Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed made a formidable pairing at the Ryder Cup so it’s little surprise to see them neck and neck at the top of the leaderboard in a Major championship.
As well as being supremely talented this American duo seem to have the right attitude and fighting spirit to deal with the challenges of Chambers Bay and a US Open.
What makes them a good match-up is they are both brilliant in different ways. Spieth seems to have that steely determination and inner strength while Reed wears his heart on his sleeve.
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Speith is unorthodox but finds ways to get the job done while Reed strikes the ball in a way that amateurs can only dream of.
They’ve been head-to-head in PGA Tour play-offs on two occasions with Spieth coming out on top in their epic battle at this year’s Valspar Championship and Reed triumphing in extra holes at the Wyndham Championship in 2013.
At one stage in Speith’s second round he’d reached -6 and looked capable of pulling away from the field only to be halted by a double on his ninth hole of the day.
But the Masters Champion immediately bounced back with a birdie before carding a 67 to finish -5.
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People say the bobbly greens at Chambers Bay are a leveller but a good putter is a good putter and I’d still expect Spieth to hole more than most.
Reed’s 69 consisted of just six pars with five birdies and eagle cancelling out the six bogeys.
The going at Chambers Bay will get tougher but don’t expect to hear these two moaning about it. They seem to have already rolled their sleeves up in preparation for a scrap.
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as this course gets harder, I’m going to want to strike it better so I can hit less club into these greens" “I struck the ball significantly better with my approach shots,” Spieth said.
“I hit my irons and wedges better today than yesterday, I also putted better today. Still looking for that driver. I hit my 3-wood better today. I’m not striking the driver in the middle of the face.
“But it’s something so minor, maybe a ball position. I’ll find it on the range, I think. I just needed a little time, I didn’t have much time yesterday evening to figure it out.
I was able to find some fairways with it even on the misses. But as this course gets harder, I’m going to want to strike it better so I can hit less club into these greens.”
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Dustin Johnson kept his challenge going with a 71 to sit just one shot back – a position which may suit him going into the weekend as he’s hardly been the best front runner in Majors over the years.
A good sign for him was that his bad holes didn’t turn into horrific ones and he’s yet to card worse than a bogey over his two rounds.
South Africa’s Branden Grace joins Johnson in a tie for third and the six-time European Tour winner looks in good shape after his 67. We’re yet to see Grace in the mix of a Major so will be interesting to see if he can keep it going.
Holland’s Joost Luiten is one further back and is another player who stands out on the European Tour but has yet to make his mark in a Major or on the PGA Tour.
Jason Day is nicely placed on -2 and is another who will welcome the unique challenge.
With the cut at +5, the entire field is within 10 of the lead. However, world number one Rory McIlroy (+4) Phil Mickelson (+3) will still need something special to have a say on the 2015 US Open.
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