A chaotic back nine from Rory McIlroy in the worst of the conditions at Shinnecock Hills saw him fall out of touch with US Open second-round leader Wyndham Clark who holds a four-shot lead heading into the weekend.
It was a difficult day all round for the Irish contingent. Shane Lowry, on the course early to complete his fog-delayed first round, fell to six-over par and never looked in contention to make the cut following a double bogey at the 11th.
Padraíg Harrington (+11) and Graeme McDowell (+12), who was the early leader on Thursday, also endured difficult rounds, although the former did play his last nine holes in a morale-boosting one-under par.
It means that all Irish hopes will rest on McIlroy, and midway through the second round, he appeared well placed.
However, just when it looked like the Masters champion was going to American Clark’s main challenger, the wheels rapidly came off.
Missing a six-foot birdie putt which would have seen him make the turn three behind the 2023 champion was not the worst crime the world number two made.
But in the strengthening wind he struggled with distance control, going over the back of the green at the 10th, 11th and 12th and making bogey from each.
Shane Lowry missed the cut
He appeared to have recovered with back-to-back birdies, almost holing his approach from 108 yards at the 13th for a tap-in and then having the hole to thank for swallowing up a fiery 40-footer to get back to two under.
Having gone long again at the 15th, his chip back failed to bite and rolled into a bunker, from where he made the first double bogey of the tournament from his group, playing alongside Ryder Cup team-mates Tommy Fleetwood (+1) and Ludvig Aberg (+1).
That dropped him back to level par, seven behind Clark but – taking into the account the difficulty of Shinnecock – by no means out of it in joint 10th.
His front nine was calm by comparison, with seven pars and two birdies at the fifth and eighth to turn in 33, but coming home in 38 for a one-over 71 was not in his plans.
No such issues for Clark who enjoyed a round to remember and he sits four ahead of the quartet of England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, South Korea’s Tom Kim and American duo Xander Schauffele and Sam Stevens who sit on three-under par.
A year ago, 32-year-old Clark was trashing a locker in the historic Oakmont clubhouse after missing the cut in the defence of his title.
Fast-forward 12 months and the facilities manager could rest easy as the American was sitting pretty after a one-under round of 69 kept the gap at four.
“I’ve gotten a lot of grief since last year, rightfully so. The thing that’s unfortunate is that’s not who I am, what happened last year,” he said.
“I’m hoping I can win back the fans that I had or some new fans because it was a terrible incident.
“I really feel like I can show people that I’m fun and outgoing, I’m fierce, competitive, love the game, respect the game, and I just had a bad moment.”
World number one Scottie Scheffler made up some ground with a 68 to move alongside McIlroy at level par, but it was a frustrating round for the grand-slam chasing American.
Joaquin Niemann threw a club – and was punished for it
Scheffler continually left himself mid-range birdie putts but usually so reliable from that distance, he was unable to take advantage.
At the conclusion of the first round Joaquin Niemann was assessed two penalty strokes for throwing a club on the par-four sixth hole, deemed “serious misconduct” under rule 1.2b and the first significant punishment under the newly introduced code of conduct regulations.
The Chilean’s score for that hole, where he drove out of bounds twice, was recorded as an 11 and he signed for an eight-over 78.
Additional reporting: PA