Sam Burns finally blinks. Rough to rough is usually a recipe for disaster at Oakmont and the American is unable to salvage par after fluffing his third from greenside guff.

He'll be hoping it's a mere blip, rather than the start of anything serious.

Who is this Viktor Hovland on the putting greens? It's certainly nothing like the guy we saw yesterday struggle with the flat stick.

He did make a 35 footer on the last yesterday for a birdie, yet still ranked 147th out of 156 in the putting stats, but he's putting like a dream today.

It wasn't the best approach to the first as he left himself 23 feet but now he's putting like Tiger Woods in his pomp he rolls that one in to grab that shot right back that he lost at the last.

He's maybe not playing like Tiger but he's got the eye of the tiger right now.

Laurie Canter is going along very nicely indeed so far today with one birdie and no dropped shots on his card after five holes.

The Englishman is currently T16 on a course he said before the tournament that an 18 handicapper would fail to finish due to how tough it is.

He's doing alright though.

Image source, Getty Images

Im Sung-jae's challenge is fading a little here.

He follows a bogey on the eighth with another on the ninth and he's back to two over par for the tournament, six off the lead.

Brooks Koepka is haemorrhaging shots right now. He missed the second fairway with an iron and then slaps his second from there into a greenside bunker, and that leads to another bogey.

The five-time major winner might need a good talking to from his coach Pete Cowen.

Here comes JT though - successive birdies and he's at 10 over. Before you JT fans get too giddy though, he's joint 131st and it's top 60 and ties that make it through to the weekend.

The approach to the first looks so easy from a distance, but straight down the hill 150-160 yards away with no hazards in front of you - we've seen plenty of videos putting it from here and getting close.

Certainly close than Scottie Scheffler who seems to get his numbers all wrong when hitting his wedge down what in reality is almost like hitting off a cliff - as he pulls up way short.

Viktor Hovland is better by about 20 yards but still not brilliant. Looks can be deceptive!

For those of you who like these sorts of stats... this just in from the USGA...

Putting green speeds ranged from the upper 14s to the low 15s on the Stimpmeter and will settle to the upper 14s as the day goes on. We double cut and double rolled all greens this morning.

Water Management – Water was applied as needed to maintain turf health.

Today’s yardage:

• Front 9 - ​​3,798
• Back 9 - ​​3,584
• Total​​ - 7,382

The rough was not cut.

Im Sung-jae finds the bunker off the eighth tee and makes four. Im, who led for a spell yesterday, is three over for his round today, without a birdie on the card.

Tyrrell Hatton's tee shot settles right at the front of the green but he's a long, long way away from the cup. The Englishman can't get down in two from there and he, too, drops a shot on the mammoth par three.

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Focused but relaxed I'd describe Viktor Hovland as over those first nine holes, which he's played in in three under par, with two birdies, that magnificent chip-in eagle and just the one bogey.

He'll know by now that he's right in the thick of things now so this back nine for him, the front nine of the course, will be very interesting.

Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth find trouble off the tee on nine and drop shots as a result.

Spieth has to take a penalty drop on his way to a double bogey, which means he reaches the turn in 40 strokes.

Dustin Johnson, who was five over at the end of his first round, bogeyed his first hole today but has made eight straight pars since then.

Oh, so close for Viktor Hovland with his par save on 18 as his effort from 20 feet looks in all the way but just runs out of steam a roll short.

It's a nice putt though which will please Hovland as he drops just the one shot - which will happen plenty of times at Oakmont, especially when you miss a fairway.

Super touch by Brooks Koepka, judging the pace of his putt to almost perfection. He barely breathes on the back of the ball and it takes an age to trickle down the slope to six-inch kick-in range.

Another shot gone though.

Image source, Getty Images

Canada's Corey Conners is two under for his round through eight holes today and is yet to card a bogey so far.

He's one of a number of players on the fringes of the leading group at the moment - from here, with scoring tricky, a solid finish will surely see him among the later groups to go out on Saturday.

Conners missed the cut in each of his first five appearances at the US Open, before finishing in a tie for ninth last year at Pinehurst.

Brooks Koepka just needs to steady himself a bit here. A wayward tee shot to the right cost him a stroke on the 18th and he's tugged his opener on the first into a bunker down the left.

A hack out is all he can muster and he then plays a 5/10 wedge from 70 yards, his ball checking up short of the slope that leads down to the hole. That means he's got a brute of a 30-footer for par coming up.

Spot of bother here for Viktor Hovland on 18 as he finds the right rough off the tee and draws a stinking lie - but he calmly takes his medicine and just stabs the ball onto the fairway, and then hits his third from 150 that's OK but not great, so work to do with that putt for a par.

Samuel Burns started round two on the 10th and, like JJ Spaun on Thursday, has completed his first nine holes in four under par. Four birdies, no bogeys.

His latest was an eight-footer on the 18th. He just can't miss today.

While Viktor Hovland is putting on a short game clinic, Scottie Scheffler just can't get anything going - even when he hammers his tee shot about 50 feet from the hole on 17.

So an outside squeak for an eagle two but definitely on for a birdie right? Wrong! He knocks his second to 12 feet, so not bad but not great and work to do for birdie.

But he then knocks that five feet past and misses the par save coming back! So from being on the edge of the green in one, he takes four to get the ball in the hole and cards a five.

Jon Rahm is not happy with his efforts on the eighth.

The Spaniard's tee shot lands in the rough and his chip misses the mark, but he does well to limit the damage to just a bogey with a long-range two-putt.

From 23 feet, Brooks Koepka opts for about six feet of borrow. That's about a foot too much and the American is left with a three-foot knee-knocker coming back... it grabs the left edge and drops. It was one of those where the fans thought he'd missed it before gravity took over.

Justin Thomas misses for par from similar range and he's five over for his front nine, while Min Woo Lee knocks in a birdie to keep alive his faint hopes.

Golf shot Viktor Hovland!

The Norwegian's much-maligned short game (he famously said himself he "sucks" at chipping) comes up trumps as he lands an eagle on the 17th.

He bombs his drive 312 yards on the short par four but into the thick rough just off the green, and it's a quick chip too with the green running away from him, but he extricates himself beautifully and sends his ball rolling nicely down the slope.

It tracks towards the hole and hits the pin before dropping into the hole for an eagle two! And all of a sudden Hovland is three under and tied for second place.