McNeill shoots 66 to take a 2-shot lead into the weekend at the US Senior Open

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — George McNeill’s goal was to make the cut in his first U.S. Senior Open.

McNeill not only safely guaranteed he would play the weekend at Scioto Country Club, he shot a 4-under 68 on Friday to open a two-stroke lead.

“Never really had a good feel for U.S. Opens. I don’t know if age is helping me. This Senior Open is obviously I’m doing OK so far,” McNeill said, “There’s a long way to go on the weekend, but to make it to the weekend was my first goal, first step, and then go from there, and we’ll see what happens.”

McNeill was at 6-under 134 on the course Jack Nicklaus grew up playing.

Defending champion Padraig Harrington was second after a 67.

“I seem to be a little bit tentative with my approach shots,” Harrington said. “Obviously I’m in a nice place, and maybe more of the same is what I want, but it feels like I could free up a little.”

First-round co-leaders Charlie Wi and Stewart Cink were three shots back after rounds of 70. Miguel Angel also was three strokes behind after a 68.

McNeill closed with a long birdie putt for the lowest round of the week.

“That was unexpected. I got a little right of the hole, but then it broke back just at the end. Happy to see it go in,” he said. “I made a long one on 9 yesterday. Again, bonus, I’ll take it, because I know there’s plenty of bad bounces or whatever you got that will happen. So I’ll take what I can get.”

The 50-year old McNeill is a PGA Tour Champions rookie after winning twice on the PGA Tour. He has a pair of top-five finishes this year, including a tie for second at the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational.

McNeill is attempting to become the 13th player to win in his first U.S. Senior Open. The last to do it was Richard Bland in 2024.

Cink once again got off to a slow start before finishing strong. He was 3 over for the round after 14 holes before he birdied three of his last four.

“I salvaged the round today.,” said Cink, who is trying to win his third senior major this year. “It’s hard to focus, and you just lose your concentration just a little bit. It’s a tough track. It punishes you if you’re a little bit off. Dug myself a little hole, but the last four it was really good to salvage those.”

Wi had a double bogey on No. 2 and was 3-over through five before making birdies on four of the next 10 holes. He then bogeyed the par-4 16th.

“The conditions are getting firmer, so if they keep the greens firm — and there’s a lot of undulation on the greens, so you’ve got to make sure you miss on the correct side so you can get it up-and-down and have an easy two-putt,” Wi said.

Among those not making the cut, which was at 4 over, were former Senior Open champions David Toms (5 over) and Olin Browne (14 over) along with Justin Leonard (5 over) and Davis Love III (9 over).

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