BEEF JOHNSTON was all smiles despite a one over par 73 in the second round of the US open – the Wisconsin fans had him in stitches by repeatedly yelling out his real name, Andrew!
He grinned: “They were doing it in a fake English accent, and it was hilarious to hear that, instead of the usual chants of Beeeeef!
“There was another funny thing when the crowd were cheering at our last hole, the par three ninth, after all three of our balls hit the green but ran off it sideways.
“I thought what are they doing man, they are normally on our side. And when we got up there we saw all three balls had stopped just short of the tiny bunkers, which are so hard to get out of. That was why the fans were cheering.”
Beef was delighted to have made the cut, just as he did on his US Open debut a year ago, when the American fans took the bearded wonder to their hearts.
He finished on two under par following a fine 69 in the first round, and is confident of moving up the leaderboard.
He added: “It’s a tough course, but if you drive the ball well you can score here. I should be better placed because I only missed one fairway, but my wedge game was off.
“I’m going to work really hard on that over the next 24 hours and I’m hoping for a good weekend.”
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Matthew Fitzpatrick showed short-hitters can handle Erin Hills, even though it was stretched out to beyond 7,800 yards for the second day running.
Fitzpatrick won the DP World Tour Championship last year on a Dubai course hailed as a bomber’s paradise, and he will enter the weekend on one under par after rounds of 70-73.
Another Englishman, Eddie Pepperell, was a shock qualifier for this event after slipping to 458th in the world rankings. But he has made the most of it, and he joined Fitzpatrick on one under by adding a 71 to his opening 72.
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