Viktor Hovland is among the players who need a strong second round to get to the weekend.
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UPDATE: As of 8 p.m. ET on Friday, the projected cut remains four over, with 78 players at four over or better. Matt Kuchar, Tyrrell Hatton, Cameron Champ and Abraham Ancer are all at five over with a few holes remaining.
As the second round of the 2021 U.S. Open winds down on Friday evening, several big-name players will be watching the U.S. Open cut line and/or trying to make one final surge to make sure they are well under it.
The 2021 U.S. Open field at Torrey Pines consisted of 156 pros and amateurs, but only the top 60 and ties advance to the weekend.
[This story will be updated as the projected cut line moves on Friday.]
U.S. Open 2021 projected cut
The projected cut as of 6 p.m. ET is four-over par with 85 players at or below that number, and several others are still batting to get back inside it. (The second round of the tournament is expected to finish around 10 p.m. ET.)
Jordan Spieth rebounded from an opening-day 77 to shot 69 on Friday, so at four over he’s safe for the weekend.
Other marquee players still have work to do. As of this writing, Phil Mickelson, Collin Morikawa, Billy Horschel and Gary Woodland are all three over early in their second rounds, and Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Matt Kuchar, Max Homa and Cameron Champ are all four over. Viktor Hovland and Tony Finau are five over but have lots of golf remaining.
One of the tournament favorites, Webb Simpson (nine over, thru 4), is already in big trouble, while another favorite, Justin Rose (13 over), is already done for the week.
As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.