Casey stuns field with magical 66 at vengeful Oakmont

Just how good was Paul Casey's second round at Oakmont? It left one of his fellow competitors joking that he had forgotten to play a hole, and drew comparisons to Johnny Miller's astounding 63.

By Dave Shedloski, PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

OAKMONT, Pa. -- Paul Casey has been a notoriously slow starter of late in major championships, but there have been few players better over the last 54 holes of golf's biggest events. The way he performed Friday at Oakmont Country Club in the U.S. Open suggests he might be the most formidable challenger for the title by Sunday afternoon.

Casey pulled off a surprise insurgency into the well-bunkered, bedeviling confines of venerable Oakmont on Friday morning, using good fortune and fine shot-making to fire a 4-under-par 66, a score that stunned just about every person on the historic grounds where Johnny Miller once submitted a memorable, mythical final-round 63 to capture the 1973 U.S. Open.

"He must have skipped a hole," Paul Goydos exclaimed. "Johnny, if you're listening, I would have to say that's better than your 63."

Casey, 29, of Cheltenham, England, was no less surprised by his round that started with a 45-foot birdie putt and ended with impressive par saves on the final two holes.

"That probably ranks as one of my finest as long as I've been playing golf," he said. "I don't want to build it up any more than that because, you know, the USGA might start putting pins in places we can't get to."

For certain, Casey got to a score no one thought possible to reach. He did it by hitting 13 fairways, 12 greens and a mere 26 putts on Oakmont's achingly evil greens. He did it with five birdies ranging in distance from 45 feet to 18 inches. He did it after shooting a desultory 77 in the opening round and then beating balls into early evening to find something that would work.

"Based on what happened yesterday, I didn't think there was a 66 out there, because today is clearly a lot harder," said Mike Davis, the U.S. Golf Association's Senior Director of Rules and Competitions. "But it shows you that there is a combination of shots that can make it happen."

A professional cat burglar hasn't had as much luck pilfering the unsuspecting, or pulled off more difficult heists than the shots Casey has stolen again par lately.

In last year's Open at Winged Foot, he brought home a 72-72-69 run that was the second-best 54-hole total after compatriot Luke Donald. He ended up 15th after sitting in 90th place after a first-round 77. Two months ago at the Masters, he opened with a 79 only to rebound in Round 2 with a 4-under 68, which was best of the week, as was his final 54 holes at level-par 216. He tied for 10th.

So 11-shot swings are nothing new to him. "I don't know what it is," he said with a pronounced shrug about his second-round rallies.

He seems to know that he is not a man with a quick first step. He tried to shake off the first-round doldrums by keeping score during his Wednesday practice round with Donald and Sergio Garcia.

"I thought maybe that would get rid of the first round sort of -- jitters. But clearly I didn't," said Casey, trying to become the first European player since England's Tony Jacklin in 1970 to win the U.S. Open. "You know, I prepared thoroughly and maybe I put too much pressure on myself, but now I'm off and running so I can enjoy the last three days."

His performance reverberated through the field and left peers agog. Harrison Frazar, preparing for his second round, saw the standard with Casey's score outside the locker room, and said, "That's already the round of the tournament."

"Well, we all hit 66 at some point in the round, but we all had to keep going. For him to stop on that number is unreal," said Shaun Micheel, who has lost to Casey in two of three meetings in match-play tournaments in the last few years. "With what he shot yesterday, you would think he would not give himself enough opportunities to make birdies since he might be trying to protect a score and just make a cut. He obviously played well. I've seen him up close and I know he can play. That's a heck a comeback."

"That's phenomenal playing, sustaining that level all the way around," Steve Stricker said. "He's put himself back in the tournament."

Casey began his round tied for 104th. By the time he signed his handsome card he had moved up to 17th. He was sure to move up farther as the windy and warm afternoon progressed and the scoring conditions regressed.

"This golf course can -- I know the scores are quite high today, and I shot a low number, but I don't think we've seen half of Oakmont yet," Casey said.

Still, he was betting on a bit of scorecard envy.

"They are probably thinking how on earth did I shoot that. And I'm still a bit stunned at it," he said. "But I hope it gives some of the guys some hope out there and show them that it can be done. I certainly don't want the USGA to make it any tougher. You know, I wouldn't talk up that round and say anything other than it was one of my best rounds of golf ever and I got some lucky breaks, because it's brutal.

"Hopefully they can take something from it."