Jon Rahm and Joaquín Niemann crash at the US Open

(AFP) American golfer Sam Burns took an unexpected lead at the U.S. Open on Friday. It was a nightmare second round for numerous stars including Spaniard Jon Rahm and Chilean Joaquín Niemann, the latter missing the cut.

Burns, who has never finished in the top 5 of a Major tournament, was among the few who managed to tame the stage of Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania, which has become a real battlefield.

The Louisiana-born player finished his second round with a score of 65 (-5), equaling the third best score in any of the 10 U.S. Opens ever played at Oakmont.

Burns' strong day put him atop the leaderboard with a cumulative 137 strokes (-3), one ahead of the previous leader, his compatriot J.J. Spaun, and two ahead of Norwegian player Viktor Hovland.

These three were the only ones under par on the course when the second round had to be suspended due to the onset of rain, with 13 golfers still unfinished.

"It felt like I played really well. Today was really nice," Burns said of his day. "There's obviously a lot of golf left on a very tough course."

Burns will enter the decisive weekend with a considerable lead over the big title favorites, starting with American Scottie Scheffler.

The world No. 1, who improved his performance on Friday with 71 strokes (+1), was in 23rd place seven strokes behind Burns.

His impressive comeback record, however, prevents Scheffler from being counted out of contention for a second straight Major trophy, following his victory at the PGA Championship in May.

"Today was, I think with the way I was hitting, it was easily a day I could have been going home and battled pretty hard to stay in there," Scheffler said.

"Overall, [I'm] definitely not out of the tournament," warned the American star, a winner in three of his last four events.

"It's frustrating"

Rahm, who got off to a great start on Thursday, suffered a huge setback on Friday in a hellish round of 75 (+5), with four bogeys and a double bogey.

"I didn't make a putt, that was the main difference. I didn't play bad. I played quite good golf. Didn't see anything go in beside a seven-footer on 7," said an upset Rahm in his terse appearance before the press.

"Honestly, I'm too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective," he said. "Very few rounds of golf I played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn't sniff the hole, so it's frustrating."

Rahm, Spain's only champion in this event with his 2021 victory, is in 23rd place at Oakmont, a venue always threatening because of its ultra-fast greens, tricky bunkers and thick, high rough.

Grillo and Ortiz advance

Among the Latin American delegation, Argentine Emiliano Grillo and Mexican Carlos Ortiz finished their second rounds with 72 (+2) and sit in 12th place, six strokes off the lead.

Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas (+4) also earned a spot for the weekend, while behind the cut line were Chilean Joaquín Niemann and Colombian Nico Echavarria.

Niemann repeated a disappointing round of 75 strokes (+5) and said goodbye to an event he was coming into in top form after winning his fourth tournament of the year on the Saudi LIV Golf circuit.

American Bryson DeChambeau, defending champion, also suffered the ravages of Oakmont and was eliminated with a two-day score of +10.

American Phil Mickelson (+8) also missed the cut. At 54, he could have played the last U.S. Open of his extraordinary career.

Fans in attendance Friday were also treated to a spectacular hole-in-one by Frenchman Victor Perez on the par-3 sixth hole.

From 175 yards out, Perez hit a ball that bounced twice off the green before rolling into the hole.