Ludvig Åberg edges ahead heading into weekend at Pinehurst

Ludvig Åberg will take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the U.S. Open as he looks for a first Major Championship victory in just his third Major appearance.

The Swede has been one of the most compelling stories in the game since turning professional just over 12 months ago, winning on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR, helping Europe win the Ryder Cup and rising to sixth on the Official World Golf Ranking.

He finished second on his Major debut at the Masters Tournament in April and a second-round 69 moved him to five under and into pole position to go one better at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club.

Belgian Thomas Detry carded a 67 to sit a shot off the lead alongside Americans Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau, one clear of four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy, Frenchman Matthieu Pavon and another home favourite in Tony Finau.

Åberg enjoyed a brilliant collegiate career, twice winning the Ben Hogan Award in the United States before claiming his first victory as a professional at the Omega European Masters.

He was handed a Captain's Pick for the following month's Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, winning two points as Europe won back the trophy and in November he would become a PGA TOUR winner at the RSM Classic.

His runner-up finish at Augusta National was followed by a missed cut at the US PGA Championship - just his second in the paid ranks - but he is taking confidence into his ninth Major round on Saturday.

"I think Augusta proved to me that I was able to be in that position and it was more of a justification of like, yeah, you can actually be there and contend on a Sunday," he said.

"Then obviously the golf course also played very difficult. It demanded a lot of patience and discipline just like this one does.

"I feel like those experiences that I had back in April, they were great. Hopefully we'll draw some similarities between those. All we try to do is just hit the shots as good as we can and then see where that ends up."

Åberg holed a 30-footer on the second to join the lead and two putts from off the green at the fifth saw him take a solo lead that would soon be two shots.

A bogey at the eighth after a poor tee-shot saw his advantage trimmed and while he was briefly caught, a 21-foot putt at the 12th saw him lead by two again.

He bogeyed the 16th when he failed to get up and down from the sand but with Cantlay and Pavon surrendering late bogeys, he stayed on top.

"I felt like I hit it very nicely today," he added. "It was obviously very challenging and it's not an easy golf course to play. But I felt like we stayed very disciplined, stayed very patient and tried to hit it to our targets all the time."

Detry hit smart approaches into the 11th, 12th and 13th for a hat-trick of birdies but saw a chip return to his feet as he gave a shot back at the 14th.

A stunner to three feet at the first was followed by a lengthy putt on the third and he was the solo leader after a two-putt at the par-five fifth before bogeys followed at the sixth and eighth.

Cantlay was battling for the lead all afternoon with Åberg but eventually carded a 71, two shots more than countryman DeChambeau.

McIlroy failed to get up and down after rolling off the green on the 11th and then did the same at the par-three 15th as the greens continued to test the entire field, with the 35-year-old having to chip-in to save par after putting off the surface at the 17th.

A brilliant approach to seven feet then brought his only birdie of the day at the third but he gave the shot back after finding sand off the tee at the par-three ninth in a 72.

Pavon got up and down from the sand on the tenth and holed from 30 feet at the 11th in a birdie-birdie start before dropping a shot on the 15th.

He made another gain from 14 feet on the third but a bogey-bogey finish in a 70 dropped him alongside McIlroy and Finau, who signed for a 69.

Japan's Hideki Matsuyama carded the lowest round of the day with a 66 to sit alone at two under, with 15 players under par.

Sepp Straka and Francesco Molinari both made holes-in-one on the ninth, with Molinari's on his final hole taking him from seven over to five over to make the cut on the number.