The second round of the US Open can be described in just two words: Tiger and Beau.  There are other stories out there, but these two gentlemen are the stories of the day, and possibly the entire week.

But first some of the other stories out from day two:  Jim Furyk plays steady while making a few putts to shot a second round 69 and to finish very early in the day at -1 under.  Little did he or anyone else know that he would be the 36 hole score to beat.  Furyk’s playing partner Graeme McDowell had a great round going and got to -2 under for the championship, before bogeying three of his last four (their group started on 9 tee box) to finish with a 36 hole score of +1.  KJ Choi and Charles Schwartzel both finished their second rounds with an even par 70 to find themselves just four shots back at +3.  Neither player got much TV time, but both played very well and are very much in contention coming into the weekend.  Another big name and someone expected to do great things at this US Open is Jason Dufner.  Jason is in that huge bunch of players at +3.  With rounds of 72 and 71 respectively, Jason played his very steady game of fairways and greens, if his Scotty Cameron putter gets hot, he is going to be shaking the Tiger tree.  Matt Kuchar and Hunter Mahan are also at the +3 group of players.  Mahan carded a 7 on the par four 6th and still manged to shoot a 71.  He would have been much lower if not for that dreaded US Open triple bogey, but then again it wouldn’t be the US Open if there weren’t a few 7’s keeping players from the final groups.

Tiger Woods played another stellar round of 70 with a few ups and downs of his own.  Some of the television commentators stated that Tiger hadn’t put two great rounds together back to back in some time, but after his second round 70 no one can say that.  With a birdie on the 3rd hole getting Tiger to -2 and in the lead, he fell a little bit in the three hole stretch of 5,6,7.  There was a funny lie in a bunker, another missed green, and then the dreaded three wiggle on 7 (no one likes to go from thinking birdie to bogey) to find himself lower on the total pole at +1.  But this is Tiger Woods we are talking about, one of the greatest players of all time.  Second to only one man when it comes to Major championships.  With birdies on 10 and 13 Tiger got back into a tie for the lead at -1 and pared his last five holes in.  With two par 5’s that is not the best of finishes, but he finished strong and in a tie for the lead.  Anyone out there know how many times Tiger Woods has found himself the 36 hole leader in a Major Championship?  NINE times, and of those 9 times how many times he raised the trophy?  EIGHT times. That is an impressive stat, and I am not sure that the rest of the field is ready for a pre-08 Tiger on the loose.

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Beau Hossler. Amateurs fresh from their high school final exams and a second-place finish in their state golf tournament don’t lead the U.S. Open.  Bobby Jones is dead, and with him the thought of an amateur winning our national championship. Beau Hossler did lead the US Open for two holes, by himself, with style and grace of someone much older, no matter what happens the last two days, Beau lead the US Open outright for a few holes.  There are not many people who can say that, and no one has thought about an amateur doing it in oh a 100 years, and for that amateur to be 17…OMG.  Quickly, Beau became the second hottest topic – internationally no less – on Twitter, which for those of you who don’t know is a big deal, not US Open big deal, but Kim Kardasian big deal.  Beau has a brilliant career in front of him, and I am sure we will see him leading a Major championship sometime in the near future.

David Toms will wrap up our little recap of the 2012 US Open at Olympic Club.  The 45 year old Major Champion has matched the Tiger day for day so far.  With an opening 69 and a second round 70 (same scores as Mr. Woods) David finds himself in the 36 hole lead.  David’s Major Victory:  he won the 2001 PGA Championship by one stroke ahead of Phil Mickelson. His winning score of 265 in the 2001 PGA Championship is the lowest absolute 72-hole score ever recorded in a major championship.  His best finish in a US Open – T5.  This doesn’t mean that I do not have the up most confidence in David.  I mean he is hitting the ball great, putting very well, and he is a seasoned veteran.  Plus this is Olympic Club… the Underdog’s Championship Course.  If history is to repeat itself, then the story would play out that David Toms would beat Tiger Woods on the 72nd hole, and steal Goliath (I mean Tiger’s) fourth US Open, and 15th all time major.  That would make for great television, and would ensure that Toms would have a Hall of Fame career.

But we are going to have to wait until Monday to see how this story plays out…