US Open Leaderboard 2013: Top Day 3 Storylines and Live Updates

Golfers didn't get pelted with torrential downpours in their second day of the 2013 U.S. Open, but they certainly got a more than good enough idea as to why the USGA chose Merion Golf Club as this year's host site. 

Heading into this week, there were many who thought the relatively short East Course would lead to low scores as greens were softened by the rain. Friday answered that question with a resounding no.

While conditions weather-wise remained pristine throughout the day, many of the world's top names buckled under with marsh-like roughs, and near-impossible pin placements sent scores skyrocketing.

Round 2, which will continue at 7:15 a.m. ET due to Friday's action being suspended because of darkness, saw only three golfers play 18 holes of under-par golf. (There are four golfers who are under par with holes to play.)

Chiefly among those players was co-leader Billy Horschel, who fired off a three-under 67 on a day that saw 27 golfers fire off rounds at least 10 shots worse. Horschel's core matches the first round of Phil Mickelson, who is tied with Horschel at one-under for the tournament after shooting a second-round 72.

Sitting beneath Mickelson and Horschel in the clubhouse at even par is a trio of familiar names: Luke Donald, Justin Rose and Ian Poulter. Stricker and Rose joined Horschel as the other two players with under-par rounds on Friday.

To put that in perspective, here is a look at how scores have been distributed overall through Day 2 action. 

Notice how small the distribution of birdies is compared to bogeys? There have been 1,432 bogeys through Friday versus 587 birdies; this course design isn't fooling around. Even the "other," which accounts for scores not listed, has 37 scores worse than double-bogey against just six eagles. 

And even with the impending cut getting rid of the dregs of the field, course conditions should only get harder on Saturday. With that in mind, here is a look at the top storylines heading into Day 3 action at Merion Golf Club. 

2013 U.S. Open Live Leaderboard

*Scoreboard will be updated live throughout Saturday's round.

Top Storylines

Can Billy Horschel Keep It Up?

Before heading to southeastern Pennsylvania for this week's Open, Billy Horschel had played in exactly one major championship—the U.S. Open in 2006. The years since have seen the 26-year-old Florida graduate struggle to find his place on the PGA Tour, unable to even qualify for any of golf's four major events.

This has been the year Horschel finally found his zone. He's fourth in the FedEx Cup standings, fifth on the money list heading into this week and was on quite the hot streak prior to descending upon Merion. Here's a look at Horschel's last seven tournaments before the U.S. Open:

Tournament	Finish
Houston Open	T-2
Texas Open	T-3
RBC Heritage	T-9
Zurich Classic	1
Players Championship	Cut
Memorial	T-41
St. Jude Classic	T-10

While that's an impressive streak of finishes, notice the two places where he faltered. Memorial and the Players Championship are among the most prestigious non-majors in golf, adorned on two of the most beautiful and challenging courses in the world. Could Horschel's recent ascent merely be him picking and choosing good courses with mediocre competition?

In a word, nope. The 26-year-old Horschel drove a stake right to the heart to Merion's East Course on Friday, navigating the prohibitive conditions with a surprising ease. Key to Horschel's run—as it will be for all golfers this week—was his accuracy. Horschel has hit 74.7 percent of his fairways while driving the ball 298 yards, and he's been a greens-in-regulation menace.

Hitting all 18 of his greens in the allotted strokes in his second round, Horschel became the first person since 1992 to accomplish that feat. And according to Justin Ray of ESPN, Horschel's score of 67 was over seven strokes better than the mean score when he went into the clubhouse: 

That's all well and good. But those scores aren't going to matter much should Horschel start playing like his pre-2013 self again. For his part, though, Horschel seemed self-assured when speaking to Stephanie Wei after his round:

He may not have been a name many were talking about coming into the week—oh wait—but it's tough to bet against one of the PGA's hottest golfers keeping it going.

Will Phil Pull Away?

The man most expect to end Horschel's rain atop the leaderboard permanently is Mickelson, who is tied with his far less covered counterpart at one-under. According to Bovada, Mickelson is 9-2 odds to win the tournament. The next closest golfer in the bookmakers' eyes is at 7-1. It's pretty safe to say people are believing in Phil once again—perhaps for the first time all year.

Lefty gave them plenty reasons for optimism in his first two rounds. With a three-under score of 67 in the first round, he showed the mental fortitude to avoid succumbing to the storm as many around him flailed about. Despite playing in the most difficult portion of the day—conditions eased up a bit in the afternoon, as evidenced by the relatively low scores—Mickelson set the benchmark score for the entire tournament. 

Friday was bit more of a battle. Mickelson picked his spots, tried to keep his nose clean and the pars coming. While he was mostly successful in that endeavor, he had also racked up three bogeys heading into his final hole of the day without a bogey. In typical Mickelson fashion, he had one last surprise for the crowd.

When the final horn sounded for the day, signaling that players could either end their day or finish the hole they were on, Mickelson was standing at No. 18 with a birdie putt for a share of the lead. I don't think I have to tell you what came next.

With that putt, Mickelson found himself (likely) in a 36-hole lead, tied with Horschel. That's not exactly unfamiliar. Mickelson has been a fixture on U.S. Open leaderboards since bursting onto the scene among the world's best in 1999, and he has five second-place finishes at the event. 

The key to that last sentence is second place. Mickelson has been unable to close the deal at a U.S. Open, most notably his 72nd hole collapse at Winged Foot in 2006. This feels like a similar situation. Will Mickelson pull away like the last time he held an 18-hole lead at a major or fall victim to his U.S. Open curse?

What Happens With Rory and Tiger?

If you've noticed, the words "Tiger" or "Rory" did not appear until this sentence. Why, you ask? Because neither has done much of note this week at Merion. The duo, paired together in a move of evil genius by the USGA, have shot matching 73-70 scores in their first two rounds and are part of a hexagonal tied for 17th.

Undoubtedly the biggest looming story for Woods is his injury status. The world's top-ranked golfer noticeably has grimaced in both his Thursday and Friday rounds, though it's not quite clear how much the arm injury is affecting his performance.

Longtime Woods confidante Notah Begay confirmed to Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman that Tiger is suffering from elbow inflammation:  

After Round 2, Woods spoke to reporters about his condition, noting that this isn't an ailment he suffered while pounding through the U.S. Open rough. Golf Channel's Jason Sobel noted that Woods told reporters the injury happened during his Players Championship victory: 

Forgive us if we start having flashbacks to Tiger's last major victory—his 2008 U.S. Open triumph, where he essentially played with one leg dangling from a string. One problem: History says Woods' injury heroics won't repeat. Tiger has never won a major after being in worse than fifth place through 36 holes, per ESPN Stats & Info.

While there are no injury issues for McIlroy, there are ones of consistency. Throughout his second round, the world's second-ranked golfer looked like he was on the precipice of breaking through—and then shot himself in the foot. McIlroy carded four birdies in Round 2, a strong total considering the conditions, but he matched them with four numbers in the opposite direction.

These two are undoubtedly the biggest draws coming into the weekend, Mickelson contention or not. Even if they don't win, it would at least pique a little more intrigue if they get back on the horse with a solid third round.

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