Hlas: Zach Johnson frustrated, but plays on in U.S. Open

TOWN OF ERIN, Wis. — It was 7:15 Friday night, Zach Johnson had just played over five hours of golf in some pretty fierce heat for June in Wisconsin, and his day hadn't been close to what it had once looked like it could have been.

On top of that, he faced an 8:37 a.m. start time for Saturday's third round in the U.S. Open. He will be done playing before the leaders have reached the first tee. Johnson and Matt Kuchar will be the second of 34 pairings to hit the course.

But instead of immediately seeking food and rest, Johnson went to the putting green for a while before leaving Erin Hills Golf Course for the night. There is more than a little work involved in this pro golf thing.

Johnson used the words 'frustrating' and 'frustrated' repeatedly in a post-round interview Friday night before he pulled the putter back out of his bag for a little night work.

He had birdied three of his first four holes and was at 3-under-par overall on a day when no one posted a 36-hole total of better than 7-under. His birdie putts were no gimmies, at 12, 8, and 15 feet. He looked like he was making a move toward the tourney's leaderboard.

But consecutive bogeys at Nos. 9 and 10 and again at 17 and 18 left him with a 2-over 74 and a 2-day total of 1-over 145.

That got him into the weekend here, but on the 36-hole cut line, and eight shots behind co-leaders Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood, Brian Harman and Brooks Koepka. That's two Brits and two Americans, and no one you'd recognize if you saw them in the Tally Ho Pub & Grill a mile from Erin Hills.

Meanwhile, the top three ranked players in the world — Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day — all missed the cut.

Strange U.S. Open. Frustrating to many.

'Very frustrated with my finish,' Johnson said. 'I actually made a good bogey on 17. I executed 18. I hit five good shots and tapped in for a 6 (on the par-5). That's very frustrating.

'I almost hit a 7-iron on my third shot and decided to hit a hard 8 and I still went long. I'm speechless.'

So he tees it up again Saturday morning and will try to advance from his current tie for 55th place.

'Everything's fine,' Johnson said. 'I didn't score and then I hit a couple loose shots off the tee that cost me my day. It's just frustrating, like I said. That's not good golf.'

It hasn't been a banner year to date by Johnson's high standards. The 12-time PGA Tour winner hasn't had a top-10 finish since March. He has dropped to 70th in the World Golf Rankings after being 10th at the end of the 2015 season.

If he's worried, he's a better actor than Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

'My game's fine,' Johnson said. 'That's the frustrating part. My whole team's just waiting for it to happen. Everything is settled in my bag.'

At least he's still playing this weekend. The other Johnson here, 2016 Open-winner Dustin, isn't. Nor are McIlroy and Day, marking the first time the world's top three players all missed the cut in a major.

'If you look at the golf course and you even talk to me, Jason or Rory, this course sets up perfect for us,' Dustin Johnson said.

'It's just golf. It's frustrating. But I don't let it bother me.'

It will bother Fox, which is televising this extravaganza, instead. Tommy Fleetwood may not move the needle.