American’s second-round 65 has him alone atop the U.S. Open while favorites like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau struggle.

He shrugged it off afterward, pointing to all the positives instead. He'll wake up Sunday in contention at the U.S. Open. During the tournament's last trip to Oakmont nine years ago, he shot back-to-back 76s to miss the weekend by six.

Scheffler, despite his struggles, played well enough to reach the weekend, as did Rory McIlroy, who birdied No. 18 to close at 6-over before continuing his bizarre anti-media petulant pouting campaign and blowing off interview requests.

As a result, many golfers become close with each other, which is exactly what happened with Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. The two golfers have developed as players simultaneously, of course with Scheffler reaching heights far higher than Burns thus far.

Sam Burns was selected as Amanda Balionis' U.S. Open pick - and the American is in contention at Oakmont, after an impressive second round saw him card a 65 to sit at three-under

Sam Burns bolted to the lead in the U.S. Open with a brilliant 5-under 65 on Friday. Can he hold it on moving day? Just three players remain under par heading into the weekend at Oakmont, which spent most of Friday chewing up and spitting out everyone but Burns, who sits at 3-under, one shot ahead of J.J. Spaun.

Scottie Scheffler prepped for the 125th U.S. Open with a Wednesday practice round with Sam Burns. Here’s what that looked like.

With this week's U.S. Open offering 750 FedEx Cup points to the winner, there might be some major reshuffling when it's over.