Dustin Johnson, Andrew Landry tied for lead at U.S. Open after 36 holes

OAKMONT, Pa. — Dustin Johnson’s gone and done it again, putting himself in prime position to win his first major championship.

On a long, hot and humid Friday at Oakmont Country Club that featured plenty of low scores, Johnson was forced to play 36 holes because of Thursday’s unrelenting, suspension-inducing storms. He shot 67-69 to move to 4 under and into a spot at the top of the leaderboard.

Johnson, who has 11 top-10s in majors, is joined there by Andrew Landry, who hit only one shot Friday to finish off his 4-under-par 66, the lowest opening round in the nine U.S. Opens played at Oakmont.

A shot back at 3 under is Lee Westwood, who only played five holes Friday. At 2 under are Sergio Garcia, Scott Piercy and Shane Lowry. Garcia, who has 20 top-10s in majors, including four runner-up finishes, and Piercy each shot 68-70, while Lowry played just 18 holes.

“My legs. I’m too old for this,” Garcia, 36, said after playing 36.

Seven players are at 1 under, including Andrew Sullivan and Daniel Summerhays, who shot 65 in the nightcap, the lowest round this week.

The off-kilter national championship will continue to play catch-up Saturday after play was suspended at 8:42 p.m. Friday because of darkness. The second round will resume at 7 a.m. The players who did not start their second round on Friday will begin play at 7:15 a.m.

Johnson, who won’t tee it up until deep in the afternoon, has become a tragic figure in majors, a talented soul who finds ways to fall short on Sunday. In 2010, the winner of nine PGA Tour titles led the U.S. Open by three entering the final round and shot 82. That summer, he went to the 72nd hole with a one-shot lead in the PGA Championship but unknowingly grounded his club in a bunker, the two-shot penalty knocking him out of a playoff.

Last year he faced a 12-foot, bumpy eagle putt to win the U.S. Open. He three-putted and lost by one to Jordan Spieth.

He’s had eight other top-10s in majors, including a tie for fourth in this year’s Masters. It’s no wonder he’s considered by many to be the best player not to have won a major. But those are in the past. As Johnson always does, he looks forward and doesn’t allow demons to haunt him.

“It was a long day today, but I felt like I played really solid all day for all 36 holes. I drove it really well. Hit a lot of great iron shots. Felt like I rolled the putter really nicely too. So very pleased with how it went today,” Johnson said. “ … I'm in pretty good shape, so the physical part's no problem. But definitely mentally you've got to make sure you stay sharp all day, because you can't go to sleep on any shot out here.

Johnson looked his best when he hit his last 16 greens in regulation in the first round and the first nine he played in the second round. That’s 25 GIRs in a row. At Oakmont. In a U.S. Open.

But what has often been the case, he delivers plenty of power but comes up short with his putter. He hasn’t made birdie on the short par-4s or the two par-5s at Oakmont this week. His only two three-putts each came on the par-5 4th hole as he made pars on each. He also hasn’t made birdie on the drivable par-4 17th, missing short birdie putts each time.

There were plenty of other misses from inside 12 feet.

“The greens … they're so hard to putt,” Johnson said. “No matter how close you are to the hole, it's just, they're tough to putt.  I hit so many good putts today that I thought were going in, and burned the edge or lip out. But that's just how it goes. I mean, these greens are tough. ...

“You've just got to pick a line and pick the speed and hopefully it's the right one. I felt like I hit good putts. It wasn't like I hit bad putts or my speed was bad. I felt like I left myself in good positions too. Just if you're just a hair off, it doesn't go in. So I felt like I was doing everything correct. I was hitting all my putts where I wanted to. They're going to go in eventually, but I made some nice putts, too.

“So, you know, I'm happy with the way everything went today.”

While Johnson’s in a familiar place on the leaderboard, Landry and Summerhays are not accustomed to being on the first page.

Landry, a PGA Tour rookie ranked No. 624 in the world, made a 10-footer at 7:30 a.m. to complete a 66.

Summerhays, 32, turned pro in 2007 and has one professional victory – the 2007 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational on the Web.com Tour.

Landry made his putt, then went home and did some laundry, shaved and came back to Oakmont to practice putting. He won’t begin his second round until 7:11 a.m. Saturday.

“I read the putt yesterday,” Landry said of his only stroke of the day. “I knew what it was doing. I knew it was a cup and a half out to the right, so no big break. So I just pretty much thought about it this morning, thought about it a little bit last night, but I didn't like dream about it. … Just one of those rounds that comes to you not once in a lifetime, but it comes to you once or twice, three times a month, and I'm lucky it was in the first round of the U.S. Open.”

Landry, 28, turned pro in 2009 and worked his way to the PGA Tour first on the mini-tours and then the Web.com Tour. Last year on the Web.com Tour he won the Cartagena de Indias at Karibana Championship by five shots, a huge step toward securing his PGA Tour card for the 2015-16.

He has struggled this year, with his best finish a tie for 41st in last week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic. But Landry, who earned his berth in the U.S. Open by shooting 67-68 at the Memphis sectional qualifier on June 6, does not feel out of place in the national championship or on the leaderboard.

“I think the U.S. Open just suits my game so well that I'm just able to manage these things because I'm not a guy that's going to go out and shoot 60 and 61 and 62. I'm just a consistent guy that's going to shoot 68 and make a lot of pars,” Landry said. “ … Being on top of the leaderboard is fine. It's just there's so much golf left, and there's people who can blow it up and say, you're doing great, yes, I am doing great, but there's 54 more holes left.”

Summerhays, ranked 102nd in the world, got into the U.S. Open as the first alternate out of sectional qualifying in Columbus, Ohio. There, he lost a six-player playoff for five spots. His 65 that followed a 74 is the low round of the tournament. He said he’s on a roller coaster of emotions this week, from waiting to see if he got into the tournament to now having a chance to win it.

“That was a round to remember. I need to think a lot about that round, just sear it right into my memory,” Summerhays said. “I think at any level and in any profession, you always go through times where you feel like you're inadequate or you're not good enough. And that round today is definitely going to be one that I can push the replay button on at times where you don't feel like you quite have it.”

Now he’ll have to keep his nerves in check as the heat turns up in the Open.

“I'm looking at it as continuing to gain experience. I'm sure my nerves are going to be racing for sure. I think that's natural. I think I'm going to embrace that, know that I'm going to be nervous,” he said. “But I think I continue to improve mechanically, mentally, and I'm looking forward to the challenge and whatever happens, happens. I'm not going to forget this round for sure.”

Well, he shouldn’t. He said it’s in the top 2 of his best rounds.

“I shot 60 one time in my last year of playing college. I had a putt for 59 and made 12 birdies and two bogeys,” he said. “But this was 65 on Friday at Oakmont in the U.S. Open, so that's got to be No. 1 now.”

PHOTOS: FRIDAY AT THE U.S. OPEN