Victor Perez makes first US Open ace at Oakmont in 42 years, pulls within 4 shots of the lead

OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) - Victor Perez capped a nice second-day rally with a tournament highlight - the first U.S. Open ace at Oakmont since 1983.

Perez hit a 7-iron on the sixth hole, a 192-yard par 3. The ball landed short of the hole, took a couple of bounces and rolled in. Perez ended up shooting an even-par 70 on Friday despite an early triple bogey. He’s at 1 over through two rounds and was tied for sixth when play was suspended because of rain with only a few players left on the course.

"Obviously, a hole-in-one takes a bit of luck," Perez said. "I was trying to hit something maybe 15, 20 feet past the hole."

A double eagle, or albatross - like the one Patrick Reed made Thursday - is much more rare than an ace. However, the last time Oakmont yielded a hole-in-one during this national championship was 42 years ago, when Scott Simpson had one on No. 16.

The 1994, 2007 and 2016 U.S. Opens, also held at this course, all came and went without an ace.

Perez, a Frenchman who earned a spot for this tournament at a qualifier in Canada, said he’s on a bit of a hole-in-one run.

"I’ve actually had two this month, against all odds,” he said. "Back in the Bahamas, where I live."

After shooting a first-round 71, Perez started Friday on No. 10 and quickly made a triple-bogey 8 on No. 12.

"Obviously, it wasn't an ideal start. Kind of put myself a little bit behind the 8-ball after three holes,” he said. “It was a bit unfortunate, but I was able to kind of keep my head going and bounce back."

He was at 4 over when he birdied the par-4 fifth hole. Then came his ace, which he celebrated by doing a leaping chest bump with his caddie.

"You try to just make pars and survive," Perez said. "When you get kind of a chip-in, bonuses, something like that, it definitely kicks off. So it was nice to have a little bit of emotion."

By the time Friday was over, Perez was just four strokes off the lead. He said he’d have happily signed up to be 1 over through 36 holes.

"A hundred percent,” he said.

James Nicholas clearly wanted to enjoy himself at Oakmont this week.

The 28-year-old from Scarsdale, New York - who played football in addition to golf at Yale - qualified for the U.S. Open in New Jersey earlier this month and then turned some heads with a first-round 69 on Thursday.

Friday wasn’t as kind as Nicholas shot 45 on the front nine, including a quadruple bogey on No. 5. But he rebounded with a 33 on the back, smiling and egging on his supporters after making three straight birdies.

Nicholas flipped his putter and caught it out of the air after missing a par putt on No. 18. Perhaps he thought that would cost him the weekend, but he ended up making the cut right on the number at 7 over.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro stopped by for Friday’s second around and declared his state to be "the golf capital of the United States.”

He’d surely receive some pushback on that, but Pennsylvania has been quite popular to the USGA. This is the 95th USGA championship held in the commonwealth, the most of any state.

Oakmont is hosting the U.S. Open for a record 10th time.

"It's a sense of pride for Pennsylvania, and particularly western Pennsylvania, to know that this is the course that's been chosen more than any other for a U.S. Open,” Shapiro said. "It's also big business. It means our hotels and our restaurants, our bars are filled because of this. It also opens up people's eyes to the beauty of western Pennsylvania, the great culture of western Pennsylvania."

Justin Hastings shot a second straight 73 to become the lone amateur to make the cut.

The 21-year-old Hastings is the first player from the Cayman Islands to compete in the U.S. Open. He earned his spot by winning the Latin America Amateur in January in Argentina. That win also got him into the Masters, where he missed the cut by two strokes but was the top amateur.

Hastings just finished his senior season at San Diego State, where he won the Mountain West individual title.

The rainstorm near the end of the second round was significant enough to halt play, and there’s a chance for more of that over the weekend.

That could be welcome if a softer course becomes a bit more manageable.

“It was starting to look like another day of hot, dry weather and the weekend would be very difficult out here,” said Adam Scott, who is three shots off the lead. "There were certain greens that had a slickness about them and a firmness too. Fairways even getting a little bit like that. So the rain might keep it under control, hopefully, and spare us some frustrations."