Bradley 81-74, Jon Rahm (ESP) 78-77, Stewart Hagestad 81-74, Michael Miller 77-78
156 - Theo Humphrey 84-72, Ryan Evans (ENG) 78-78, Richy Werenski 76-80, Jacob Bergeron 81-75
157 - Yu Chun An (TPE) 76-81, Ernie Els (RSA) 78-79, Lucas Herbert (AUS) 83-74, David Gazzolo 76-81, Alexander Levy (FRA) 77-80
158 - Kenny Perry 79-79, Martin Kaymer (GER) 83-75, Adam Hadwin (CAN) 83-75, Rikuya Hoshino (JPN) 79-79, Ryan Lumsden (SCO) 82-76, James Morrison (ENG) 81-77, Franklin Huang 82-76, Timothy Wiseman 83-75, Garrett Rank (CAN) 83-75, Dylan Frittelli (RSA) 78-80, Satoshi Kodaira (JPN) 81-77, Kristoffer Reitan (NOR) 81-77
159 - Shota Akiyoshi (JPN) 82-77, Noah Goodwin 81-78, Harry Ellis (ENG) 80-79, Shintaro Ban 81-78, Sulman Raza 82-77
160 - Michael Hebert 87-73
161 - Philip Barbaree 82-79
163 - Michael Block 85-78
167 - Scott Gregory (ENG) 92-75
