2024 U.S. Open Round 2: Tiger Woods’s Retirement Tease, Phil Mickelson’s Exit & Ludvig Aberg’s Triumph

It truly was an eventful day at Pinehurst for it was the round that decided a lot of fates at the major. The first day of the 2024 U.S. Open was fraught with a lot of bizarre events, including Scottie Scheffler failing to meet everyone’s expectations and the course dishing out extremely difficult holes. But it looks like Friday took it up a notch and surprised everyone in the community.

A total of 156 golfers had teed it up at the iconic course on Thursday. But only 74 of them managed to qualify for the third round, forcing the rest to leave early for home. Part of the latter group was the legend of the game, Tiger Woods, who even went ahead to tease his retirement in the post-round conference.

Unforgettable moments of the second round at The U.S. Open

1. Tiger Woods’s possible retirement: It was the 15th hole at Pinehurst No. 2. The 48-year-old made his birdie shot and was waiting for the ball to roll into the cup. Fate, however, had other plans for the 15-time major champ. The spheroid lipped out and denied him a birdie that would have allowed him to make a cut at what could possibly be his final U.S. Open appearance (say that again?!).

The post-round conference saw him disclosing his plans for the future as the 82-time PGA Tour champ said, “I’ve only got one more tournament this season,” while alluding to the 152nd Open Championship. But what surprised the community was his following comment: “As far as my last Open Championship or U.S. Open Championship, I don’t know what that is. It may or may not be.”

Although the golfer hasn’t confirmed whether it would really be his final U.S. Open appearance, he has made it clear it would be his penultimate appearance with the final one coming at Royal Troon. “I don’t think even if I win the British Open I don’t think I’ll be in the Playoffs,” confessed Woods as he hinted at the FedEx Cup playoffs.

2. Phil Mickelson fails at another career grand slam chance: Perhaps, not every story needs a grand ending, just like ‘Lefty’ and the U.S. Open. The pro made a dismal start on Thursday when he carded a round filled with just bogeys, and nine of them at that. Mickelson followed the same with another birdie-free round on Friday, which saw him carding another four bogeys and a double bogey on the par-4 18th.

The 3-time Masters champ’s figures of 15-over par 155 (79-76) marked an end to his 32nd appearance at the U.S. Open as well as another failed opportunity at a career grand slam. Moreover, the early exit makes it Mickelson’s 7th missed cut at the major championship, the first of which took place in 1992 at the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

The question naturally arises; How long has the LIV golfer left to achieve the feat? Well, the athlete only has one more chance to do so owing to his 2021 PGA Championship victory. As per the rules, the past five winners of the said major will be granted an exemption into the event. Mickelson’s run, unfortunately, will come to an end in 2025 unless the USGA decides to give him another chance or he qualifies by himself in another way.

3. Ludvig Aberg’s phenomenal rise: “The guy is like a machine, from what I saw,” exclaimed an impressed Tony Finau while referring to the Swede. The two had teed off together alongside Dustin Johnson from the first tee at 1:36 P.M. That wasn’t all. The Utah native didn’t shy away from dishing out more praises as he said, “It’s the first time I’ve ever played with him… I obviously am focused on what I’m doing and playing my game, but he hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. He sure makes it look pretty easy.”

Finau’s reaction does not come as a surprise, especially after taking a look at Aberg’s gameplay. The 2023 RSM Classic champ carded a total of nine birdies while just hitting four bogeys in his figures of 5-under 135 (66-69) over the two days. He was also able to shoot past the likes of Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay, both of whom had dominated the scoreboard on Day 1.

The athlete divulged his mindset behind the amazing performance at the U.S. Open as well. “It demands a lot of discipline and patience coming into these greens,” said Aberg before pointing out the need for acceptance in his gameplay. “I just have to play with a lot of acceptance. I have to make sure that it’s not going to be perfect all the time. Most likely all players in the field are going to have a struggle at some point during the round, and whenever that shows up, it’s just one of them.”

Although as many as 82 athletes failed to make the cut to play on Moving Day, the excitement is far from over. Or better yet, it just entered its final phase. The remaining two rounds at the U.S. Open will surely dish out scintillating performances and will, no doubt, keep the viewers and fans in their seats.