ARDMORE, Pa. — Jim Furyk began this week on many prognosticators’ short list of favorites to win the U.S. Open.
It made sense. Furyk is a straight driver of the ball. He is a terrific putter. And he grew up not too far west of Merion and loves the old-school Northeast golf courses.
Furyk, who won the 2003 U.S. Open, called this week’s experience “definitely towards the bottom’’ in terms of memories after he shot 16-over par (77-79) and will miss the cut by a mile.
“I’m not sure if I’ve thrown up two worse scores,’’ Furyk said Friday. “I don’t think I’ve played worse for 36 holes.’’
He was not alone. A number of the world’s best players will miss the cut and others are hovering around the cut line, which is projected at 6-over par but expected to go to at least 7-over with the completion of the second round, which is set to begin at 7:15 a.m. today.
Masters champion Adam Scott, Lee Westwood, Memorial winner Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker are 7-over par. Dustin Johnson is 8-over and has an outside shot if the cut moves.
Keegan Bradley finished far from the cut line at 12-over. Two-time major winner Angel Cabrera finished 15-over. There was carnage everywhere.
Furyk said this one stings more than most because he wanted to play well in his home state.
“To come back here and play like this is a bummer,’’ he said. “I’m 43, and there’s not going to be another tournament here at Merion through my career. I wanted to play well, and sometimes you press, try a little too hard. There were a lot of things that went astray in my game. I thought my way around the course poorly, I putted poorly, I drove the ball poorly. You can’t do that at a U.S. Open.’’
This disappointment comes a year after Furyk felt as if he had the U.S. Open trophy in his hands at Olympic Club before a damaging bogey on the 16th hole on Sunday derailed his chances.
“Oakmont, Winged Foot and Olympic Club were far more disappointing, to get so close, and I felt like I got kicked in the stomach on all three of those, to lose by a shot of two when I could have won,’’ Furyk said. “So to miss the cut by one or 40 it doesn’t matter. But it sticks with you for a while.’’
* Furyk’s entire group, which included 2010 U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell and former Masters champion Zach Johnson, flamed out.
The three combined to shoot 40-over par for the two rounds (McDowell was 13-over and Johnson 11-over) and are sure to miss the cut.
“I’m temporarily dejected,’’ McDowell said, putting his plight into perfect perspective. “I’ll shake it off and get ready for the [British] Open Championship.’’
* Two amateurs, Cheng-Tsung Pan and Michael Kim are on the first page of the leaderbard. Pan, from Taiwan, is even par for the tournament and 2-under for his second round with nine holes to play this morning. Kim is through 12 holes of his second round and is 1-over.
“I knew the scoring was going to be tough,” said Pan, a 21-year old from the University of Washington. “This atmosphere here is great. I came to the U.S. Open 2011, and I just fell in love with this kind of atmosphere. Personally I feel I belong to that kind of place. I just want to be here always.”
Kim, a 19-year-old from Cal-Berkeley, said he is “trying not to think about’’ making the cut, saying, “Low expectations and whatever happens, happens.’’
* John Nieporte, the son of longtime Winged Foot pro Tom, missed the cut in his first U.S. Open at age 46, shooting 84 after an opening-round 78 to finish 22-over par. Nieporte is the pro at Donald Trump’s Trump International in West Palm Beach, Fla.