MJ Daffue

South Africa's MJ Daffue used a fast start to grab the on-course lead in early second round action at the U.S. Open on Friday while six-time runner-up Phil ...

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South Africa's MJ Daffue, making his major debut, birdied four of the first seven holes to grab a three-stroke lead early in Friday's second round of the US ...

He followed with a birdie at the seventh to stretch his advantage. Daffue, out in the second group off the first tee, sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the first hole to match Hadwin, took a three-putt bogey at the par-3 second to fall back, then made a birdie putt from just outside nine feet at the fourth. A journeyman on developmental tours, Daffue said he didn't plan to try and qualify for the US Open but locked up a US PGA Tour spot for next season and changed his mind at the last minute.

He is making his major championship debut this week in Brookline, Massachusetts, at The Country Club and seems unfazed by the magnitude of the situation. In ...

However, he locked up his card a week before final qualifying so he was free to play for a spot in the Open. Daffue, a South African, had an early wake-up call Friday, teeing off at 6:56 a.m. ET, but he didn’t seem to mind. As he was narrowing in on locking up his PGA Tour card, Daffue didn’t want to lose a start on the Korn Ferry Tour. So, instead of playing in the final U.S. Open qualifying, he planned on playing in Wichita this week. MJ Daffue of South Africa lines up a putt on the seventh green during the third round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at The Country Club of Jackson on October 03, 2020, in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) MJ Daffue lines up a putt on the eighth green during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. He is making his major championship debut this week in Brookline, Massachusetts, at The Country Club and seems unfazed by the magnitude of the situation.

MJ Daffue hit an amazing recovery shot from the hospitality area, but it was a steady decline thereafter.

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MJ Daffue is a relative unknown at the 122nd US Open. But his shot off a carpeted deck on the 14th hole at The Country Club will have everyone talking.

The US Open is oftentimes referred to as golf’s toughest test. The 122nd US Open has a relative unknown atop the leaderboard. The 33-year-old South African let it rip and the crowd absolutely loved it.

Daffue's wayward drive settled on the deck of a hospitality area that runs down the left side of the hole. And in a move that would undoubtedly make Phil ...

And put that shot at the top of his bio. Unfortunately, Daffue left his next chip in the rough and then wound up missing a six-footer for par. We've seen similar shots from Phil and others through the years, but what sets this one apart was the degree of difficulty, in large part because a large tree poking through the crowded area that made Daffue keep his 3-wood down.

BROOKLINE -- Heading into the U.S. Open, the difficulty of the championship course at The Country Club was discussed at length in the golf world.

Whether or not he remains in the mix at the top of the leaderboard through the weekend remains a fair question. (The greenside rough claimed Daffue as its latest victim on that one.) That discussion, though, generally focused on the actual course itself.

MJ Daffue, while leading the U.S. Open, hit a beautiful 3-wood from a hospitality tent at The Country Club on Friday.

and was leading the tournament by one shot over a large group at 3 under. Despite the heroics, he went on to make bogey. Well, it came to rest on the deck of a hospitality tent.

“I hope he loves Genesis, 'Carpet Crawlers,'” NBC analyst Nick Faldo said, referencing the 1999 hit song. “What is he thinking? Fingers crossed, everybody.”.

A bad chip forced him to settle for a bogey on the par-5 hole, but his incredible shot earned him some high praise. “What is he thinking? Instead of taking a drop, he lined up for a shot – which perplexed the broadcast crew.

With the wind expected to pick up at The Country Club outside Boston, the day could be ripe with drama.

Among the players sitting right on the number after the first round are 2015 U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth, reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year Patrick Cantlay, and world number six Cameron Smith. The others three players who finished the first round in a share of second place -- Englishman Callum Tarren, Swede David Lingmerth and Joel Dahmen -- all had afternoon tee times. South Africa’s MJ Daffue used a fast start to grab the on-course lead in early second round action at the U.S. Open on Friday while six-time runner-up Phil Mickelson is among a slew of prominent players in danger of missing the cut.

As a Korn Ferry Tour pro, Daffue was predominantly concerned with securing a PGA Tour card. For this reason, the seasoned golfer was fully complacent with ...

The 72 he shot on the day placed him 1-under, good enough for 12th place in the Open. On the 14th hole, Daffue slapped his tee shot onto the deck of a hospitality area. After building a three-shot lead early in Round 2, Daffue’s back-nine 40 consisted of three bogeys and a double-bogey on the 18th hole. Daffue claimed the top position the following day, striking early with three birdies and a bogey over his first five holes. The South African sat atop the leaderboard for most of the early contest and held the on-course lead, but the roller coaster eventually swung backward, as Daffue left The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., at one-under-par on Friday. “I didn’t want to skip a week,” Daffue said.

MJ Daffue's drive on the par-5 14th was a bit offline. It landed on the deck of a hospitality tent, so he pulled 3-wood and blasted it off the carpet.

and was leading the tournament by one shot over a large group at 3 under. Despite the heroics, he went on to make bogey. Well, it came to rest on the deck of a hospitality tent.

It's fair to say South Africa's MJ Daffue had one of his most memorable days ever on a golf course on day two at the US Open. Daffue raced out the blocks at ...

It's fair to say South Africa's MJ Daffue had one of his most memorable days ever on a golf course on day two at the US Open. Daffue might not go on to do the unthinkable and win the US Open at odds of 1,000/1 this week, but he has certainly given himself every chance of recording his biggest result to date with a strong performance over the weekend. MJ Daffue had a day to remember on day two at the US Open.

The (relatively) unknown South African was the only player in the field to reach 6 under and owned a three-shot lead. Then golf bit back.

It’s finally paying off.’” He just “did the simple things really bad,” he said. (He did, actually, with a wow of an escape.) It would get him to No. 18 at the 3 under he held at his 6:56 a.m. tee time, and it would take him on a No. 18 horror tour with which any duffer would empathize. Goosen himself could nod from afar, seeing as how golf permitted him two U.S. Open titles and then, with a three-shot lead toward a third after three rounds in 2005 at Pinehurst in North Carolina, decided it might be time he enjoy an 81. “You think about your front number and the pin. He had a golf community and a community of golf visitors around the Country Club waking up, noticing the front-nine 32 he crafted and saying, What the …? When a reporter asked Dustin Johnson whether there were any contenders whose names he had not known, the 2016 U.S. Open champion and all-around la-dee-da guy said, “I mean, the one guy that was leading for a little while, obviously playing well.” It would send him on No. 14 to a concrete path between a fence and a hospitality zone, and it would ask him to try to master that. “Not a lot of people get to lead the U.S. Open by three shots,” he said, proving he doesn’t shirk the leader-board-looking. “I got a little quick in my process. “I would say I think I started losing focus on my clarity on my targets and how I’m envisioning my shots,” Daffue said. Draw a line from there to Friday, and there came a brew of holy mercy and good grief. He led the first major he ever tried by three.

A destructive back nine of 40 shots, including a double bogey at the 18th, saw the unknown South African MJ Daffue tumble down the leaderboard at the US ...

He finished with a one-under-par total of 139, and he would certainly have settled for that on Thursday morning. ‘I had the freedom to go for a few things,’ he added. ‘I didn’t want to miss an event because I wanted to concentrate on my dream of getting promotion to the PGA Tour,’ he explained.

It was a torrid second day for the South African contingent at the US Open, as only MJ Daffue made the cut at the third major of the year.