PINEHURST, N.C. — David Puig was fully aware he needed to make it to the weekend at the U.S. Open to make it to the Paris Olympics next month, and he had a whole lot of work to do after opening with a 76 on Thursday at Pinehurst No. 2.
The 22-year-old Spaniard answered the call Friday with four birdies on the front nine, and he balanced a bogey that again put him on the ropes with another birdie on the back side. The result was a second round of 2-under-par 68 that left him at 4 over for the tournament and inside the cut line, which moved to plus-5 late in the day when Brooks Koepka stumbled on his final hole.
“There was not a mindset at all. I hit terrible yesterday and just, you know, worked on the range. The mindset was just try to hit it good,” said Puig, who left Arizona State University in September 2022 to turn pro and join the LIV Golf League. “I think I did a good job today.”
Puig, who will represent Spain in France, wasn’t the only one who exhaled in relief at the end of a tough day at brutally hot Pinehurst.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking by a wide margin, followed a first-round 71 with a 74 to make the cut on the number. Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Cameron Young were also at 5 under.
Sahith Theegala had perhaps the most impressive rally, following his opening 77 with a round of 68 on Friday.
There were plenty of big names headed home, too. Viktor Hovland shot a 68 on Friday but still missed the cut by one. So did Max Homa and 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose.
Tiger Woods was in the group another shot back, and the 15-time major winner said afterward he doesn’t know what the future holds for him at the United States Golf Association’s national championship.
Woods won the U.S. Open in 2000, 2002 and 2008. He accepted a special exemption to play this week at Pinehurst, where he finished third in the U.S. Open in 1999 and second in 2005 but didn’t compete in 2014 due to one of his back surgeries.
“In order to win a golf tournament, you have to make the cut. I can’t win the tournament from where I’m at, so it certainly is frustrating,” Woods said after his 13th consecutive round without breaking par in a major. “It just didn’t work out. As far as my last Open Championship or U.S. Open Championship, I don’t know what that is. It may or may not be.”
Justin Thomas, who got some advice on the range from Woods after his opening 77, fared little better with a 74 that left him 11 over. The two-time PGA Championship winner has missed the cut in five of his past seven majors.
There were three amateurs among the 74 players who made the cut. Gunnar Broin, who plays at the University of Kansas, was at 3 over after a second-round 68. Neal Shipley also was at 3 over and Luke Clanton at 5 over.
Ludvig Aberg held the lead heading into the weekend. He was at 5 under, one shot clear of Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau and Thomas Detry.
As for Puig, the decision to turn pro and join LIV came with some ramifications.
Olympic teams are decided by the OWGR, but ranking points are not rewarded for results on the Saudi-backed tour, which plays 54-hole events with no cuts. And LIV players are ineligible for PGA Tour events, the most straightforward way to rack up points.
Puig had a plan, though. He could still play the Asian Tour on weekends off from LIV. So he began a globe-trekking march in which he played just about everywhere from Malaysia and Oman to Hong Kong and Macau. Along with a string good results, his wins at the International Series event in Singapore and the Malaysian Open vaulted him up the OWGR.
With two-time major winner Jon Rahm already assured of one of Spain’s spots at Le Golf National, the site of the 2018 Ryder Cup, Puig had to make the cut to jump Jorge Campillo, who began this week one spot ahead in the OWGR but did not qualify for the U.S. Open.
“You know, at some points I was thinking about it,” Puig said of his round Friday. “Those little thoughts kind of come and go, and at the end of the day, you know, if you’re thinking about it, it’s good, because it means you’re doing the right thing.”
Puig did just enough right at Pinehurst on Friday. And now he can call himself an Olympian.