Dustin Johnson fired a sparkling 67 on day three at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club to take a commanding four-shot lead into the weekend at the US Open.
The American entered the second round in a share of the lead at one under and while the wind was not as strong as it had been on day one, the Long Island layout was still proving a brutal test, with Johnson the only player in red numbers at four under.
Countrymen Charley Hoffman and Scott Piercy were at level par, a shot ahead of a group containing the European Tour challenge.
Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood carded the lowest round of the week so far with a 66 that left him at one over alongside fellow Englishmen Ian Poulter and Justin Rose, Swede Henrik Stenson and defending champion Brooks Koepka.
Johnson - the 2016 champion - regained the Number One spot in the Official World Golf Ranking on Sunday thanks to a win on the US PGA Tour and is going for back-to-back victories and a second Major Championship in New York State.
“I felt like today was another really solid round, I played really well,” he said. “There were a couple of times where I hit a couple of bad iron shots but every time I felt like I was able to save par, at least give myself a really good look at par.
“There's still 36 holes left no matter what position I'm in. Going into tomorrow, I'm going to stick to my gameplan, stick to trying to play the holes how I have the first couple of days and see what happens.”
Johnson put a tee-shot to nine feet on the 11th and while the rain got heavier as the 33 year old was playing the par five 16th, that was no distraction and he played the hole in textbook fashion to hit the front on his own.
A dropped shot on the first after finding sand cut his lead to one but a 16-footer on the fourth moved Johnson back to two ahead and when he holed a brilliant 45-foot putt on the seventh, he was the first man this week to get to four under.
Alternate Piercy turned in 38 with bogeys on the tenth, 14th and 16th but came roaring back with gains on the fourth, fifth and ninth to go with just one more dropped shot on the eighth.
I'm going to stick to my gameplan, stick to trying to play the holes how I have the first couple of days - Dustin Johnson
Hoffman turned in level par with a birdie on the fourth and a bogey on the seventh and he made further gains on the 12th and 16th before dropping a shot on the last.
Englishman Fleetwood put his approach to six feet on the tenth but gave the shot straight back after finding sand before holing from five feet on the 13th to turn in 34.
A brilliant 40-footer on the second kick-started the back nine and after a three-putt on the fourth he played the par five fifth in textbook fashion, put his tee-shot to 13 feet on the seventh and holed a 25-foot putt on the ninth.
Poulter missed the green on the tenth for an opening bogey and then rattled off 11 pars before hitting an excellent approach to nine feet on the fourth.
He then got on the green at the par five next for another birdie and hit a stunning approach into the seventh to get within one of the lead before a triple-bogey, bogey finish.
Rose bogeyed the 14th but an approach to 11 feet on the 18th got him back to level par for the day and a tee-shot to seven feet on the par three second had him at that mark for the week.
He hit the green in two on the par five fifth for another gain but a bogey-bogey finish dropped him back.
Stenson was four over after five holes on Thursday and left himself with another mountain to climb in round two after making bogeys on the second, sixth and seventh.
An 18-foot putt on the 13th gave the 2016 Open Championship winner a foot hold and he hit a brilliant second to 20 feet on the 16th to set up an eagle.
Koepka birdied six of his last 11 holes to match Fleetwood's 66.
