Patrick Cantlay can't find a bounce back birdie so closes out his front nine with another simple par - he's had seven of those and one birdie in what has generally been a very comfortable front nine for him.

BUT, that one hole, the eighth, has cost him dear, and just shows that any mistakes around Pinehurst will cost you big numbers in a hurry.

Two tidy chips from Ludvig Aberg, who walks down the par-four eighth with a two-shot lead, after putting his tee shot into the rough leaves himself with a 15-foot putt for par.

Dustin Johnson's third shot, a chip from behind the green, is very well-placed, putting himself four feet away from the hole.

Tony Finau was the closest with his approach to the green. He leaves his 32-foot uphill putt for birdie just short, tapping in for par.

Aberg is made to pay for his error off the tee, unable to put away his par putt and taking a bogey.

From where Johnson was after two, he did really well to salvage par.

Atta'boy Brooks Koepka and a pearly grin breaks out across his face.

That's how you putt from off the green as he drills in from 40 feet.

A first birdie of the day.

Was Collin Morikawa watching? His approach is dazzling but he's missed from seven feet for birdie.

Image source, EPA

Maybe Patrick Cantlay can relate to what Tyrrell Hatton had to say earlier about the mental challenge at the US Open.

Asked what goes through his head, he said: "Sort of internally screaming for the most part. There's just no rest. There's no easy shots. It's quite a stressful five and a half hours. But it is what it is."

Hatton probably had a fair point today after his approach shot on 13 landed on the edge of the hole, bounced out and rolled fully off the green and into a bunker.

"Some guys can bottle it up," Hatton added. I'm always pretty good at just showing you how I feel. I'm not afraid to just get it out of my system.

"Although this week I'm trying not to sort of blow up too much because I'm trying to give myself a little bit of grace on occasions."

Ironic that I'm using the comments of a chap called Hatt-on to empathise with Cantlay.

Tiger Woods shoots through the green on the ninth and is in a horrible spot near the stand and camera tower. This has to be so precise. He is chipping uphill and could run straight through the green, or if it's not got enough gas on, this could slide right back down to his feet.

It does the latter. His second attempt a little bump and run is so much better and provides a bogey putt from inside five feet. Which he rolls in. Probably a result considering.

Will Zalatoris is impaired by the camera tower so gets a free drop. He barely stays on the green but sinks a superb left-to-right putt from 30 feet to save his par.

Matt Fitzpatrick can't get up and down from the sand and like Woods, drops a shot.

After being rock solid so far, out of nowhere Patrick Cantlay falls to pieces on the either, where he eventually manages to sink a 12-footer just for a double bogey!

Cantlay made a complete mess of things from off the back of the green, chipping right across and off the other side, then failing to get up the slope, eventually getting on the dancefloor at the third attempt.

That's a massive blow for someone who had not had one ounce of trouble so far.

A rare slip-up for Ludvig Aberg.

For the first time in this US Open, he fails to find the fairway on this par-four eighth.

Dustin Johnson however finds the fairway with a classic DJ fade, great to see.

At the par-four seventh, Ludvig Aberg, Tony Finau and Dustin Johnson all go in similar territory towards the front left of the green. Finau and Aberg land on, Johnson strays off and has to chip on.

Putting for par from 39 feet, Johnson goes close, tapping in for bogey.

Finau is up next for birdie. From 25 feet, he sets up a tap in for par.

Aberg also gets himself into good distance to take par from four feet.

Fine judgement from Brooks Koepka on these lightning greens as he takes aim from 50 feet and gets it to hold up just past the flag.

A well-judged par from the five-time major winner.

Collin Morikawa is putting from off the green and he nudges it in close to secure his par.

Sadly for Justin Thomas, a third bogey of the day leaves him nine over par.

A rare mistake from Patrick Cantlay as he's too aggressive with his approach to the eighth green, lands it pin high but that's too far and it rolls off the back of the green - leaving a tester of a chip coming back.

After all that excitement of a birdie on the last, Patrick Cantlay gets back to business with a fifth par of his round.

Bet you can't guess how his hole went? That's right, he hit the fairway, the green, left just over 20 feet and two-putted for par, leaving less than a foot for his four.

Tiger Woods is through the first eight holes at level par. He played this same stretch of holes on Thursday in three over. Just a question of his staying power now surely.

Three birdies in four holes for Nico Echevarria and he has moved to one-under-par for his US Open campaign.

It is the Colombian's third appearance at a major, having not made the cut at either of his two previous ventures.

No birdies but a fine duo of scrambling pars from Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa at 16.

JT seemed to have recovered from being up against a grandstand off the tee but has drifted his par putt beyond the hole.

Back to eight over.

Will Zalatoris' cadde Joel Stock tells him to "be the artist" as he tries to get out of the rough down the right and feed his ball into the left of the eighth green.

He hits a low punchy shot that does just that. Matt Fitzpatrick and Tiger Woods, who doesn't seem entirely happy with his iron play, also plot the same course. You could throw a large tent over their three balls.

All three of this trio have decent tee shots on the par-three sixth. None more so than Tony Finau, landing off the right side of the green, but only 15 feet from the pin.

Ludvig Aberg's 44-foot birdie putt up the slope is a great effort, but he follows up from close range for par.

Dustin Johnson's chip from the back leaves him needing to put from 15 feet for par. His effort lips out of the right side of the hole.

Finau's birdie chance goes close, but he does take a tap-in for par.

Johnson has to settle for a bogey.

Just one birdie on the 16th so far today and it's still only the sixth-hardest on the course.

Spraying each and every way off the tee won't help this trio of Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa improve that statistic.

A birdie chance comes and goes for Matthieu Pavon on the 13th, albeit a difficult one.

The Frenchman, who is hardly a regular at the majors having only competing in only his fifth since 2019, just doesn't hit that.

Colombia's Nico Echevarria has started his second round very well.

After three holes, he has a two-under-par start to this round, finding birdies on holes 10 and 11 to move him back to even-par.

Image source, Getty Images

It had to come eventually, as Patrick Cantlay left himself that 20-foot range again after a fine tee shot to the 228-yard par-three sixth hole.

He's had a look from around this range on every hole so far, so it was only a matter of time before he rolled one in - as he does here to join Ludvig Aberg out in front.