PITTSBURGH — The rip-your-hair-out stress test called Oakmont Country Club has been well-documented by now. Its contours chronicled. What it can do to poorly executed golf shots obvious.

Good luck finding someone better equipped to handle that painful roller coaster ride than Viktor Hovland.

There were better rounds Friday during the second day of the U.S. Open, Sam Burns firing a 5-under 65 chief among them. But I’m not sure there was a more action-packed or undulating set of 18 holes than what we saw out of Hovland.

The Norwegian shot 2-under 68 to bring his two-total to 139, a stroke under par and squarely in the thick of things. Hovland, 27, carded a 32 while starting on the back nine but also made double on No. 2 and bogeyed the two par-3s on the front nine.

The round was solid. But also all over the map.

“Very pleased … but also, man, that could have been a little bit lower,” Hovland said. “We’re still in a nice spot after two days, so I’m happy.”

The mental gymnastics associated with golf are painfully familiar to everyone — not just professionals. But they’re magnified tenfold here, when every shot matters.

In Hovland’s case, his game over the past few years has also been something less than stable.

What I mean:

— In 2023, Hovland became the third-youngest FedEx Cup champion in history, topping out with a second-place finish at the PGA Championship. Hovland was 19th or better in the other three majors.

— The next year, Hovland tried to refine his swing and flopped. In addition to failing to win for the first time, he missed the cut at three of four majors and tallied a career-low two top-10 finishes.

— This season, Hovland has seemingly rediscovered his game, winning the Valspar Championship and producing respectable finishes at the Masters (T-21) and PGA Championship (T-28).

Hovland’s journey over the past few years belongs at Kennywood, and it was appropriately encapsulated in what we saw out of him on Friday.

Starting at No. 10, Hovland putted from the fringe, nearly 53 feet away, and drained it for birdie. On the 17th, he accomplished a similar feat, this time chipping in from 55-6 for another birdie.

But just when the sailing appeared smooth, Hovland found more bumps, pumping his drive on 18 into the rough and chunking a shot back onto the fairway.

Fortunately for Hovland, another quick recovery followed.

After the bogey on 18, Hovland ripped a 325-yard drive, delivered a gorgeous approach and drained a 23-foot putt — downhill and curling — for another birdie.

Of course, Hovland on No. 2 again found the rough with his drive, mishit his second shot and had to find his way out of a bunker before carding birdies on two of his next three holes.

Not perfect. But also not enough to torpedo his round.

It was a simple thing that might not have happened as recently as last season, when Hovland struggled, changed his swing a bunch and lacked consistency to his game.

“I’ve definitely felt better about it, but I still haven't been overly confident in my ball-striking up until recently,” Hovland said. “Last week we saw some really good progress, and earlier this week was very happy with some of the shots that I was hitting out there in the practice rounds. Super excited that I was able to take that out with me in the tournament.”

Perhaps it’s a sign of maturity, an indication Hovland could be poised for something more — in this case, that first major victory.

It’s hard to believe for someone who has won seven times on the PGA Tour, but again, it’s been a journey for Hovland.

Various parts of Hovland’s game have lacked, occasionally because he can’t help but tinker. In a move that would make George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin proud, Hovland has hired and fired the same swing coach (Joe Mayo) twice.

The turbulence has finally settled.

Hovland was reliable in his short game Friday (gaining a field-best 3.68 strokes that way) and also fairly steady with his putter, leading to a round where he prevented poor play from snowballing.

It was an encouraging sign for Hovland, and I’ll be curious to see if it’s not a precursor of more to come.

“For some reason, I've just been in a really nice mental state this week,” Hovland said. “Both of my rounds have been very up and down.

“If that would have happened at another tournament, I could have potentially lost my mind. But I felt like I kept things together very well.”

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