J.J. Spaun says how he really feels about his second round taking almost six hours to finish at the US Open

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J.J. Spaun is in a really strong position heading into the weekend at the US Open.

Spaun has carded impressive rounds of 66 and 72 at Oakmont, and is sitting in second place just one shot adrift of US Open leader, Sam Burns.

Spaun made history on day one of the US Open, after he became the first golfer ever to play his first nine at Oakmont in 31 strokes.

The 34-year-old from Los Angeles is clearly in a real groove right now.

There was a point midway through his round when it seemed like things may have been getting away from him, but he hung tough to post a fine round of 72.

Spaun was actually really unlucky to bogey his final hole of the day after hitting a magnificent approach into the 18th green, only for his ball to bounce off the downslope and trundle on over the back into the deep rough.

J.J. Spaun comments on pace of play at the US Open

Spaun will be extremely confident heading into round three at Oakmont on Saturday.

The one-time PGA Tour winner proved that he is capable of hanging with the very best when he forced a play-off with Rory McIlroy at THE PLAYERS Championship back in March.

He might have lost that play-off, but he never backed down from the challenge, and that will stand him in good stead this weekend.

However, there is one thing that will make it incredibly difficult for him to maintain his focus over the next two days.

The pace of play at Oakmont has been truly disgraceful during the first two rounds.

Spaun was asked to give his honest opinion on rounds at Oakmont taking close to six hours to complete during the first two days.

He said, “Yeah, we didn’t wait a ton throughout the day until we got to 12 tee and there’s two groups on the tee and it’s a par-5 and you’re standing up there and you’ve already been three and a half hours in and you’re waiting about 15, 20 minutes just to hit your tee shot, then you’ve got to hit a tough tee shot.
I think the key is just to kind of embrace it, accept it and stay fueled as far as nutrition and eating and drinking enough water to stay hydrated.

“But honestly, we play pretty slow on Tour anyway, so what’s another 40 minutes to go around Oakmont.“

USGA must address pace of play at the US Open urgently

The one guaranteed win for the USGA regarding pace of play would be to reduce the field size next year and beyond by 20 players or so.

It is unacceptable that some rounds took nearly six hours to play during the first couple of rounds.

There were regularly three, four and sometimes even five groups on the same holes on Friday at Oakmont.

That’s not only terrible for the players, but the viewers as well.

The USGA will not want to damage their product, and a smaller field at Shinnecock Hills next year and beyond should help them address what has clearly become a very big issue at the US Open.