LOS ANGELES -- As Rickie Fowler walked up the 18th fairway at Los Angeles Country Club on Friday, fans chanted his name. It was a sound the California native, once ranked among the top five golfers in the world, hadn't heard in quite a while.
Fowler has a 1-stroke lead over Wyndham Clark at the halfway point of the 123rd U.S. Open. In a tournament that prides itself in being the toughest test in golf, Fowler is already 10 under and has carded 18 birdies (with eight bogeys). It's the most birdies or better in the first two rounds of a major in the past 30 years, according to ESPN Stats & Information.