PITTSBURGH — Sam Burns began his day with the third-lowest round ever shot in a U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. He spent the rest of the day watching players slide down the leaderboard as though it were greased with cooking oil.

After 36 grueling holes that continue to try the patience of the best two players in the world, only three players remain under par in the 125th U.S. Open — the fewest after two rounds of the national championship in seven years. And that number will likely drop again, especially if weather becomes an issue on the weekend, as expected.

“Look, it's a 72-hole golf tournament, and if you can get a round under par out here, no matter if it's 1-under, you'll take it,” Burns said.

Burns, a five-time PGA Tour winner who has never won a major, went one better ... well, actually four better. He went out in the fourth group in the morning, made six birdies and shot 5-under 65 on Friday — tying the third-lowest score in 10 U.S. Open championships at Oakmont.

More than six hours later, when the second round went into a rain delay around 8:15 p.m., Burns found himself at the top of the leaderboard at 3-under 137, holding a one-shot lead on first-round leader J.J. Spaun.

“Super impressive,” said Viktor Hovland, who shot 68 and is two shots back.

Indeed, Burns was so impressive he was nearly 10 shots better than the scoring average (74.7) in the second round. He has made a tournament-best 11 birdies in two days as he tries to win his first major tournament.

That has not always been easy for Burns. He has just one top-10 finish in his previous 16 majors, and that came in last year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst (T9).

“Look, this golf course is very tough, and you're going to get the ball out of position, and you're going to get in some spots that are tricky,” Burns said. “I think being able to rely on your short game and give yourself a chance at par is really important.”

The weekend will proceed without defending champ Bryson DeChambeau, who shot 77 and finished at 10-over 150 — the first defending champion to miss the cut since Gary Woodland in 2020 at Winged Foot.

Two other players in the top 10 of the world rankings are also on the wrong side of the current cut (147): No. 5 Justin Thomas (152) and No. 6 Ludvig Aberg (148).

But No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who birdied the final hole to finish at 146, will avoid missing back-to-back cuts for the first time since the 2012 season (Players and Memorial).

Also making the cut: No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is at 144 and only seven shots from the lead after a second-round 71. The way players keep dropping down the leaderboard, it is not inconceivable to think either of the world’s top two players could add another major to their resume with one good round.

“I’m definitely not out of the tournament,” said Scheffler, who has made 11 bogeys in two days. “I'm 4-over. We'll see ... but around this golf course, I don't think by any means I'm out of the tournament.”

Two-time U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka likely feels the same way, even though he bogeyed his final two holes to finish at 142, five shots back. And don’t forget former Masters champion Adam Scott, appearing in his 24th consecutive U.S. Open, who has posted back-to-back rounds of par-70. At 44, he is a mere three shots back.

“I'm playing old-man-par golf at the moment,” said Scott, who has made eight birdies in two days and is second in greens in regulations (27 of 36, 75%). “I’ve been in the fairway off the tee, and therefore, there hasn't been too much stress in the rounds. The rest of the game has been OK from there.”

Hovland looked as though he was on his way to shooting a Burns-like round when he chipped in for eagle at the short par-4 17th. He was 4-under for the round after eight holes.

But he got a bad break at the 346-yard second hole when his second shot from the right rough landed in a fairway bunker, and he had to play out sideways to the fairway, leading to double bogey.

Still, after two days, Hovland has made 10 birdies, just one fewer than Burns’ tournament-leading total.

“It does feel like, man, if you're just executing and you're getting some nice bounces and you're making some putts, you can definitely shoot a low score,” said Hovland, who won the Valspar Championship in March — his first victory since the 2023 Tour Championship. “But you're just not very far off before you're making a bogey or a double bogey, and that can happen multiple holes in a row.”

After losing a four-hole playoff last week at the RBC Canadian Open, Burns has hit just 16 of 28 fairways and 24 of 36 greens in two days at Oakmont. But there he is, holding (or sharing) the 36-hole lead for the eighth time in his PGA Tour career.

“I was so glad to see Sam Burns up there,” said U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, who is at 143.

“He's such a great player, and he's been trending. Every time I play with him, he seems to have a U.S. Open mentality. I was watching him this morning, and I just kept saying, it looks like he's up for the challenge, and he was.”

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